Validation rules
When reviews are validated in Archie, the majority of the rules applied are the same as used in RevMan. In addition to using all the validation rules from RevMan, Archie applies a few extra rules that rely on information that is not available to RevMan. Some of the extra rules in Archie apply for all validation checks (e.g. in the Validation Report), while others are only relevant when reviews are marked for publication.
Validation rules can result in an error messages or a warning. If a review has Errors, it cannot be published in its present form. Warnings are non-critical but serve as guidelines for complying with the correct format of Cochrane reviews.
Standard Archie validation rules
| Section | Rule | Stage | Message | Warning or Error |
| Topics | Reviews should be linked to one or more topics. | P + R | Review is not linked to any topics. | Warning |
A cited Cochrane review's DOI value should match with a valid Cochrane review. | P + R | CD number in the citation ([CDnumber]]) is not linked to any Cochrane review in Archie. | Warning | |
A cited Cochrane review's title should match with the actual published version. | P + R | Review title in the citation ([title]) for the Cochrane review [CDnumber] is different from the title of the review version in Archie ([title]). | Warning | |
A cited Cochrane review's DOI Pub value cannot be greater than the review update no. | P + R | Incorrect pub number. | Warning | |
A published version should exist for the given issue and year of a cited Cochrane review. | P + R | No published version of the cited Cochrane review ([CDnumber]) is found for the given issue ([issue]) and year ([year]) | Warning | |
A cited Cochrane review should be in the same stage (Protocol or Review) as the actual published version. | P + R | The cited Cochrane review ([CDnumber]) is not a [stage] version. | Warning |
Check-in warnings and messages
Warning messages relating to Review properties are:
Rule | Message | Warning or Error |
The Review ID and the title of the file checked in should match an existing record in Archie. | Review not found. New review created in [Group] | Warning |
The unique ID for the review should match an ID in Archie. | The unique ID for this review ([Review ID]) did not match an ID in the system, but a match by title was found. The ID of the new version has been changed to match the ID in the system ([Review ID]). | Warning |
The Stage of the review can be updated in Archie from Registered Title to Protocol, or from Protocol to Full Review, as a result of a draft being submitted for editorial approval. | The stage has been updated to [New stage]. | - |
A review published (or marked for publication) as a Protocol or Full Review, it cannot be set back to the previous stage (Registered Title or Protocol, respectively). | Review stage cannot be set back from [Existing stage] to [New stage] | Warning |
Warning messages relating to Document Roles are:
Description | Message | Warning or Error |
A person should have a record in Archie. | [Name]: No matching person found ([Message]) | Warning |
A new Document Role can be created in Archie as a result of changes made to the Contact Person and/or list of Authors in RevMan. | [Name]: [Role name] document role created. | - |
Shown for authors whose order in the list of authors in the RevMan file has changed. | [Name]: [Role name] document role updated. | |
A person with relevant permissions can create and edit Document Roles. See Permissions linked to Review Group roles. Note: Archie will accept the review, but not modify the Document Roles. | [Name]: Failed to create [Role name] role (permission not granted). | Warning |
A person should have the required permissions to reorder the list of authors. Note: Archie will accept the review, but not modify the Document Roles. | [Name]: Failed to update [Role name] role ([Message]). | Warning |
A Document Role can be deleted in Archie as a result of changes made to the Contact Person and/or list of Authors in RevMan. Note: Requires follow-up if you did not intend to delete the Document Role. | [Name]: [Role name] document role deleted. | - |
A person should have the required permissions to delete a Document Role. Note: Archie will accept the review, but not modify the Document Roles. | [Name]: Failed to delete [Role name] role (permission not granted). | Warning |
Note: Document and Group Roles are correlated in the sense that if someone with the necessary permissions adds a Document Role (either in Archie or in RevMan) for a person who does not already have the corresponding Group Role, the system will recognize this and automatically add the appropriate Group Role to the person's record in Archie. However, there is no such automatic linkage when Document Roles are deleted. In such cases, you may need to follow up to check whether the corresponding Group Role should also be deleted.
To validate an individual review from within Archie
- Find the review you want to validate.
- Right-click the review and choose Reports > Validate. Any Errors and Warnings identified will be displayed in the report viewer.
See also Review Reports
RevMan validation rules
The majority of the validation rules used in Archie correspond to those used in RevMan.
Validation rules are divided into two types: those that result in error messages and those that result in warnings. Errors must be corrected to ensure that a review is published in its present form. Warnings are non-critical but serve as guidelines for complying with the correct format of Cochrane reviews. Some rules apply to protocols only (P), some apply to reviews only (R), and some apply to both reviews and protocols (P+R).
The context in which you run the validation affects what information may be available. There are four cumulative sets of validation checks:
- In RevMan as you type - everything that can be checked immediately without contacting Archie.
