Article type
Year
Abstract
Objective: The Cochrane Collaboration is an international organization. This project assessed the international distribution of activity within Collaborative Review Groups.
Methods: Using Issue 1, 2002 of The Cochrane Library, data were extracted from the section headed 'Editorial information' in the module of each Collaborative Review Group. This repeats the exercise done for Issue 3, 2000 (18 months previously). The data were extracted independently by the authors, crosschecked, and a single dataset was agreed. The data can be analyzed by the type of contributor (including editor, review group coordinator, trial search coordinator, consumer, referee, and reviewer) and the country in which they reside, according to their Collaborative Review Group. If a country had not been allocated to an individual, s/he was not included. Individuals listed in more than one category or by more than one Collaborative Review Group were counted each time.
Results: Of the 49 Collaborative Review Groups, 7718 contributors were identified within 78 different countries. This represents an increase in both the number of contributors (from 5436) and countries (from 64), since the middle of the year 2000. The ten countries with the most contributors were UK (3081), USA (817), Australia (766), Canada (556), Netherlands (319), Italy (299), Denmark (206), New Zealand (189), Germany (167), and Spain (165). 4242 (55%) of the contributors were listed as reviewers.
Conclusions: The activity within Cochrane Collaborative Review Groups is international. The relative contribution of different countries is variable. Additional analyses will be included in our presentation. The spreadsheet is available from the Cochrane Collaboration Secretariat (callen@cochrane.co.uk).
Methods: Using Issue 1, 2002 of The Cochrane Library, data were extracted from the section headed 'Editorial information' in the module of each Collaborative Review Group. This repeats the exercise done for Issue 3, 2000 (18 months previously). The data were extracted independently by the authors, crosschecked, and a single dataset was agreed. The data can be analyzed by the type of contributor (including editor, review group coordinator, trial search coordinator, consumer, referee, and reviewer) and the country in which they reside, according to their Collaborative Review Group. If a country had not been allocated to an individual, s/he was not included. Individuals listed in more than one category or by more than one Collaborative Review Group were counted each time.
Results: Of the 49 Collaborative Review Groups, 7718 contributors were identified within 78 different countries. This represents an increase in both the number of contributors (from 5436) and countries (from 64), since the middle of the year 2000. The ten countries with the most contributors were UK (3081), USA (817), Australia (766), Canada (556), Netherlands (319), Italy (299), Denmark (206), New Zealand (189), Germany (167), and Spain (165). 4242 (55%) of the contributors were listed as reviewers.
Conclusions: The activity within Cochrane Collaborative Review Groups is international. The relative contribution of different countries is variable. Additional analyses will be included in our presentation. The spreadsheet is available from the Cochrane Collaboration Secretariat (callen@cochrane.co.uk).