8. Cochrane Review Production Tools

Cochrane editorial and authors teams have several tools to help them with review production:

Editorial Manager

Editorial Manager is a system being introduced by Cochrane in 2021 to streamline communication between authors, editors and reviewers, and will replace part of Archie. Editorial Manager is a commercial product from the company Aries Systems used by journal publishers worldwide. 

CRGs will move a selection of protocols, reviews, and updates currently in development into EM, with a pilot starting during June 2021. All remaining groups will start using EM between 21 June and 31 August 2021. Current planning is for all CRGs to be using Editorial Manager for all active editorial workflows by December 2021, when Archie workflows will be turned off for new submissions.

There is a training site available and details of the background to the commissioning of the new system.

Archie

Archie is the repository for Cochrane's documents, contact details, and workflows. It contains data about all the people involved in Cochrane and all the documents and Reviews that Cochrane produces.

In Archie, it is possible to read, print, and compare current and past versions of a document. Archie operates using a system of workflows for title registration, protocols and updates. Tasks may be assigned to you via these Archie workflows.

You’ll need a Cochrane Account username & password to access Archie. Your Managing Editor (ME) will provide this for you.

Review manager (RevMan)

RevMan is the software used for preparing and maintaining Cochrane Reviews.

Covidence

Covidence is recommended by Cochrane as part of its author support toolkit. It is a screening and data extraction tool for systematic review authors, and supports key steps in the Cochrane review process.

EPPI-Reviewer

EPPI-Reviewer is a tool developed by the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre) at the Institute of Education in London. It is designed to support complex reviews.

GRADEPro

GRADEPro GDT is a software tool that helps Cochrane authors to create summary of findings tables. It is a web-based tool, which allows you to import the results of statistical analyses from RevMan.

Cochrane Engage

Cochrane Engage is a web-based platform, which aims to connect people with reviews who need assistance with those who have the time and expertise to help.