Cochrane editors Editors and editorial staff can author Cochrane Reviews ("Cochrane Reviews" includes protocols, reviews, and updates) published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. This includes when the Cochrane Review is part of the editor's Cochrane Review Group's (CRG's) portfolio. In line with the Best Practice Guidelines on Publishing Ethics: A Publisher's Perspective (second edition), the editor Editor or editorial staff member who is an author of the Cochrane Review submitted for publication via their CRG must:
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- ensure that another Editor or member of the editorial staff takes on these roles. Practically this process should be administered by another member of the same CRG editorial team. If this is not possible then ask a member of another editorial team (e.g. another CRG or the Cochrane Editorial Unit), contact the Network Associate Editor.
If the Contact or Sign-off Editor(s) are selected from within the same CRG editorial team, it is essential they are independent; for example, it is not appropriate for someone to be a Contact or Sign-off Editor if an author of the review is their line manager. If in doubt, the Sign-off Editor for the review should be someone from another editorial team (e.g. another CRG or the Cochrane Editorial & Methods Department) as agreed with the Network Associate Editor.
A brief summary of the process followed should be included in the 'Conflicts of Declarations of interest' section of the Cochrane Review to let readers know that this potential conflict of interest has been addressed.