This Cochrane Group is no longer active

Due to changes in NIHR funding in evidence synthesis, this Cochrane Group is no longer active. We are so grateful for the work of our contributors.

If you would like to get involved with Cochrane, please visit our Join Cochrane pages.

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If you have any queries, please contact Cochrane Support.

Peer review

Peer review for Cochrane protocols and reviews

In accordance with the Cochrane peer review policy, external peer reviewers comment on all new Cochrane Vascular protocols and reviews prior to publication. The Cochrane Vascular Managing Editor, in collaboration with the Assistant Managing Editor, is responsible for managing the peer review process, which is overseen by the Coordinating Editors.

Our reviews and protocols are peer-reviewed by at least one clinical or topic specialist and a statistician and/or methodologist to provide feedback on each draft protocol and review. We also aim to include at least one consumer (healthcare service user) peer reviewer to provide feedback on each draft protocol and review.

Our peer reviewers may be experts in a particular field, or healthcare users. Peer reviewers are not always expected to have expertise in systematic review methodology. A clinician or healthcare user is normally asked to comment on

  • the healthcare issue and the interventions under review
  • the planned parameters for studies to be included in the review (inclusion criteria - study design, population, intervention, comparison and outcomes)
  • general 'readability' of the protocol and review

We normally ask peer reviewers to return their feedback on a protocol or review within 14 days. We have an open, named peer review process where all peer reviewers' names and affiliations are available to review authors. We provide guidance for clinical and consumer peer reviewers, use a structured feedback form and acknowledge peer reviewers’ contributions on our website. If you have any reason to suspect misconduct at any stage of our peer review process, please contact our Managing Editor. If you would like to be a peer reviewer for our protocols and reviews, please contact the Editorial Team or register your interest via join Cochrane.