4th edition [beta] (May 2008)
The Cochrane Style Guide is designed to help review authors and people responsible for copy editing to use a consistent style when copy editing Cochrane Reviews and other documents produced by The Cochrane Collaboration.
The beta version will be available on the internet for three to six months. The Cochrane Style Guide Working Group will then prepare a ‘final version’ later this year based on users’ experience with Review Manager 5 and other feedback received within this time.
What's new
Section |
Change |
Rationale for new version |
Release of new version of Review Manager (Version 5.0) |
Abbreviations and acronyms |
Additions to commonly used abbreviations: inverse variance (IV) and Mantel-Haenszel (M-H) Additions to abbreviations to avoid: other medical abbreviations, Body Mass Index, alternate-day treatment, week, weight |
Additional figure: Cochrane Review |
Renamed ‘Figures: Cochrane Review’ |
Author contact details: Cochrane Review |
Clarification of format of telephone and fax numbers. Indicated which fields are mandatory in RevMan 5 |
Character formatting |
‘Font effects’ and ‘Font styles’ have been merged into a new section called ‘Character formatting’ |
Common terms |
Modified guidance for the Chi2 statistic (or Chi2 test) and added guidance for the I2 statistic, Tau2, and time-to-event analysis |
Computer software used to prepare and view Cochrane Reviews |
Modified section to reflect the new version of software (RevMan 5); removed screenshots as may not accurately reflect final format of published reviews |
Figures |
Updated to reflect RevMan 5 features |
Font effects and styles |
These have been merged into a new section called ‘Character formatting’ |
Headings: Cochrane Review |
Updated to reflect new heading levels in RevMan 5 |
Hyphens |
Moved to section on ‘Punctuation’. |
Indentation in Cochrane Reviews |
Updated to reflect RevMan 5 features |
Lists |
Comprehensively revised according to new features in RevMan 5 (including automated list functions) |
Names: Family names |
Updated to include guidance on Chinese names |
Names: Specific to The Cochrane Collaboration |
Deleted the Cochrane Database of Methodology Reviews, ModMan, RevMan Analyses, and Statistical Analysis Added Cochrane Review of Diagnostic Test Accuracy, Cochrane Handbook for Diagnostic Test Accuracy Reviews, Cochrane Information Management System (IMS), Archie |
Numbers |
Minus sign recommended |
Paragraph break |
New section |
Punctuation |
Added ‘hyphens’ |
References |
The Cochrane Style Guide is now the main source of information for all reference types (previously held in the RevMan 4 User Guide). The reference list has had a major revision and has been adapted for Review Manager 5. |
Search methods: citing databases and search registers |
Removed guidance regarding the automatic insertion of text referring to a Cochrane Review Group’s search strategy |
Spacing |
Deleted; replaced with ‘Paragraph break’ |
Statistical and mathematical presentation |
Decimal places: text changed to focus on odds ratios, risk ratios, and standardized mean differences P value: text modified based on feedback from statistician |
Symbols and special characters |
Revised to show the new symbols available in RevMan 5 |
Tables: Cochrane Review |
Comprehensively revised for the new types of tables available in RevMan 5 |
| Titles of Cochrane Reviews | Specific guidance deleted; refers readers to the Handbook for guidance on the structure of titles for Cochrane Reviews of Interventions. General style guidance still included in the Cochrane Style Guide |
Helping the reader
As well as using the Cochrane Style Guide, remember to think about the reader when preparing your Cochrane Review or document.
- Use short, sharp sentences (get to the point quickly).
- Let someone else read your review or document (they may give you tips on how to make it easier to read or tell you if it doesn’t make sense).
- Use plain English (you don't have to use complicated language to talk about science).
- Be consistent within complete documents in your choice of punctuation and spelling.
Feedback
Contact Harriet G MacLehose if you would like to suggest an addition or change to the Cochrane Style Guide.
Cochrane Style Guide Working Group
The Cochrane Style Guide is prepared by the Cochrane Style Guide Working Group. The Group discusses feedback submitted by people within The Cochrane Collaboration and provides direction on the content.
About the Cochrane Style Guide
The Cochrane Style Guide was originally developed by the participants of the 'Prospective copy edit pilot', and was approved for use within The Cochrane Collaboration on 6 December 2002 by The Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group. Old versions are archived.
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