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Version history

‘What’s new’ events in Review Manager (RevMan) become the Version History of a protocol or a review when it is published on the Cochrane Library.

Use ‘What’s new’ events in Review Manager (RevMan) to describe the changes to the protocol or review since it was last published. What’s New events are used to help readers understand the type of change made to a new version of a Cochrane Review (or protocol for a Cochrane Review), such as an amendment, an update, and whether the conclusions have been changed or not. This is to ensure that the history of changes to a review remain with the review as new versions are published.

It is essential to select the appropriate option as set out in the following Tables, and to provide as much detail as possible to describe the nature of the change. The reasons for this are:

  • To ensure a new citation is applied when appropriate. Note that assigning a new citation generates a new digital object identifier (DOI) and citation in external databases, including PubMed.
  • To give readers clear information on what has changed between versions.
  • To select the appropriate what’s new events before publication because these cannot be changed after publication (e.g. it is not possible to ‘undo’ a new citation). 

(lightbulb)RevMan guidance: You can include a maximum of two new ‘What’s New’ events in RevMan. Only information about the changes since the last published version should be in the ‘What’s New’ table.

‘What’s New’ events from previously published versions must be moved to the 'History' table in RevMan.

The 'Date' field in RevMan must be populated with the date of publication (or as close to it as possible).

Also see: Digital object identifier (DOI) and website address (URL) of a Cochrane Review and Citation versions: DOIs and URLs.

‘What’s New’ events for Cochrane Reviews and protocols

Article type

Type of change 

Conclusions changed?

New citation version?

‘What’s new’ events to select in RevMan

Review
  • Addition of new studies (e.g. the full inclusion of a study previously awaiting classification)
  • Removal of one or more studies previously included (e.g. when the studies have been retracted)

Yes

Yes

(1) Updated

AND

(2) New citation: conclusions changed

No

Yes

(1) Updated

AND

(2) New citation: conclusions not changed

Review
  • Any changes to the following sections or elements (except for minor text or formatting errors that do not impact the data or review findings or interpretation):
    • Abstract
    • Plain Language Summary
    • Summary of Findings Tables
    • Scope of the review (e.g. new outcomes, comparisons, types of participants or developments in the intervention or its delivery)
    • Methods
    • Results (e.g. in effect estimates or confidence intervals)
    • Certainty in the results (as expressed by GRADE ratings)
    • Conclusions

Yes

Yes

(1) Amended

AND

(2) New citation: conclusions changed

No

Yes

(1) Amended

AND

(2) New citation: conclusions not changed

Protocol
  • An important change to the objectives or scope of the proposed review (e.g. new outcomes or changes to the priority or definition of the outcomes, comparisons, methodology, types of participants or developments in the intervention or its delivery)

not applicable

Yes

(1) New citation: major change

Review or protocol
  • Minor typographical errors that do not impact the data, findings or interpretation
  • Changes to information presented in the background section that will not otherwise affect the eligibility criteria (e.g. amending definition or burden of disease, or updating supporting references)
  • One or more studies removed from ‘Studies awaiting classification’
  • New search performed, but studies not fully incorporated into the results of the review (i.e. added to ‘Studies awaiting classification’)*
  • Republishing a withdrawn review to add new information to the withdrawal notice (e.g. to indicate that the review has been superseded by a different review)
  • Addition of an Editorial note (see Editorial notes)
  • Changes to authorship (see Authorship policy)

No

No

(1) Amended


* Studies are fully incorporated into the Cochrane Review if added to the included studies, excluded studies, ongoing studies, or studies awaiting classification (only if all reasonable efforts to integrate it into included, excluded, or ongoing have failed), or no new studies identified in search. Studies are not fully incorporated if studies identified by the search are added to studies awaiting classification only (see exception above). See ‘Reporting search dates’ for further information.

Withdrawing published Cochrane Reviews

The withdrawal of a published Cochrane Review or a protocol for a Cochrane Review automatically creates a new citation version. To withdraw, see the policy. guidance, and process.


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