Comments on published articles
Providing guidance on the Cochrane Library editorial policies on
- comments and complaints: Comments
- peer review: Post-publication peer review
Background
Cochrane's view
Commenting on Cochrane protocols, reviews, and editorials provides an opportunity for Cochrane Library users to contribute to the ongoing improvement and updating of Cochrane Library articles.
Cochrane's comments process is in place to meet ICMJE recommendations on post-publication correspondence, and COPE recommendations on post-publication discussions and corrections. Seeking and responding to comments through a transparent process are important parts of the scientific process and publication ethics.
Comments guidance
For commenters
Public guidance on submitting comments is provided on the Cochrane Library.
For authors responding to comments
Cochrane's comments requirements include expectations for authors submitting a response to a comment.
When notifying authors of a comment received on their article, the CDSR Comments Support team reminds authors that by signing a licence for publication form for a Cochrane review, authors agree to be accountable for ensuring that all questions related to the review, including, without limitation, questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the review, are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Process
Submission, moderation, and publication decision
Comments can be received via the Cochrane Library any time after article publication. Following moderation by the CDSR Comments Support team (Editorial Policy & Research Integrity team), submitted comments are either published, not published, or escalated for further consultation to reach a publication decision.
Notifications
Comments are forwarded to the corresponding author of the Cochrane Library article after the comments publishing process has concluded. A managing editor is copied into the correspondence if applicable (see table below). To comply with data protection regulations, the email address of the original commenter is not shared with the author team. It does remain part of the HappyFox record for the comment, to be used by editors for correspondence concerning the comment only.
| Comment status | Comment forwarded to corresponding author | Article was supported by | Who is cc'd? | Authors advised |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Published | Immediately following its publication on the Cochrane Library | CRG (active) | CRG Managing Editor | ME cc'd for awareness and (prior to July 2024) to support the authors in publishing any changes to the article |
| CRG (inactive) | – | Contact Cochrane Support for help in publishing any changes to the article | ||
Central Editorial Service Comments on reviews handled exclusively by CES have been less frequent. A standard approach can be agreed following consolidation of editorial functions (i.e. ability to support publishing changes to an article) to CES | ME shown in EM record if still on staff | ME cc'd for awareness and to support the authors in publishing any changes to the article | ||
Otherwise | Contact Cochrane Support for help in publishing any changes to the article | |||
Not published | Immediately following notification to the original commenter | CRG (active) | CRG Managing Editor | ME cc'd for awareness |
CRG (inactive) | – | |||
Central Editorial Service | ME shown in EM record if still on staff | ME cc'd for awareness |
Supporting an author team responding to a comment
Previous expectations
Prior to mid-2023, comments received via the Cochrane Library were forwarded to CRG editors, who held responsibility for a) informing authors of a comment received on their article, b) deciding whether the CRG and/or the authors would be submitting a response, c) liaising with the authors to compose a response, and d) delivering the response to the CET comments moderator. Usually, the original comment was not published until the CRG had completed steps (a)-(d).
The process of moderating and publishing comments was centralized in mid-2023 to improve commenter experience, reduce workload, and adjust to Cochrane's ongoing changes to editorial structure.
Current expectations
Editors are no longer expected to lead authors in responding to comments. It is communicated clearly to contact authors that it is their responsibility to respond to comments and to indicate in their response whether anything in the article will change as a result of the comment. Managing Editors who are cc'd into communication regarding comments may want to initiate support to authors but are not required to do so.
A review may or may not be amended, updated, or, in rare cases, withdrawn as a result of a comment. If a comment does prompt a change to a review, authors are advised to contact their managing editor or Cochrane Support for help with publishing the changes, as is standard for amendments and updates (see Dates and events in RevMan Knowledge Base).