IMS Bulletin (8 April 2005)

Index

1. Co-authors in Cochrane reviews: quality of data published in The Cochrane Library - update on 2004 report
2. New name for IMS server: Archie
3. Reminder: there should only be one record for every person in the IMS
4. Question of the week: How can I keep track of the changes I have suggested to a person's record in the IMS?

1. Co-authors in Cochrane reviews: quality of data published in The Cochrane Library - update on 2004 report

As you know, RevMan contains a free text field into which the authors enter the 'List of reviewers for citation' (the 'byline'). All the names on the byline of a protocol or review should have been selected in RevMan as 'Co-reviewers', with one selected as the 'Contact reviewer'. The names on the byline should therefore be consistent with the list of selected authors for each review that is submitted for publication. In addition, the 'Organisation' and 'Country' fields in RevMan should be completed as a minimum for all co-authors. In August 2004 Mike Clarke sent a message via Adminors asking us to ensure that all protocols and reviews to be published in Issue 1, 2005 met these two specifications, and to check new protocols and reviews in future submissions in the same way.

In March 2005 Mike prepared an updated report of the above situation regarding the publications in Issue 1, 2005 of The Cochrane Library and has informed the IMS team that there has been a dramatic improvement in the quality of published data; the number of inconsistencies between the byline and selected authors, for example, has approximately halved over the year, despite a 12% increase in the number of published Cochrane reviews. He has asked us to pass on his thanks to RGCs for giving this their attention. However, there are still some Cochrane reviews with internal inconsistencies or for which the address of the co-author does not contain an organisation or country. It may be that there are good reasons for these remaining inconsistencies. IMS Support will therefore be contacting individual RGCs with the latest information for their CRG's publications and, where necessary, provide guidance on how to rectify the situation before the May module submission or to find out if the inconsistencies are unavoidable. There are two cases that we are aware of where there will have to be inconsistencies at the moment. They are:

(a) The 'Contact reviewer' has relinquished the review, none of the co-authors wish to take over this role and the editorial team do not think it is appropriate to withdraw the review from publication at the moment. In the meantime, until a new contact author is identified, the RGC takes on the role of 'Contact reviewer' for all enquiries relating to the review. The RGC cannot be added to the byline for the current publication because s/he is not an author of the publication.

(b) The original 'Contact reviewer' has relinquished the review. A new contact author has been identified. Although this person's contact details can now be entered as the 'Contact reviewer', the new contact author's name cannot appear on the byline for the current publication because s/he was not an author of the current publication.

2. New name for IMS server: Archie

'Archie' has been chosen as the new name for the IMS server as a result of the competition launched in August 2004 to find a good name for the IMS (www.archie.cochrane.org). The IMS login screen will be updated with the new name by the end of next week.

3. Reminder: there should only be one record for every person in the IMS

Please remember that you should check to see if a new person with your CRG already has a record in the IMS before creating a new record. The most efficient way of doing this is from within the Person Wizard (Resource > New > Person). After entering the person's name and email address, the Wizard will check the IMS to see if this person already has a record. You may then be presented with a list of potential duplicates. If the person already has a record then you can double-click the appropriate record from within the Potential duplicates screen of the Person Wizard to open their Properties so that you can add the role they have with your CRG. Once you have done this, ensure that you cancel the Person Wizard by clicking the Cancel button in the bottom left-hand corner.

4. Question of the week

Question: How can I keep track of the changes I have suggested to a person's record in the IMS? I have suggested a change to the record for a person that I don't have permission to edit, using the Suggest Changes feature in the IMS, to notify those who can edit the person's details. I understand that my suggested changes will be sent as a message to the Super User(s) of the person's Primary entity via the IMS messaging system. However, since I don't receive a copy of my message through the IMS, how can I keep track of my suggestion so that I can check if the record has been updated?

Answer: Eventually suggested changes will be notified to all Super Users of the Entities for which a person has a role (via the IMS messaging) and once actioned, the Super Users will be informed. However, this cannot happen at the moment so during the interim, here is one way of keeping track of your change so that you can check when the record has been updated:

Enter your suggested change in the Notes section of the person's Properties Mark it as a Public note if you want everybody to be aware of it; a Personal note if you only want to be able to read it; or an Administrative note if you want all your CRG's Super Users to read it. Give the note the subject heading 'Suggested changes'. By using the Advanced search in the IMS (Notes .. Equals .. Suggested changes), you can then search for all records for which you have suggested changes when you need to know if the edits have been made or not. Once you know the change has been made, you can delete the Note.

Remember that there may be very good reasons why a record cannot be updated by a Primary Entity in time for 'use' by another RGC. Therefore, if the edit is urgent and you do not receive a timely reply from the Super User of the Primary Entity, contact your IMS Support person for assistance.