TaskExchange: Online collaboration in guideline and review production

Article type
Authors
Turner T1, Mavergames C2, Elliott J1
1Cochrane Australia
2Cochrane Central Executive
Abstract
Background: Efficient production of guidelines and systematic reviews relies on getting people with the right skills and availability completing a wide range of tasks at just the right time. TaskExchange (taskexchange.cochrane.org) is an online platform that supports collaboration within the evidence community. The aim of TaskExchange is to bring together people who need help with producing and disseminating guidelines and reviews with people who have the time and skills to help; facilitating efficient production of high-quality, relevant, up-to-date evidence.

Objectives: This paper describes the development, growth and future plans for TaskExchange, an online platform facilitating collaboration in health-evidence synthesis.

Methods: Development of TaskExchange was initially undertaken as part of Cochrane’s Project Transform. Recently the Guidelines International Network (GIN) has become a partner in TaskExchange enabling us to extend the use of TaskExchange to cover both guideline and review-related tasks.

Results: TaskExchange is an openly accessible online platform. Users sign in and create a profile, browse or search for relevant tasks, respond to tasks or post new tasks. Users can also sign up to be notified of new relevant tasks.

As of February 2017 TaskExchange has almost 300 tasks and approaching 1000 users, of whom approximately 40% are from outside Cochrane.

Conclusions: By bringing together the global evidence community, including Cochrane and GIN members, and enabling collaboration, TaskExchange has the potential to enable efficient production and use of high-quality, relevant, up-to-date evidence.