2.1.5 Registering surveys with the Cochrane Operations Unit (COU)

(that are being sent to Cochrane mailing lists)

A survey constitutes a set of questions posted to a Collaboration mailing list, by someone who is not a member of that list, in order to collect statistical or other information. A survey can be:

• Core or non-core Cochrane business (e.g. the 2006 review of the Steering Group would be classified as core Cochrane business, while a survey about travel arrangements to Cochrane Colloquia is non-core business); and
• Internal (i.e. from a member of a Cochrane entity) or external (i.e. not from a member of a Cochrane entity).

Questions posted to a Collaboration mailing list by a member of that list do not constitute a survey, and fall outside this process (including those to the Cochrane Consumer Network list by members of that list).

Core information for surveys and covering e-mails

Surveys, and their covering e-mails, must contain the following core information:

• Survey title
• Who the survey is from
• Why the survey is needed
• The benefit of the survey to The Cochrane Collaboration
• What the results will be used for
• How and when the results will be disseminated
• Whether or not the respondents will be de-identified
• The statements:
  “Responding to this survey is entirely optional.”
  and
  “The Cochrane Operations Unit (COU) has been notified of this survey, according to the policy laid out in The Cochrane Policy Manual, but neither the COU nor the Steering Group take responsibility for the survey’s content.”
  
  The surveys should also be web-based where possible, so that the cover e-mail need only include the internet link and core information.
  • The Cochrane Operations Unit (secretariat@cochrane.org) should be notified in advance about the intention to conduct a survey. This notification should include the survey title, intended survey date, target mailing lists, and the survey’s cover e-mail. If someone sends a survey directly to one of The Cochrane Collaboration’s entity lists without notifying the COU, the COU will send a follow-up message to that list, advising them of this fact. Once someone has notified the COU that they intend to conduct a survey of members of The Cochrane Collaboration, the fact that the COU has been notified should be indicated clearly on the survey itself.
  • Surveys should only be sent to official Collaboration mailing lists and not to individuals accessed through The Cochrane Collaboration’s Information Management System (Archie).
  • The person or group conducting the survey is responsible for ensuring that the survey does not contain offensive or inappropriate language.
  • Completion of surveys is not compulsory, and surveys should clearly indicate this.
  • Dissemination of surveys should not coincide with a module (publication) deadline (see www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/mrwhome/106568753/SubmissionDeadlines.html).