Follow these five steps when withdrawing a published Cochrane Review. All five steps apply for Cochrane Reviews and protocols for Cochrane Reviews, although editorial teams can apply only steps 1, 2, and 5 if a protocol is withdrawn because it is out of date, new authors are needed, or because the protocol has been split into or merged with other protocols, as per the policy. Also see the policy for withdrawing published Cochrane Reviews.

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• Reason(s) for withdrawal, starting with: "This protocol for a Cochrane Review has been withdrawn."
• Who is withdrawing the protocol (and whether the authors agree).
• Whether the protocol will be revised and republished in future.

Step 3. Approval from

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Editor in Chief

The Network Senior Editor must Editor in Chief must approve the withdrawal of each Cochrane Review. Provide the:

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