Objectives: The objective of this workshop is to provide Cochrane review authors with knowledge relevant to preparing systematic reviews of CAM therapies.

Summary: Using the example of acupuncture, this workshop will examine some of the issues that can be encountered at each stage of the CAM review preparation process. Topics to be covered include:

- evaluating the adequacy of the title for the question raised;

- conducting literature searches;

- determining intervention classification;

- defining treatment adequacy;

- choosing controls;

- scoring quality;

- reporting results.

A presentation component will include a review of research studies that have been conducted to identify biases that may operate to cause spurious findings in CAM systematic reviews. A hands-on training exercise will familiarize participants with some of the challenges of evaluating and assessing trials eligible for a systematic review, including challenges in outcome data extraction, methodological quality evaluation, and treatment adequacy evaluation. This workshop will be modelled on similar workshops presented at the Barcelona, Ottawa, and Melbourne Cochrane Colloquia.

Level of knowledge required to attend: basic.