Cochrane’s editorial and publishing policies can now be found on the Cochrane Library Editorial policies page. Cochrane authors and editorial teams should refer to the Cochrane Library as the primary source of information on this policy. For editorial guidance on policies the EPPR remains the primary location.

Authors of Cochrane Reviews (including updates and protocols for a Cochrane Review) and Editorials are required to sign a licence for publication each time a new citation version is prepared (for further information, please see the section on Editorial Approval). The Cochrane Review Group (or the Cochrane Editorial & Methods Department, if an Editorial) will send a notification to each listed author, reminding them to sign the licence for publication form. Publication in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews will proceed only once all authors have signed the licence for publication form.

The licence for publication forms include information on how to proceed when an author’s contributions are owned by the author’s Employer (including government work, and staff members of the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization), including addenda to the licences where appropriate. When an author’s contributions are owned by the author’s employer an addendum must be signed. Any other involvement from an external institution (e.g. funding, commissioning) does not require an addendum to be completed, but may require acknowledgment elsewhere in the review or protocol. 

Guidance is also provided for exceptional circumstances when a Cochrane Review Group Managing Editor must submit a licence for publication form on behalf
 of an author.