Our Central Editorial Service conducts a rigorous peer review process. Follow the guidance below to check your work carefully before you submit.
When you submit your manuscript, it must be of publishable standard and ready for peer review.
Acceptance rates
To be accepted for publication, your submitted manuscript must adhere to core methods guidance and editorial policies.
- 2024 protocol acceptance rate: 40%
- 2024 review acceptance rate: 75%
Please note that while our methods and peer review process are intended to ensure reviews are high quality and fit for publication, we are not able to accept all reviews. In some cases, we cannot publish reviews because they ultimately do not meet our standards for publication. Manuscripts that are not of publishable standard may be rejected on submission or following peer review. Sometimes reviews are not accepted because their scope is not a good match for Cochrane, or is not a priority for us.
We understand this can be disappointing, particularly if authors have spent time developing a review. If your review is not accepted, we will explain why. We encourage you to consider publishing future reviews with us.
Compliance with editorial policies
Your work will be assessed for compliance with the following policies on submission. Please read the full versions of each policy on our editorial policies page.
Conflict of Interest policy
Ahead of your submission deadline, all authors must download a declaration of interest form, complete it, and share with the Corresponding author before submission. Review our Conflict of Interest policy.
Authorship policy
All authors must meet our criteria for authorship.
- Author byline: please ensure that your byline is finalised before submission and matches the author list in RevMan. See information on Changes in authorship.
- Please note that Cochrane follows Wiley’s policy regarding submissions from sanctioned countries.
- Acknowledgement: contributors who have helped you with your work but do not meet the threshold for authorship can be named in the Acknowledgements in RevMan. You will need to obtain written permission from each contributor to be named in this section, and upload the relevant documents on submission. Use our suggested template email to seek consent from any other named contributors.
- If a Cochrane Review Group, Evidence Synthesis Unit, or Thematic Group has supported your work, please add a 'supported by' phrase to the byline in RevMan using a group attribution. Individual contributors within the supporting group can also be named in the Acknowledgements, with their permission as above, or as individual authors if they meet the criteria for authorship.
- If you have used our Cochrane Crowd Screen4Me service to screen your search results, you can name Screen4Me volunteers in the Acknowledgements without seeking additional permissions. Volunteers give this permission when agreeing to take part.
AI-generated content policy
If you used artificial intelligence (AI) tools when preparing your manuscript, please give full details in the Acknowledgements section as required by our AI policy.
Plagiarism policy
We expect each submission to be an original piece of academic work produced by the listed authors. Please see our full plagiarism policy to learn about our measures to prevent, detect and address plagiarised content.
We use iThenticate CrossCheck software to detect text copied from other material. We do not screen supplementary materials in our similarity checks. You are therefore responsible for ensuring that you have correctly cited and referenced any text copied directly from study reports to include in your Characteristics of studies tables and/or your risk of bias tables.
You must obtain permission to reproduce any figures or excerpts from copyrighted works. It is your responsibility to submit evidence of this permission, such as an email, signature or publisher’s form.
Check your protocol
The Cochrane review template will help you meet our standards. Open the template as a practice review in RevMan. Check each section of your manuscript complies with the reporting guidance in the template. Make sure you are certain that your protocol is ready for peer review, as Central Editorial Service cannot provide feedback on incomplete drafts.
Pre-submission checklists
- Use the Methods checklist for protocols to assess your work. Your submitted manuscript will be checked by Cochrane methods experts. If you are working with a Cochrane group, you can also ask the group to provide feedback on your draft in RevMan before you submit.
- Download and complete the Protocols pre-submission checklist before you submit. It is mandatory to upload a completed checklist when submitting to Editorial Manager.
You are now ready to submit your draft. Read about how to submit your protocol.
Check your review
Currency of evidence
If you are submitting a review or update, your search date should be less than 12 months' old at the point of submission.
You should also check the publication status of any ongoing studies. You may be asked to rerun searches and incorporate new studies to ensure your results are relevant, particularly if your searches will be over 12 months' old when your review is published See the following guidance:
- MECIR review conduct standards: Searching for studies (C24-C38)
- Reporting search dates in Cochrane reviews
- Date of search and What's new events guidance
Pre-submission checklists
The Cochrane review template will help you meet our standards. Open the template as a practice review in RevMan. Check each section of your manuscript complies with the reporting guidance in the template. Make sure you are certain that your review is ready for peer review, as Central Editorial Service cannot provide feedback on incomplete drafts.
- Use the Methods checklist for reviews to assess your work. Your submitted manuscript will be checked by Cochrane methods experts. If you are working with a Cochrane group, you can also ask the group to provide feedback on your draft in RevMan before you submit.
- Download and complete the Reviews and updates pre-submission checklist before you submit. It is mandatory to upload a completed checklist when submitting to Editorial Manager.
Submit your draft protocol or review
You are welcome to suggest suitable non-conflicted peer reviewers, with their contact details, when you submit your draft. Please note that our Managing Editors have the final decision on who will peer review.
The Corresponding Author will receive an email invitation with a link to submit. Follow our step-by-step instructions to submit your draft to Editorial Manager.