- In the RevMan validation report - also includes contacting Archie to check references to reviews.
- In the Archie Validation report - also includes a check for Topics links.
- In the Archie Publication Wizard validation report - also includes checks for publication status and history.
Checks in RevMan as you typeAlso in RevMan validation report, Archie Validation report, and Archie Publication Wizard validation report. | ||||
Section or Field | Rule | Stage | Message | Warning or Error |
Title | Cannot be empty. | P + R | Section is empty. | Error |
Title | Cannot exceed 256 characters | Title is longer than 256 characters. | Error | |
Authors | Cannot be empty. | P + R | Section is empty. | Error |
Author (person) | First Name and Family Name cannot both be empty. | P + R | First Name and Last Name are empty. | Error |
Author (group) | Group Name cannot be empty. | P + R | Group Name is empty | Error |
Author | Record must be linked to Archie. | P + R | Record is not linked to Archie. | Error |
Author (person) | City cannot be empty for any of the addresses. | P + R | City is empty. | Error |
Author (person) | Country cannot be empty for any of the addresses. | P + R | Country is empty. | Error |
Author (person) | First Name or Family Name should not be empty. | P + R | First Name or Family Name is empty. | Warning |
Author (person) | Organisation should not be empty for any of the addresses. | P + R | Organisation is empty. | Warning |
Contact person | First Name and Family Name cannot both be empty of the Primary Address. | P + R | First Name and Family Name are empty. | Error |
Contact person | Department, Organisation, Address 1 and Address 2 cannot all be empty of the Primary Address. | P + R | Department, Organisation, Address 1 and Address 2 are empty. | Error |
Contact person | City cannot be empty of the Primary Address. | P + R | City is empty. | Error |
Contact person | Country cannot be empty of the Primary Address. | P + R | Country is empty. | Error |
Contact person | Email cannot be empty of the Primary Address. | P + R | E-mail is empty. | Error |
Contact person | First Name or Family Name should not be empty of the Primary Address. | P + R | First Name or Family Name is empty. | Warning |
Dates | Assessed as Up-to-date cannot be empty. | R | Assessed as Up-to-date is empty. | Error |
Dates | Date of Search cannot be empty. | R | Date of Search is empty. | Error |
Dates | Assessed as Up-to-date cannot be in the future. | R | Assessed as Up-to-date is in the future. | Error |
Dates | Date of Search cannot be in the future. | R | Date of Search is in the future. | Error |
Dates | Assessed as Up-to-date should not be more than six months after Date of Search. | R | Assessed as Up-to-date is more that six months after Date of Search. | Warning |
Dates | Next Stage Expected should not be empty. | P | Next Stage Expected is empty. | Warning |
Dates | Next Stage Expected should not be in the past. | P + R | Next Stage Expected is in the past. | Warning |
Dates | Protocol First Published should not be empty for a published review. | R (published) | Protocol First Published is empty. | Warning |
What's new | Section cannot be empty unless protocol or review is new. | P + R (not new) | What's new is empty. | Error |
What's new | Only one declaration event is allowed. | P + R | More than one declaration event ('New citation' or 'No longer being updated'). | Error |
What's new | If an Updated event is present, the Date of search should be less than two years old. | R | Review is declared to be updated, but Date of search is more than two years ago. | Warning |
What's new | If a New citation: conclusions not changed event is present, there should usually also be an Updated event. | R | A new citation is declared without the review being updated. This should only be used in rare circumstances if a serious error in the citation record needs to be corrected. | Warning |
What's new | If a Feedback incorporated event is present, there should be feedback in the review. | P + R | A 'Feedback incorporated' event is included, but the Feedback section is empty. | Warning |
Event | Only events relevant to the current stage are allowed. | P + R | Event is not allowed at [Protocol/Full review] stage. | Error |
Event | Date cannot be empty. | P + R | Date is empty. | Error |
Event | Description cannot be empty. | P + R | Description is empty. | Error |
Event | Dates cannot be in the future | P + R | Date is in the future. | Warning |
Event | Withdrawn reviews only support Amended events. | R | Withdrawn reviews only support Amended events. | Error |
Abstract | Abstract should not exceed 700 words. | R | Section is longer than 700 words (word count [n]). | Warning |
Abstract | Abstract cannot exceed 1000 words. | R | Section is longer than 1000 words (word count [n]). | Error |
Plain language summary | Summary should not exceed 400 words. | R | Section is longer than 400 words (word count [n]). | Warning |
Plain language summary | Summary cannot exceed 700 words. | R | Section is longer than 700 words (word count [n]). | Error |
| Summary title (not DTA) | Default text '[Summary title]' should be modified. | R | Section is empty. | Error |
| Summary text (not DTA) | Default text '[Summary text]' should be modified. | R | Section is empty. | Error |
| Summary title (DTA only) | Default text '[Summary title]' should be modified. | R | Section is empty. | Warning |
