On Monday 16th April Cochrane published the first Cochrane-wide peer review policy. In addition to standardising current practice across all of Cochrane’s 53 Review Groups, the introduction of the new policy aims to improve transparency in communication and decision making, consistent with core Cochrane principles, and taking the opportunity to implement current best practice.
The key highlights of the new policy include:
- From January 2019 Cochrane will adopt a named peer review policy, whereby authors and peer reviewers know each other’s identities during the peer review process.
- A decision workflow for deciding when to peer review updated protocols and updated Cochrane Reviews.
- A minimum number and type of peer reviewer.
- A minimum standard for acknowledgement of peer reviewer contributions.
As the policy will require some Cochrane Review Groups to change the current practice significantly, the policy will be implemented between now and January 2019, with the aim that each Cochrane Review Group will be compliant with the new policy by January 2019.
If you have any comments of questions about the peer review policy, please contact Bryony Urquhart, Editorial and Methods Department.
David Tovey
Editor in Chief
