Background: The core function of Cochrane Review Groups (CRGs) is to facilitate the production and maintenance of high quality, relevant, up-to-date systematic reviews within their content area. To reach this objective each CRG is 'responsible for the development of a subject specific specialized register of trials, which serves to ensure that individual review authors within the CRG have easy and reliable access to the maximum possible number of studies relevant to their review topic. Typically, the editorial team will assume at least some, if not all, responsibility for examining new studies and forwarding them to appropriate authors.'1 Central to this process for the majority of CRGs is the Trials Search Co-ordinator (TSC). This survey examines the working practices of individual TSCs.

Objectives: This survey will examine the working practices of TSCs of five London-based CRGs.

Methods: TSCs from the Airways, Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis, Eyes and Vision, Injuries and Neuromuscular Disease CRGs will be sent a short email survey.

Questions will focus on:

- Electronic database searches;

- TSC involvement in the editorial process.


Data describing the historical experience of each CRG TSC will be gathered to help describe the participants and inform the conclusions. Responses will be analyzed separately for each CRG and compared across CRGs.

Results: To be presented at the Colloquium.

Conclusions: To be presented at the Colloquium.

Reference
1. Higgins JPT, Green S, editors. Searching for studies. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions 4.2.5 [updated May 2005]; Section 5.1. In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 3, 2005. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.