Getting started

Good practice resources for new Cochrane authors

Support for RevMan

Style Manual Basics (pdf) (Home)

Editorial and Publishing Policy Resource (Home)

• Authorship and contributorship
• Managing expectations

Screening and data extraction

Covidence

PaPaS data extraction template (Excel)

NNT.RR calculation spreadsheet (Excel)

PRISMA study flow spreadsheet (Excel) and flowchart (pdf) (example Cochrane flowchart pdf)

Cochrane guidance

Methodological Expectations of Cochrane Intervention Reviews (MECIR; Home)

• Conduct standards: performing the review (C24-75) (pdf or link)
• Standards for reporting of new Cochrane intervention reviews (R1-109) (pdf or link)
  
• Standards for plain language summaries in Cochrane Reviews (PLEACS) (link to pdf)

Cochrane Handbook (Home)

Risk of Bias version 2.0 (Home; correct at 5 April 2019)

• Download the Excel tool to implement RoB 2 (contains macros; download to your computer before using)

PaPaS guidance

PaPaS Abstract Guidance for Authors (2019) (pdf)

GRADE and Summary of findings tables

GRADE resources

• GRADE Handbook (2013)
• GRADEpro software
• Incorporating GRADE in Cochrane Reviews (2014) (pdf)
• Cochrane Training: GRADE approach (resources)

GRADE Summary of findings (SoF) tables

• Preparing SoF tables (Consumers and Communications Group, 2016) (pdf)
• Top ten common errors in SoF tables (Word doc)
• Worksheets for preparing SoF tables using GRADE (from EPOC) (Word doc)

Other guidance documents

Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Review Group resources (Home)

• Interpreting statistical significance (pdf)
• Reporting empty reviews and results from excluded studies (pdf)
• Synthesizing results when it does not make sense to do a meta-analysis (pdf)
• Which studies should be included in the "Characteristics of excluded studies" table? (pdf)

Cochrane Consumers and Communication Group resource (Home)

• Describing results (pdf)

Training, support and webinars

Task Exchange

Involving People: getting people involved in review production (including Cochrane Consumers)

Cochrane Training (Home)

• Module 4: Selecting studies and collecting data
• Module 5: Introduction to study quality and risk of bias
• Module 6: Analysing the data
• Module 7: Interpreting the findings
• Module 8: Reporting the review
• Learning events
• Guides and handbooks

Cochrane policies

Cochrane Editorial and Publishing Policy Resource (EPPR)

See also our policies page.