Cochrane Methods Support Unit - How can we help?

The increasing range and complexity of systematic review methods poses a challenge for authors and Cochrane Review Group (CRG) staff. The Cochrane Methods Support Unit (MSU) comprises three experienced methodologists and was set up in October 2019 to improve the consistency and quality of Cochrane Reviews by providing support and training for both complex and standard methods.

The session is a mix of short presentations, describing how the MSU is currently working and guided discussion to consider how they can adapt to meet the needs of authors and CRGs. The MSU and other members of the Cochrane Methods Team give an overview of:

the type and number of requests received so far, and how they work with CRG Networks and Methods Groups;
the guidance and resources they produce to help authors and editors, including protocol templates and editorial checklists for Risk of Bias 2 (RoB2);
work to grow and connect Cochrane’s community of methodologists to support review production.

Results of a survey that was circulated to CRGs in 2020 are used to guide a discussion about what type of support is most needed (e.g. for RoB 2, non-randomised studies, statistics) and in what format it is most helpful to authors and CRGs.