Article type
Year
Abstract
Background:
One of the primary activities of the 14 independent centres of the Cochrane Collaboration is to provide training about methods for conducting systematic reviews. It is imperative to analyse the outcomes of the training activities provided.
Objectives:
To analyse the outcomes of the Systematic Review Protocol Development workshops (PDW) at the South Asian Cochrane Network and Centre (SASIANCC).
Methods:
Data about participants for the PDW conducted at the SASIANCC between June 2007 and February 2013 were collected and additional data were retrieved from Archie (Cochrane's information management system).
Results:
205 participants took part in the eight PDWs run by SASIANCC since 2007. About 37% of workshop participants were female and the regional distribution of the participants is shown in Figure 1. The job profiles of the participants is described in Table 1. Only 70 (34%) participants had Archie accounts, 67 of them are registered as authors (including one inactive) or possible contributors. The remaining people were either referees or consumers. Of the 66 active authors with a registered title, 34 (52%) had registered prior to attending the PDW and 32 (48%) after. The average time taken to register a title after attending a PDW was approximately 10 months (range 1 month to 4 years). Most PDW participant authors were from the Neonatal Group, Oral Health Group and Infectious Diseases Group (five from each Group).
Conclusions:
PDW participants need to be followed up and supported so that they can overcome the barriers that prevent them from registering as Cochrane authors. These barriers need to be identified by further studies and strategies to address the barriers need to be implemented. There is also a need for diversification to ensure a more uniform regional spread.
One of the primary activities of the 14 independent centres of the Cochrane Collaboration is to provide training about methods for conducting systematic reviews. It is imperative to analyse the outcomes of the training activities provided.
Objectives:
To analyse the outcomes of the Systematic Review Protocol Development workshops (PDW) at the South Asian Cochrane Network and Centre (SASIANCC).
Methods:
Data about participants for the PDW conducted at the SASIANCC between June 2007 and February 2013 were collected and additional data were retrieved from Archie (Cochrane's information management system).
Results:
205 participants took part in the eight PDWs run by SASIANCC since 2007. About 37% of workshop participants were female and the regional distribution of the participants is shown in Figure 1. The job profiles of the participants is described in Table 1. Only 70 (34%) participants had Archie accounts, 67 of them are registered as authors (including one inactive) or possible contributors. The remaining people were either referees or consumers. Of the 66 active authors with a registered title, 34 (52%) had registered prior to attending the PDW and 32 (48%) after. The average time taken to register a title after attending a PDW was approximately 10 months (range 1 month to 4 years). Most PDW participant authors were from the Neonatal Group, Oral Health Group and Infectious Diseases Group (five from each Group).
Conclusions:
PDW participants need to be followed up and supported so that they can overcome the barriers that prevent them from registering as Cochrane authors. These barriers need to be identified by further studies and strategies to address the barriers need to be implemented. There is also a need for diversification to ensure a more uniform regional spread.