New (2022) process for proposals from authors to conduct new Cochrane Reviews

As discussed at the Future of Evidence Synthesis webinar on Thursday 26th May (recording available here), one of the early changes in the programme of work is the management of proposals from authors to conduct new Cochrane reviews. 

From Friday 24 June, authors will submit proposals for new Cochrane Reviews to the central Editorial Manager site. Authors will include basic information about their proposed review in Editorial Manager: title, author names, review type, topic area, why it’s important to do the review, whether the proposed review overlaps with other published Cochrane content, and information about the size of the proposed review. 

Editors from the relevant Cochrane Review Group will then be invited to a discussion about the proposed review in Editorial Manager, and asked to consider if the topic is of importance and suitable for a Cochrane Review, and whether there is overlap with current content participate. Cochrane Review Groups may choose to pursue the proposed review further within their group (with either more detail being requested via a full review proposal form, or inviting authors to submit a protocol); for the Evidence Production and Methods Department (EPMD) to take forward the proposal by sending authors information about how to submit a protocol to the Central Editorial Service; or to reject the proposal. 

Decisions about whether to take the proposal forward within a CRG or by EPMD will be based largely on whether the CRG has sustained resourcing. Further information about this process is available from the recordings from the Editorial Manager demonstration sessions from Wednesday 15th June (recordings available here), and in Cochrane’s Editorial and Publishing Policy Resource.

Review proposal forms
Last year, Cochrane’s Methods Groups provided extensive feedback on the review proposal forms across all review types, ensuring that the proposal forms are up-to-date and consistent across review types where possible. The updated review proposal forms are now available here. With the changes in proposals as described above, not all CRGs will continue to use review proposal forms to assess proposals; however, for proposals being taken forward in EPMD, authors will be directed to the updated review proposal forms as a key resource to help plan their protocol. For CRGs who continue to use review proposal forms, instructions on how to request authors complete the review proposal form are available in the Editorial Manager Knowledge Base.