Note: The term "Cochrane Reviews" is used to refer to both Cochrane Reviews and protocols for Cochrane Reviews. Policy statements included in this document are highlighted in bold, italic text. In this policy the term "Peer reviewer" describes someone who peer reviews a manuscript (previously referred to as a "Referee") and the term "review author" refers to the author of a Cochrane Review.
It is best practice to contact new potential peer reviewers at an institutional email address rather than a generic email address (for example, Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) to reduce the risk of fraud. This can occur when someone other than a legitimate is able to complete a peer review report by intercepting an invitation email. Of course, there are circumstances when this might not be possible and, in such cases, the CRG editorial team should be aware of the risk and proceed with common sense. Peer reviewers' contact details should be stored in Archie, not in external spreadsheets. A link to the academic / professional profile of potential can be added to a Note on the review's Properties sheet. Please encourage new peer reviewers to create a Cochrane Account so that they can be added to a workflow. If you create an Archie person record for a new Peer reviewer, this will automatically create a linked Cochrane Account, and they will be sent an email with instructions to activate the account and choose a password. If they chooses not to activate their account, their details will remain in Archie (the activation email informs them of this).
The invitation email to the should contain the following:
- The title, abstract and plain language summary of the Cochrane Review (or title only if a protocol);
- Deadline for return of comments;
- A statement that all of the information shared is confidential;
- A link to the Cochrane conflict of interest policy.
The follow-up email to the (after acceptance of the invitation) could include the following:
- Published protocol (for reviews);
- Title proposal/registration form (for protocols);
- Full manuscript (note that this should only be shared with peer reviewers after the invitation to review has been accepted);
- Screening documents from the screening team at the Editorial and Methods Department, if available;
- Review-specific information, such as completed data extraction forms and copies of the included/excluded studies (for reviews);
- Peer review checklist – either the generic Cochrane version, the CRG-specific version, or the mandatory sections of the peer review checklist if no checklist is used (see section 4.1), including:
- potential conflicts of interest declaration;
- permission to include the peer reviewers name in the collated peer review comments to the author, in the acknowledgements section of the Cochrane Review and on the CRG website;
- mandatory statements
- Details of who to contact with questions or concerns;
- Specific peer reviewer guidance from the CRG*.
- A link to the “Resources for peer reviewers” page of the EPPR, including information on PubLons, ORCID, MECIR standards and The Committee on Publication Ethics Guidelines for peer reviewers. (see Section 2 “Peer review conduct” for further information)*, plus a link to data protection. The suggested wording for a data protection statement is included in the standard workflow template task email 'C2 Decision: Agree to serve as peer reviewer?'
*Only necessary if you are inviting the for the first time.