Exclude an analysis from publication


There may be situations when you want to keep an analysis you have created, but do not want to publish it. For example; when there are no studies to include. In that case, you can exclude the analysis from publication. It will remain in RevMan but will not display on the Cochrane Library.

Empty analyses and single-study analyses

If no data are available for an analysis, it is preferable to exclude the analysis from publication and explain the absence of data clearly in your results. 

If only one study is included in an analysis, you can choose whether to exclude an analysis from publication. Your decision may be based on the usefulness to the reader of displaying the single-study analysis result visually, and the overall number of analyses. If you choose to exclude a single study analysis from publication, the results should still be acknowledged and reported in the full text of the review. 

You cannot exclude part of an analysis from publication. You can either:

  • Exclude an empty analysis (e.g. Analysis 1.1)
  • Delete an empty part of an analysis (e.g. Analysis 1.1.2)

Exclude an analysis from publication

  • Click on the analysis title to expand the analysis.
  • Click on the Action button for the analysis.
  • Select Exclude from Publication. If this button is greyed out, follow the instructions below to remove any links to the analysis in the text, then retry.
  • The excluded analysis will appear greyed out in the list of analyses for this analysis group and will move to the bottom of the list.
  • If excluding the analysis leaves a gap in the numbering, click on the Action button for the analysis and select Renumber Analyses.

You can re-include an analysis at any time. Click on the Action button for the analysis and select Include for publication.


Please note that it is not possible to exclude qualitative analyses from publication.

If an analysis is linked either in the text or in a figure of your review, you cannot exclude it from publication. The Exclude from Publication option under the Action button will be greyed out and if you click on it, a tooltip will appear indicating where the analysis is linked to. You need to remove any links before excluding an analysis from publication.

Delete part of an analysis

Expand the relevant part of the analysis. Use the bin icon or the Delete Subgroup button to remove this part of the analysis.