| Summary title (DTA only) | Default text '[Summary text]' should be modified. | R | Section is empty. | Warning |
Main text sections | Mandatory text sections (depending on stage) and activated text sections (under mandatory parent sections) cannot be empty. Most main text sections are mandatory with three exceptions (see below). | P + R | Section is empty. | Error |
Acknowledgements, Contributions of authors | Sections should usually not be empty. | P + R | Section is empty. | Warning |
Published notes | Cannot be empty for withdrawn reviews. | P + R | For a withdrawn review, this section should contain the reason for withdrawal. | Error |
Study characteristics | All fields should not be empty at the same time. | R | Section is empty. | Warning |
Summary of findings tables, Summary of results tables (DTA) | Numbering sequence should be unbroken. | R | There is a gap in the numbering sequence - use Renumber. | Warning |
Summary of results tables (DTA) | Cannot be empty. | R | Section is empty. | Error |
Summary of findings table, Summary of results table (DTA) | Title cannot be empty. | R | Title is empty. | Error |
Additional tables | Numbering sequence should be unbroken. | P + R | There is a gap in the numbering sequence - use Renumber. | Warning |
Additional table | Title cannot be empty. | P + R | Title is empty. | Error |
Additional table | Table should be linked from the text. | P + R | Table is not linked from the text. | Error |
Additional table | Links to tables should follow a sequential order. | P + R | The order in which Tables are linked is not correct. Links to Table [n] must come after links to Table [m]. | Warning |
Additional table | Number of columns should not exceed 10 columns | P + R | Table contains more than 10 columns. | Warning |
Additional table | Number of columns cannot exceed 25 columns. | P + R | Table contains more than 25 columns. | Error |
Included study, Excluded study | Study should have at least one reference. | R | No reference found. | Warning |
Reference | All fields should not be empty at the same time. | P + R | Reference is empty. | Warning |
Reference | Required fields should not be empty. | P + R | [Field name] is empty. | Warning |
Cochrane review reference, Cochrane protocol reference | SO field should be 'Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews'. | P + R | Journal/Book/Source should be Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. | Warning |
Cochrane review reference, Cochrane protocol reference | Should have DOI identifier. | P + R | DOI is missing. | Warning |
Cochrane review reference, Cochrane protocol reference | The DOI identifier should be specified correct. | P + R | Multiple error messages depending on what is wrong. | Warning |
Additional references | References cannot be reused | [identifier] is already used as an id in included or excluded studies. | Warning | |
Additional reference | Reference should be linked from the text. | P + R | Reference is not linked from the text. | Warning |
Data and analyses | Numbering sequence of comparisons should be unbroken. | R | There is a gap in the numbering sequence - use Renumber. | Warning |
Comparison | Name cannot be empty. | R | Name is empty. | Error |
Comparison | Numbering sequence of outcomes should be unbroken. | R | There is a gap in the numbering sequence - use Renumber. | Warning |
Comparison | Should not have empty outcomes. | R | One or more outcomes have no associated study data. | Warning |
Outcome | Name cannot be empty. | R | Name is empty. | Error |
Outcome | Numbering sequence of subgroups should be unbroken. | R | There is a gap in the numbering sequence - use Renumber. | Warning |
Outcome | An active choice af labels for graph axes is required. | R | The default graph label (Favours [experimental]/Favours [control]) for forest plots must be changed. | Error |
Numeric outcome | I2 test should be < 95% if totals are calculated. | R | An I2 of [value] represents highly inconsistent findings across studies, and may indicate an error in the data. | Warning |
Other outcome | No column heading should be empty. | R | One of the column headings is empty. | Warning |
Subgroup | Name cannot be empty. | R | Name is empty. | Error |
Numeric subgroup | Cannot be excluded from analysis. | R | Subgroup not included in analysis. | Error |
Numeric subgroup | I2 test should be < 95% if subtotals are calculated. | R | An I2 of [value] represents highly inconsistent findings across studies, and may indicate an error in the data. | Warning |
Numeric study data | Cannot be excluded from analysis. | R | Study data not included in analysis. | Error |
Inverse variance outcome or subgroup | Option to enter number of participants has been selected, but no data have been entered for any studies. | R | The option to enter number of participants has been selected, but no data have been entered. | Warning |
Dichotomous study data | Events <= Total and Total > 0. | R | Study data are invalid. | Error |
Continuous study data | SD >= 0 and Total > 0. | R | Study data are invalid. | Error |
Inverse variance study data | SE >= 0. | R | Study data are invalid. | Error |
O-E and variance study data | V >= 0. | R | Study data are invalid. | Error |
Tests (DTA) | Numbering sequence should be unbroken. | R | There is a gap in the numbering sequence - use Renumber. | Warning |
