COCHRANE CENTRAL ADVISORY GROUP (CCAG) REPORT TO THE COCHRANE COLLABORATION STEERING GROUP

 

 

 

DECISIONS NEEDED IN RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS 4 AND 5.

 

 

 

1.  How many meetings, and of what type (e.g. face-to-face, by teleconference), has your Advisory Group had since April 2005?

 

There has not been a face-to-face meeting of CCAG since 3 October 2004 at the 12th Cochrane Colloquium (Ottawa, ON, Canada). The final version of the minutes of the Ottawa meeting have been circulated and approved. All CCAG minutes from 1998 to the present are now available at www.cochrane.us/ccag_minutes.htm.  

 

A CCAG teleconference took place on 24 March 2005 (see www.cochrane.us/CCAG/ 2005_March24Teleconference.pdf for minutes).  Topics discussed included the formation and constitution of a new group to replace CCAG.

 

A CCAG teleconference took place on 21 April 2005 (see www.cochrane.us/CCAG/ 2005_Apr21Teleconference.pdf for minutes). Topics discussed included the decision not to have CCAG subgroup advise IMSG (instead would propose new group); 

 

A CCAG teleconference took place on 18 July 2005 (see www.cochrane.us/CCAG/ 2005_July18Teleconference.pdf for minutes). Topics discussed included: the remit of the proposed CENTRAL and Trials Register advisory group (CTAG), which will replace CCAG, if CCSG agrees; restoration of the handsearch files lost as of Issue 1, 2000; the Central Management Plan (CMP) update; and other issues.

 

The CCAG’s next face-to-face meetings are scheduled to take place at the 13th Cochrane Colloquium in Melbourne, Australia on October 24 and 25, 2005.

 

2.  Supply an up-to-date list of the members of your Advisory Group.

 

As of September 2005, the members of the CCAG are:

Kay Dickersin (CCAG Convenor, USCC)

Chris Del Mar (Coordinating Editor Representative, Acute Respiratory Infections Group)

Davina Ghersi (CCSG Representative, Breast Cancer Group)

Diane Haughton (RGC Representative, Neonatal Group)

Dymphna Hermans (TSC Representative, Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group)

Gail Higgins (TSC Representative, Renal Group)

Carol Lefebvre (Information Specialist, UKCC)

Steff Lewis (CCSG Representative, Stroke Group)

Eric Manheimer (Field/Network Representative, Complementary Medicine Field)

Jessie McGowan  (TSC Representative, Effective Practice and Organization of Care Group)

Hugh McGuire (TSC Representative, Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Group)

Marijke Moll (Field/Network Representative, Rehabilitation and Related Therapies Field)

Indy Rutks (TSC Representative, Prostate Group)

 

Andrew Cullis, Pauline Howarth, Deborah Pentesco-Gilbert, Karen Robinson, Hazim Timimi, and Susan Wieland are ex officio members of the CCAG.

 

3.  Summarize any significant actions taken by your Advisory Group since your last report, and significant actions planned between now and the next meeting of the CCSG in Melbourne in October 2005.

 

Previous six months:

•                      3 new CRG TSCs were appointed to CCAG to broaden the range of TSC experience on the group, one of whom was put forward by the TSCs themselves, the other 2 by members of CCAG.

 

•                      The remit for the new advisory group, CTAG, was agreed by CCAG after consultation with the TSCs, IMSG and the CEO and submitted to CCSG for approval.

 

•                      Submissions for Issues 3 and 4, 2005 and Issue 1, 2006 of CENTRAL have been processed at the USCC, and the logs on the handsearch and specialized register submissions have been sent to TSCs and CCAG. This task continues to involve extensive quality control undertaken at the USCC, and individual feedback and instructions are sent to TSCs during and after processing. More detailed information on problems encountered during processing of submissions can be found on the USCC website at http://www.cochrane.us/logs.htm.

 

•                      Updating of the CMP has been initiated.

 

•                      The Master List update mailing process was modified to meet TSC needs.

 

Next six months:

•           Make an updated version of the CMP available at http://www.cochrane.us/central.htm.

 

•               Work with the Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group, the Information Management Systems Group, Wiley Interscience, the Cochrane Publishing Policy Group, and TSCs to further develop and refine CENTRAL.

 

•               Decide upon a final set of fields to include in CENTRAL for publication in The Cochrane Library; begin to standardize journal titles in CENTRAL; develop systems and rules for publishing references to ongoing and unpublished studies. Continue work on improving CENTRAL that had begun in the previous six months.

 

4.  Does your Advisory Group have any questions that you would like the Steering Group to answer?  If so, please list them.

 

Does the CCSG have any suggestions for improving the situation with entities that have no TSCs or have TSCs who work part-time (due to funding issues as reported by the MRG), since the integrity of CENTRAL relies upon work performed by TSCs?

 

5.  Does your Advisory Group wish to raise any problems, and recommended solutions, which you would like the Steering Group to discuss?  If so, please list them.

 

Is funding available to assist with any new CENTRAL development and refinement which might be proposed by CTAG and agreed by CCSG in the future? 

 

In the meantime, the USCC is planning to complete the December 2005 submission for CENTRAL, but does not have funding in place for the March submission (Issue 3 2006).   Some decisions will need to be made by the CCSG regarding the development of CENTRAL before plans for Issue 3 can be implemented. 

 

6.  Do you foresee any problems in keeping within the budget you submitted for the current financial year (April 2005 to March 2006)?  This is to help in the Steering Group’s planning of expenditure over that time period.

 

The CCAG budget for conference calls is adequate.  We are concerned about year-to-year funding for CENTRAL activities.

 

Kay Dickersin, Convenor, CCAG               28 September 2005