If the Research Integrity Editors and/or CoI panel identify a published review or protocol as not adhering to the Cochrane conflict of interest policy, the Editorial & Methods Department (EMD) will contact the Managing Editor of the Cochrane Review Group (CRG) editorial team on behalf of the Research Integrity Editors and/or CoI panel.
- If an update of an affected review is already planned, or is planned as a result of the Research Integrity Editors and/or CoI panel decision, the Research Integrity Editors and/or CoI panel will ask the CRG editorial team to make a statement within the review to identify it as noncompliant and set out a plan to become compliant.
- For a protocol, the Research Integrity Editors and/or CoI panel will ask the CRG editorial team to make a statement within the protocol to identify it as noncompliant and set out a plan for it to be compliant when it is published as a review.
- If the Research Integrity Editors and/or CoI panel ask for the protocol or review to be withdrawn because no update will be made, see the separate guidance.
Table 1 outlines what the statement must include, where it should be located, and which What's New/publishing event to use. Table 2 and Table 3 provide template text that CRGs can use in the affected review(s) or protocol(s) in their immediate response (stating noncompliance) and in their longer-term response (addressing compliance after a full update or amendment).
Table 1. What the statement must include, where it should be located, and which What's New/publishing event to use
The statement must: | Note | |
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1 | Include the following information:
| — |
2 | Be added to the 'Declarations of interest' section | The 'Declarations of interest' section is the most prominent location for this information (accessible from the top and side navigation of published Cochrane Reviews). The original text in the 'Declarations of interest' section must not be changed; only add the new statement or other content as agreed. |
3 | Have an associated What's New/publishing event of 'Amended’ (no new citation) |
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Table 2. Template text for the noncompliance statement and What's New/publishing event (immediate response)
Section | Time | Purpose | Template text | Notes on text and formatting |
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Declarations of interest | Following Research Integrity Editors and/or CoI panel request | To state noncompliance and plan for updating/revising to become compliant | For reviews: "Clarification statement added from the Co-ordinating Editor on [date]: This review was found by the Cochrane Research Integrity Editors and/or CoI panel, post-publication, to be noncompliant with the Cochrane conflict of interest policy. It will be updated by [date]. The update will have [a majority of authors and lead author free of conflicts/67% of authors and the first and last author free of relevant financial conflicts - delete as appropriate depending on whether the 2014 or 2020 policy applies]." For protocols: "Clarification statement added from the Co-ordinating Editor on [date]: This protocol was found by the Cochrane Research Integrity Editors and/or CoI panel, post-publication, to be noncompliant with the Cochrane conflict of interest policy. When it is published as a review it will have [a majority of authors and lead author free of conflicts/67% of authors and the first and last author free of relevant financial conflicts - delete as appropriate depending on whether the 2014 or 2020 policy applies]." |
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What’s New/publishing event | Following Research Integrity Editors and/or CoI panel request | To alert readers to statement of noncompliance plan for becoming compliant | For reviews: "Clarification message from the Co-ordinating Editor added to the Declarations of interest statement about the review’s compliance with the Cochrane conflict of interest policy." For protocols: "Clarification message from the Co-ordinating Editor added to the Declarations of interest statement about the protocol's compliance with the Cochrane conflict of interest policy." |
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Table 3. Template text to address compliance when completing a full update or revision, and What's New/publishing event (longer-term response)
Section | Time | Purpose | Template text | Notes on text and formatting |
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Declarations of interest | Publication of update/revision to become compliant | To declare new conflicts of interest and to clarify history of conflicts of interest | For reviews: "When originally published, the authors declared no conflict of interest [or – the above/below conflicts of interest]. From [date], the following conflicts of interest were declared. These conflicts applied during the period that the review was in preparation." |
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What's New/publishing event | Publication of update/revision to become compliant | To alert readers to changes in the declarations of interest | For reviews: "The authors' Declarations of interest have been updated to reflect the review's compliance with the Cochrane conflict of interest policy." |
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