Headings

Add or adjust a subheading

Additional subheadings can be added within sections. You can add nested headings at a level below the level of the current heading for most sections (heading level 2 and below). RevMan will display the available headings in the formatting toolbar, and you can select the heading level you would like to add there.

Leave out headings that are not required

A heading will not be published if there is no text in the text box directly below the heading. You will see a warning in the validation report if some sections are left blank, but these will not block submission of the review, as there are legitimate reasons for these sections being blank.

However, note that text in certain sections is necessary and you will see an error on the validation report if the section is blank. Errors must be resolved before submission.

Intervention review subheadings

The intervention review template aids authors in what to report where to ensure compliance with PRISMA and will improve consistency across Cochrane reviews for readers.

The following table shows how intervention review headings have changed with the switch to the focused review format. It indicates where text has moved to if a section has been removed in switching to the focused review format.

Flexible reviews

In the 'Text' section of flexible reviews only the Heading 1 (H1) level is displayed. Sub-headings can be created by authors from the formatting toolbar. See Add or adjust subheadings.

Heading changes with an asterisk (*) apply to all review types.

Level 1 heading	H1
Level 2 heading	H2
Level 3 heading	H3
Level 4 heading	H4

Focused intervention review format (red text indicates a change)	Previous intervention review format	Notes
(H1) Title	(H1) Title
(H1) Abstract	(H1) Abstract
(H2) Rationale	(H2) Background
(H2) Objectives	(H2) Objectives
(H2) Search methods	(H2) Search methods
(H2) Eligibility criteria	(H2) Selection criteria
(H2) Outcomes		New
(H2) Risk of bias		New
(H2) Synthesis methods	(H2) Data collection and analysis
(H2) Included studies		New
(H2) Synthesis of results	(H2) Main results
(H2) Authors' conclusions	(H2) Authors' conclusions
(H2) Funding*		New
(H2) Registration*		New
(H1) Plain language summary	(H1) Plain language summary
(H1) Plain language summary title	(H1) Plain language summary title
Key messages	Key messages
Tailored heading: for example, What is epilepsy?	Tailored heading: for example, What is epilepsy?
Optional tailored heading: for example, How is epilepsy treated?	Optional tailored heading: for example, How is epilepsy treated?
What did we want to find out?	What did we want to find out?
What did we do?	What did we do?
What did we find?	What did we find?
Main results	Optional heading: Main results
What are the limitations of the evidence?	What are the limitations of the evidence?
How up to date is this evidence?	How up to date is this evidence?
(H1) Summary of findings	(H1) Summary of findings
Summary of findings tables	Summary of findings tables
(H1) Background	(H1) Background
(H2) Description of the condition	(H2) Description of the condition
(H2) Description of the intervention and how it might work	(H2) Description of the intervention
	~~(H2) How the intervention might work~~	Section removed; text moved to ‘Description of the intervention and how it might work’ section
(H2) Why it is important to do this review	(H2) Why it is important to do this review
(H1) Objectives	(H1) Objectives
(H1) Methods	(H1) Methods
(H2) Criteria for considering studies for this review	(H2) Criteria for considering studies for this review
(H3) Types of studies	(H3) Types of studies
(H3) Types of participants	(H3) Types of participants
(H3) Types of interventions	(H3) Types of interventions
(H2) Outcome measures	(H3) Types of outcome measures
(H3) Critical outcomes	(H4) Primary outcomes
(H3) Important outcomes	(H4) Secondary outcomes
(H2) Search methods for identification of studies	(H2) Search methods for identification of studies
(H3) Electronic searches	(H3) Electronic searches
(H3) Searching other resources	(H3) Searching other resources
(H2) Data collection and analysis	(H2) Data collection and analysis
(H3) Selection of studies	(H3) Selection of studies
(H3) Data extraction and management	(H3) Data extraction and management
(H3) Risk of bias assessment in included studies	(H3) Assessment of risk of bias in included studies
(H3) Measures of treatment effect	(H3) Measures of treatment effect
(H3) Unit of analysis issues	(H3) Unit of analysis issues
(H3) Dealing with missing data	(H3) Dealing with missing data
	~~(H3) Assessment of heterogeneity~~	Section removed; text moved to end of ‘Synthesis methods’ section
(H3) Reporting bias assessment	(H3) Assessment of reporting biases
(H3) Synthesis methods	(H3) Data synthesis
(H3) Investigation of heterogeneity and subgroup analysis	(H3) Subgroup analysis and investigation of heterogeneity
(H4) Equity-related assessment		New
(H3) Sensitivity analysis	(H3) Sensitivity analysis
(H3) Certainty of the evidence assessment (L3)	(H3) Summary of findings and assessment of the certainty of the evidence
(H2) Consumer involvement		New
(H1) Results	(H1) Results
(H2) Description of studies	(H2) Description of studies
(H3) Results of the search	(H3) Results of the search
(H3) Included studies	(H3) Included studies
(H3) Excluded studies	(H3) Excluded studies
(H2) Risk of bias in included studies	(H2) Risk of bias in included studies
(H2) Synthesis of results	(H2) Effects of interventions
(H3) Equity assessment		New
(H3) Reporting biases		New
(H1) Discussion	(H1) Discussion
(H2) Summary of main results	(H2) Summary of main results
(H2) Limitations of the evidence included in the review	(H2) Overall completeness and applicability of evidence
	~~(H2) Quality of the evidence~~	Section removed; text moves to beginning of ‘Limitations of the evidence included in the review’ section
(H2) Limitations of the review processes	(H2) Potential biases in the review process
(H2) Agreements and disagreements with other studies or reviews	(H2) Agreements and disagreements with other studies or reviews
(H1) Authors conclusions	(H1) Authors conclusions
(H2) Implications for practice	(H2) Implications for practice
(H3) Equity-related implications for practice		New
(H2) Implications for research	(H2) Implications for research
(H3) Equity-related implications for research		New
(H1) Supplementary materials*	(H1) Appendices
All supplementary materials listed
(H1) Additional information	(H1) Additional information
(H2) Acknowledgements	(H2) Acknowledgements
(H2) Contributions of authors	(H2) Contributions of authors
(H2) Declarations of interest	(H2) Declarations of interest
(H2) Sources of support	(H2) Sources of support
	~~(H2) Differences between protocol and review~~	Section removed; text moved to beginning of ‘Methods’ section*
(H2) Registration and protocol*		New
(H2) Data, code and other materials*		New
(H2) Notes	(H2) Notes
(H2) What's new	(H2) What's new
(H2) History	(H2) History
(H1) References	(H1) References
(H1) Figures	(H1) Figures
(H1) Tables*	(H1) Additional tables