Analyses (DTA) | Numbering sequence should be unbroken. | R | There is a gap in the numbering sequence - use Renumber. | Warning |
Figures | Numbering sequence should be unbroken. | P + R | There is a gap in the numbering sequence - use Renumber. | Warning |
Figures | The recommended Number of figures has been exceeded | The recommended maximum number of figures (6) has been exceeded - please remove [n]. | Warning | |
Figure | Figure should be linked from the text. | P + R | Figure is not linked from the text. | Error |
Figure | Generic figures, flow diagrams orRisk of Bias/Quality table plots should be smaller than 1000 x 2000 pixels. | P + R | Image is [x] pixels wide and [y] pixels high. Size is too big to fit on some screens or printers. | Warning |
Figure | Links to figures should follow a sequential order. | P + R | The order in which Figures are linked is not correct. Links to Figure [n] must come after links to Figure [m]. | Warning |
Sources of support | Section should not be empty. | P + R | No sources of support found. | Warning |
Source of support | Name cannot be empty. | P + R | Name is empty. | Error |
Feedback | Numbering sequence should be unbroken. | P + R | There is a gap in the numbering sequence - use Renumber. | Warning |
Feedback item | Title cannot be empty. | P + R | Title is empty. | Error |
Feedback item | Links to feedback items should follow a sequential order. | P + R | The order in which Feedback are linked is not correct. Links to Feedback item [n] must come after links to Feedback item [m]. | Warning |
Feedback text section | Section should not be empty. | P + R | Section is empty. | Warning |
Appendices | Numbering sequence should be unbroken. | P + R | There is a gap in the numbering sequence - use Renumber. | Warning |
Appendix | Title cannot be empty. | P + R | Title is empty. | Error |
Appendix | Section should not be empty. | P + R | Section is empty. | Warning. |
Appendix | Links to appendices should follow a sequential order. | P + R | The order in which Appendices are linked is not correct. Links to Appendix [n] must come after links to Appendix [m]. | Warning |
Checks in RevMan validation reportFrom version 5.2 and newer. Also in Archie validation report and Archie Publication Wizard validation report. | ||||
Cochrane review reference, Cochrane protocol reference | A cited Cochrane review's DOI value should match with a valid Cochrane review. | P + R | CD number in the citation ([CDnumber]]) is not linked to any Cochrane review in Archie. | Warning |
Cochrane review reference, Cochrane protocol reference | A cited Cochrane review's title should match with the actual published version. | P + R | Review title in the citation ([title]) for the Cochrane review | Warning |
Cochrane review reference, Cochrane protocol reference | A cited Cochrane review's DOI Pub value cannot be greater than the review update no. | P + R | Incorrect pub number. | Warning |
Cochrane review reference, Cochrane protocol reference | A published version should exist for the given issue and year ofa cited Cochrane review. | P + R | No published version of the cited Cochrane review ([CDnumber]) is | Warning |
Cochrane review reference, Cochrane protocol reference | A cited Cochrane review should be in the same stage (Protocol or Review) as the actual published version. | P + R | The cited Cochrane review ([CDnumber]) is not a [stage] version. | Warning |
Checks in Archie validation reportAlso in Archie Publication Wizard validation report.
| ||||
Topics | Reviews should be linked to one or more topics. | P + R | Review is not linked to any topics. | Warning |
Checks in Archie publication wizard | ||||
| Section or Field | Rule | Stage | Message | Warning or Error |
| Status | A New review cannot have status Withdrawn. | P + R | A new [protocol/full review] cannot be withdrawn. | Error |
| Events | A reinstated review (where previously published version was withdrawn) that is not substantively updated. | P + R | A reinstated (previously withdrawn) [protocol/full review] must have a new citation and a [Major change/ Conclusions changed] event. | Error |
| History | A protocol should be published before review is published. | R | There is not record of a published protocol for this full review. | Warning |
| Title | Published reviews should have a unique title. | P + R | There is another published [protocol/full review] with the same title in the [name of CRG] | Warning |
| A previously deleted review cannot be published again. | R | Only protocols can be resurrected, and they must return as active with a new citation and a Major change event. | Error | |
| The address for an Author or Contact person should not both be marked as hidden and published in a review. | P + R | The [label] address for [name] is marked as hidden, but the [contact details are/affiliation is] published with this review. This conflict should be resolved. | Warning | |
| The stage cannot be set back. | R | The stage cannot be set back from [stage] to [stage]. | Error | |
| All updates should have a new citation. | R | All updates should have a new citation. | Warning | |
| A review cannot be published with both a 'No longer being updated' and an 'Updated' event in What's new table. | R | A stable (no longer updated) review cannot have an Updated event under What's New. | Error | |