Applying house style to Cochrane reviews using the Cochrane Style Guide and Review Manager

Tags: Workshop
Gillespie L, MacLehose H

Objectives: The purpose of this workshop is to:

1. familiarize participants with the new Cochrane Style Basics;

2. demonstrate features in Review Manager (RevMan) that can be used to check reviews before submission;

3. provide an opportunity for participants to discuss ways of implementing Cochrane Style Basics in RevMan.

Description: The Cochrane Style Guide is widely used by people responsible for copy editing, such as Review Group Co-ordinators and other interested people (including some review authors). However, the Cochrane Style Guide Working Group identified the need for a summary document, specifically for review authors, that incorporates some of the most essential style elements that authors should address before sending their Cochrane review to the editorial base; these include writing abbreviations, presenting statistical results, and reference style.

The Cochrane Style Guide Working Group has designed a two-page summary of the Cochrane Style Guide (Cochrane Style Basics) that contains these essential items, in a format that editorial bases can modify according to their needs. The Cochrane Style Basics could help prevent common copy-editing errors.

The workshop will consist of two parts:

Part 1. An introduction to Cochrane Style Basics including a practical exercise to familiarize participants with its contents.

Part 2. A demonstration of how to implement aspects of Cochrane Style Basics in RevMan and use features of RevMan to check a protocol or review before submission to the editorial base.

Participants may wish to bring their own laptop containing their protocol or review. We will provide copies of Cochrane Style Basics.

Target audience: Review authors and other people involved in producing protocols and reviews.

Style: Training workshop