Background: People who want to disseminate or use information from Cochrane reviews often do not have the time, energy or skills to filter through them for relevant information. However, systematic methods to present Cochrane reviews in plain language have been lacking.

Objectives: To develop a template to extract and present data from Cochrane reviews and Summaries of Findings tables (SoF). The aim of the template is to produce an accessible and precise product for dissemination.

Methods : Our experiences developing consumer summaries for Arthritis.ca and Backinfo.no; research evidence; guidelines for producing patient information; and user testing and focus groups fed into the template. The template was reviewed and discussed during a patient education workshop. The template was then piloted using reviews with and without SoF and feedback was obtained, particularly from the Cochrane Consumer Network.

Results: A template was developed to use when writing plain language summaries of Cochrane reviews. The template provides a systematic approach to extracting and presenting valuable information from a review. To ensure precision of the presentation of results, it uses the SoF. The SoF is adapted to present data about benefits and harms in a plain language table of quantitative data. For consistency, the template provides standard phrases to present data in qualitative statements and to present the quality of the evidence. If necessary, the template can also be used when an SoF is not available.

Conclusions: Information from Cochrane reviews can be filtered, distilled and presented in a useable plain language format by using the template. This plain language summary can be used by consumer and healthcare organisations, the media, patient information producers and professional associations to disseminate Cochrane information that is relevant, readable, accessible and precise.