Cochrane project management

This page is for

(tick) Cochrane Unit Leads


Project management and access to reviews

Every Cochrane review in RevMan where authors are actively working should have:

  • an open project of type 'Protocol' or 'Review/Update'.
  • a 'chip' or label on the dashboard. See Editorial and production lock. A green chip will show if a submission/revision is due. A purple chip will show if the review is with editorial.

Reviews that show as 'read-only'

Reviews are locked as read-only in RevMan if there is no open project. This means that the review is not being actively worked on by authors; and that authors do not have an invitation to submit their draft to Central Editorial Service. 

  • When a review is read-only, authors can still read the full text, and export all text and data. See Export data. 

Locate Reviews using 'Find in portfolio'

Unit Leads can use the ‘Find in portfolio’ function to locate specific reviews within their unit portfolio:

  • Open the relevant review in RevMan;
  • Navigate to the review Dashboard;
  • Select ‘Find in Portfolio’ from the Actions panel;
  • This will open up a new tab in your browser and highlight the review in the relevant submenu in your portfolio - i.e. 'In progress', 'Not started', 'Assessment due', 'Complete'.

Reviews with an open project but no submission information

Reviews can have an open 'Evidence surveillance' project and no 'chip' or label on the dashboard. This means the Unit Lead is assessing the review for updating. For every other project type, a 'chip' or label must show. 

Actions for Cochrane Unit Leads

Check your portfolio 

  • In Progress tab: are there any reviews where authors are actively working and there is no 'chip' or label showing?
  • Not Started, Assessment Due and Completed tabs: are there any 'read-only' reviews in your portfolio where authors are actively working offline/outside RevMan?
  • If so, please take the following actions:

Evidence surveillance project

Open this project if you are assessing a review for updating.

This is the only project type that Cochrane Unit Leads should open.

Cochrane Support open new protocol and review/update projects as proposals are approved - see below. 

To open an 'Evidence surveillance' project:

  • Locate the review in your portfolio > click on the three-dot context menu to the right of the review title.
  • Select 'Assess project status' (if the review is in the 'Assessment due' or 'Completed' tab); select 'Start project' if the review is in the 'Not started' tab.
  • Choose project type 'Evidence surveillance' > select 'Save' or 'Initiate project'. 
  • The review will move to the 'In Progress' tab. The tasks and milestones on the dashboard will guide you through the steps in the Evidence surveillance project template.
  • The final step in the Evidence surveillance project template is to decide whether a new protocol or update is needed. If so, please complete the Evidence surveillance project and submit a proposal.

Starting new projects

New protocol

right arrow Open an 'Evidence surveillance' project to determine if a new review is needed and to assess available evidence.

If the outcome of the ‘Evidence surveillance’ project is that a new protocol is required, please submit a proposal. It may firstly be necessary to contact the authors of the previous published version to confirm if they wish to be involved in an update. 

When the proposal is accepted, Cochrane Support will create the new protocol in RevMan, and will initiate a new 'Protocol' project. Opening the project allows the authors to access the review. Unit Leads do not need to action this.

Cochrane unique identifiers

  • When a new Cochrane protocol is created in RevMan Portfolio by Cochrane Support: unique identifier not yet assigned
  • After creation of first submission package = DR (draft) number is assigned to the protocol
  • Submission receives an Accepted decision = CD (Cochrane Database) number is assigned
  • CD number is maintained and carried over from protocol to review to update

New update

right arrow Open an 'Evidence surveillance' project to determine if an update is needed and to assess available evidence.

Please do not start a new update project in RevMan. If a new update needs to begin, please submit a proposal to update in Editorial Manager. This will ensure the authors receive an invitation to submit the update to Central Editorial Service. 

If the outcome of the ‘Evidence surveillance’ project is that a new update or protocol is required, please submit a proposal.

When the proposal is accepted, Cochrane Support will initiate a new 'Review/Update' project. Opening the project allows the authors to access the review. Unit Leads should not action this.

Move to review after protocol publication

When a protocol is published, the protocol project closed automatically. A new 'Review/Update' project opens automatically. 

Project closure after review or update publication

When a review is published, the 'Review/Update' project will close automatically. The review will become 'read-only' and move to the Complete tab. Authors will not be able to access the review until a new invitation is sent and a project is started.  

Please do not start a new update project without first submitting a proposal to update. This will ensure the authors receive an invitation to submit the update to Central Editorial Service. 

Project closure after reject decision

After a reject decision for a protocol or review, the project will close automatically. The review will become 'read-only' and move to the Complete tab. Authors will not be able to edit the review, but they can export their review content or purchase a RevMan subscription and request a transfer of the review from support@cochrane.org. 

Project closure if authors no longer wish to proceed

  • Before submission: closing an invitation does not close a project automatically. Please contact support@cochrane.org. Cochrane Support will ensure the invitation is closed in Editorial Manager and will close any open project manually.
  • After submission: withdrawing a submission in Editorial Manager does not close a project automatically. Please contact support@cochrane.org. Cochrane Support will check the submission has been correctly withdrawn in Editorial Manager and will close any open project manually.
    • Final disposition 'Completed – Withdrawn' in Editorial Manager shows as a 'Removed' event on the RevMan decision log. 

Amendments and living systematic reviews

If you need to publish an amendment, contact support@cochrane.org. 

Review that will no longer be updated

Reviews may no longer be updated if the certainty of the evidence is high and the inclusion of additional studies is unlikely to change the current conclusion; or if the review has been superseded (for example, if the intervention of interest is no longer relevant or if the research question has already been addressed in another review).

right arrow Close any open projects. The review will move to the 'Completed' tab. Select 'Assess project status' and choose 'No Project' to mark the review as not requiring further assessment. It will stay on the 'Completed' tab and will not move to 'Not started' (pending). 

Other scenarios

Reassess at a later date

The outcome of an 'Evidence surveillance’ project may be that an update is not needed at this time. 

right arrow Close any open projects. The review will move to the 'Completed' tab. Select 'Assess project status' and choose 'No Project'. Choose a date for reassessment. The review will then move to the 'Assessment due' tab on the selected date. 

Pending protocol, review or update 

You may wish to begin a review update is planned but external factors such as insufficient resources (e.g. funding, contributors) mean that the review cannot begin. you can select 'Pending project' and the project will move to the ‘Not started’ tab. 

right arrow Close any open projects. The review will move to the 'Completed' tab. Select 'Assess project status' and choose 'Pending project'. The review will move to the 'Not started' tab. If/when you have resource to start work, open an 'Evidence Surveillance' project (return to step 2).