Background: Among the activities identified in The Cochrane Collaboration's current strategic plan is the development and implementation of mechanisms to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort. This strategy is undermined when reviews relevant to a number of Review Groups are not made available for cross-group input. The distinctive scope of the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group (EPOC) and the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Group (CCCRG) means that some review topics submitted to EPOC or CCCRG could be supported and published by either of these groups or another Review Group. Some reviews include interventions relevant to EPOC or CCCRG, but are published by different groups. EPOC or CCCRG may provide editorial input, but the scope of a review may not be identified as potentially relevant until the review is published, and the opportunity to contribute expertise and resources is lost. Currently, there is no policy for identifying and managing reviews which overlap two or more Review Groups. The EPOC Co-ordinator has been awarded a Cochrane Visiting Fellowship, one of the objectives of which is to lead development of such a policy.

Objectives: To describe the process of developing a policy to address reviews which overlap between Review Groups.

Methods: Meetings were held over five days with members of EPOC and CCCRG. The initial meetings focused on the scope of the problem, with brainstorming sessions, and identification of possible solutions. The proposed policy was refined through further discussion and feedback.

Results: The key aspects of the process and the associated challenges will be presented.

Conclusions: This opportunity for policy development, provided by the Cochrane Visiting Fellowship, resulted in collaborative work between Review Groups to address an important issue. The support of the Cochrane Visiting Fellowship towards this project is gratefully acknowledged.