Top tips: RevMan Web

Getting started

• Use Chrome as your browser
• Log in to RevMan Web and select your review on the ‘My Reviews’ panel
• You can work on different parts of the review alongside your co-authors – everyone’s changes are continuously saved in the online version of the review

Working on your review, tagging and storing versions and submitting for editorial approval

• Edits to your review are automatically and continuously saved in RevMan Web. You are always viewing the latest version. There is no need to click a ‘Save’ button to save changes
• Tag a version of your review to note important changes for your co-authors; to enable comparing versions, and reverting to a specific version.
• You will need to address any validation errors before submitting your review for editorial approval. This locks the review for editing by the editorial team and authors will not be able to work on the review until the editors make it available again

Where to look for help

• RevMan Web training videos
• RevMan Web Knowledge base
• Webinars and other RevMan Web resources on Cochrane Training
• Email support@cochrane.org

Top tips: RevMan 5

Getting started

• Download RevMan 5 to begin work on your review
• Set up your preferences and connect to the Cochrane server
  • Tools > Preferences > General
  • Enter your name
  • Tick the following 3 boxes to maintain version control:
    • Show warning if opened files have not been checked out from the server
    • Show warning when checking out reviews
    • Validate format of open files
  • Tools > Preferences > Connection
  • Select Archie Server
  • Enter your Cochrane Account username and password
  • Tick Save username and password when RevMan is closed
  • Tick Use secure connection
  • Click Test to test the connection – if you see an error that notifies you that you are not connected to the Archie server, contact support@cochrane.org

Check out your review for editing; check in to save

• Important: you need to ‘check out’ your review to edit it in RevMan 5. While you have the review checked out, it is locked; your co-authors and the editorial team cannot access it until you check it back in
• Always check in the review at the end of each editing session
• To check out your review, click on ‘Go to My Reviews’ in RevMan 5 (Home icon)
• Check the review shows as ‘Available’
• Click on the review title
• Click ‘Check out’ (when editing, always choose to ‘Check out’ the review not ‘Download’)
• When the review is open, check that the notifications in the bottom right-hand corner of the RevMan window display as follows: ‘Status: Checked out; Version: Latest version’.
• To check in your review at the end of each editing session, go to File > Check in 
• Add a description and click ‘Finish’ to store a draft
• Add a description and click ‘Submit for editorial approval’ to send to your editorial team
• You will need to address any validation errors before checking in for editorial approval
• Checking in for editorial approval locks the review for editing by the editorial team and authors will not be able to work on the review until the editors make it available again

Saving reviews offline

• Offline working is not recommended as it can create problems of version control
• Let your co-authors and editorial team know if you will be editing an offline version of the review
• Use File > Save to store a local version of the review
• Always save your review after editing if working offline
• Check in your version as soon as you are back online – if you are not able to check in, email a copy of your saved file to your editorial team

Automatic backup

• RevMan automatically saves a local backup of your review at regular intervals. The default is every 10 minutes. You can change this under Tools > Preferences > Files 
• The backup file is saved by default to your computer's temporary folder 
• You can specify a different location in Tools > Preferences > Files
• If your computer or RevMan crashes while you are working on a review, you will be given the option to open the latest backup of the review the next time you open RevMan

Where to look for help

• RevMan 5 User Guide
• RevMan 5 support FAQs
• Email support@cochrane.org