Rejection and appeals
Rejection
Under the editorial policy on rejection and appeals, Cochrane has the right to retain a copy of rejected Cochrane protocols, reviews, or updates for archival purposes. Cochrane also retains the right to allocate such titles to an alternative author team, and to use elements within the rejected submission that were developed by Cochrane.
It is recommended that editors take no action on a rejected title until after the appeals window has closed. (Under Cochrane's appeals process, authors must lodge their intent to appeal within seven days of the rejection decision being sent.) Once the appeals window has closed, consider making a rejected, unpublished review or update available to a new author team.
Appeals
Editorial roles and notifications
Appeal of an editorial decision to reject
Editors should be familiar with Cochrane's editorial policy on appeals of editorial decisions to reject, as well as the corresponding appeals process for authors, which outlines eligibility requirements and timeline expectations.
The appeals process is set up to be handled primarily between authors, independent editor(s) from Cochrane's Editorial Board, and the EPMD liaison. The EPMD liaison recruits the independent editor(s) and manages timelines and most communication.
An article's previous handling editor will be notified at two points for information only:
- At the initiation of the appeal, by being copied into the authors' email submitting an appeal
- At the conclusion of the appeal, by being copied into the independent editor(s)' decision email to the authors
Previous handling editors may be asked to provide additional information to the independent editor to assist their adjudication.
Appeal of a Conflict of Interest decision to reject
A separate appeals process applies to decisions to reject a manuscript whose author team is considered to be in breach of the applicable conflict of interest (CoI) policy. See sections 8.2 Appeals and 8.3 Non-adherence of the Conflict of Interest Policy for Cochrane Library Content (2020). Appeals received from authors on the basis of CoI decisions should be forwarded to the Research Integrity Editor.
Actions after the appeals process
Following an unsuccessful appeal (rejection upheld)
For appeals of an editorial decision to reject, authors are informed in the appeals process that if the reject decision is upheld (i.e. the appeal is unsuccessful), the independent editor’s decision is final: no further appeals can be made, and no further correspondence about the article will be entered into.
If authors contact their previous handling editor with an aim toward countering the appeal decision, editors can respond using the EM ad hoc email template "Response when an author tries to appeal again".
The process for appeals of a CoI decision allows for multiple appeals, managed by the Research Integrity Editor.
Following a successful appeal (rejection overturned)
Cochrane’s Central Editorial Service will handle the process for articles revised and resubmitted after a successful appeal. If the article was originally handled by the CES, a new handling editor will be assigned.
Support resources for appeals
Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
COPE's Core Practice #3 advises journals to have "a clearly described process for handling complaints against the journal, its staff, editorial board or publisher". Its resources on complaints and appeals focus primarily on complaints, but may be useful reference for complex appeals issues.