Refereeing is a critical part of the process to ensure the quality of Cochrane protols and reviews (a protocol is the first, developmental stage of a Cochrane review.) The idea of refereeing is that the draft manuscript of a protocol or review is given to some experts to critique it and suggest ways it could be improved. The editors and reviewers take these comments into account in developing the final draft that will actually be published on The Cochrane Library. The reviewers receive a complete copy of the referees comments.
Policy on refereeing of protocols and reviews
All protocols and reviews should be refereed by one or more persons from each of the following groups:
• Cochrane reviewers working in the area of interest
• Consumers or representatives of consumers
• Health care professionals who are not Cochrane reviewers
• Statisticians or methods experts
• Developing countries representatives
Refereeing is ‘open’ i.e. no attempt will be made to hide the identity of the reviewers or referees from each other. All feedback forms and other comments will be forwarded to the reviewers, along with a summary written by the contact editor.
When submitting the final version of the review for publication, the contact reviewer is expected to complete a form detailing changes that have been made to the review, and any disagreements they have with the referees’/editor's suggestions.
The contact editor will have the final decision as to which of the referees’ comments need to be addressed in the event of disagreement between referees or referee and reviewer.
All referees will be asked to declare any potential conflict.