IMS Bulletin #73 (27 June 2008)

Index

1. Warning: Archie registration message
2. CRG conversions
3. Updated Conversion Checklist
4. Reminder: marking RevMan 5 conversions for publication
5. Strategies for converting RevMan 4 reviews to RevMan 5
6. Withdrawing protocols and reviews
7. Permissions for the Entity Role Internal Referee
8. Questions of the week:
   (a) Should I complete the ‘Assessed as Up-to-date’ date for protocols?
   (b) Can anybody else arrange for the Archie registration message to be sent to authors or is it only the Super User of the author’s Primary Entity?

1. Warning: Archie registration message

If authors with hotmail accounts report that they have not received the email to allow them to register to use Archie, we suggest you ask them to check their ‘Junk’ box. We have had reports of hotmail accounts treating the Archie registration message as spam.

2. CRG conversions

Forty-eight CRGs have agreed to convert all their Group's reviews by the 12 November 2008 quarterly submission deadline. If you have agreed to this, please remember that you should use the conversion checklist included in the ‘Conversions instructions’ document and also available as a separate Word file (both files available under 'Converting RevMan 4 reviews to RevMan 5' at www.cc-ims.net/RevMan/RevMan5); this checklist has just been updated by IMS Support – see Item 3, below.

Note: You don’t have to use the full conversion checklist when converting Withdrawn publications because only the Title, Review information and the reason for withdrawal (Published notes field) are published.

3. Updated Conversion Checklist

We have updated the Conversion Checklist in response to feedback from RGCs – see item 2, above.

• We have explained that the prefix and suffix for the Contact Person are not transferred to RevMan 5
  (Text changed to:
  Are the contact details for the Contact Person complete (NB: (i) postal address and email are used in the publication; (ii) prefix and suffix are not published and therefore do not transfer to RevMan 5)?)
• We have explained why we suggest that you keep text headings added by authors but apply the RevMan 5 heading styles.
  (Text changed to:
  Activated recommended headings? If you can’t activate all in one section, keep authors’ headings but apply the RM5 heading styles. [If you activate recommended headings interspersed with authors’ own headings, you will not be able to apply the RM5 heading styles to the authors’ headings at the same level as the recommended headings.])
• We have removed "Setting scales for forest plots (refer to printed forest plots to identify those that need to be rescaled)" from the checklist item on 'Applied new styles and formatting' because we have been informed that this is partly a content issue rather than a formatting issue. (You may remember that conversions done by CRG editorial staff should not involve us contacting the authors for input). For more information on rescaling forest plots – see 'Recommendations for all graphical displays' in 'Supplementary material', Chapter 11, Section 2 at http://www.cochrane.org/resources/handbook/.

4. Reminder: marking RevMan 5 converted reviews for publication

Please remember that if you want a converted review to be republished in RevMan 5 format, you must mark the review for publication in Archie even if no manual edits have been made.

5. Strategies for converting RevMan 4 reviews to RevMan 5

By 12 November 2008, all currently published versions and the latest draft versions of all review records in Archie must be converted to RevMan 5. Earlier this year, we spoke to RGCs individually about conversion strategies. Now that most of us have experience of converting reviews, we would like to share some strategies with you – see below. If you have any tips or tricks you have found useful, please share them with us.

(a) Currently published protocols and full reviews without new versions submitted for editorial approval

We suggest you begin by identifying and converting all currently published protocols and full reviews which are not likely to have a new version ready for publication before the 12 November 2008 submission deadline.

If you are not sure if authors will be submitting new drafts of current publications in time for them to be included in the November 2008 quarterly module submission, contact the authors and explain that you will be converting their currently published version to RevMan 5 to comply with the requirement to have all published protocols and reviews converted to RevMan 5 before 12 November. It would therefore be helpful if they would let you know by return if they are currently working on or updating their review in RevMan 4 and when they intend to submit their draft to you for editorial approval.

• If the authors reply to say that they intend to submit their draft soon, we suggest you wait until you receive the draft before deciding whether to convert the current published version – see (b), below.
• If the authors confirm that they will not be submitting a new draft anytime soon, you can go ahead and convert the current published version.

Note: Converting the current published version will normally be straightforward, but complications may arise if the current published version has been superseded in Archie by a more recent draft version, or if the authors have a current working draft outside of Archie which they ask you to convert at the same time. In such cases, both the draft and published versions will need to be converted. Please consult with your IMS Support person if you have questions about how to proceed in these cases.

(b) Currently published protocols and full reviews – processing new versions submitted for editorial approval before the November submission deadline (current published version not yet converted in Archie, as per (a), above; new version in RevMan 4)

When you receive a draft of a new full review (protocol currently published) or a draft amendment or update of a currently published review for editorial approval, consider if it will be ready for publication in the 12 November 2008 quarterly module submission at the latest.

• If you know that the submitted draft will be ready for publication by the November deadline, then there is no need to convert the current published version. Instead, you can open the new draft file in RevMan 4.3; export it in XML format; check the XML file into Archie so that you have a record of the new draft as submitted by the Contact Person; and convert to RevMan 5. You can then carry out the conversion checks on the draft at the same time as carrying out your other editorial checks.
• If you are unsure or don’t know if the submitted draft will be ready before the November deadline, we suggest you check the new draft version into Archie as described immediately above; then revert to the current published version, convert to RevMan 5, run your conversion checks and republish; finally, revert to the new draft version so that it becomes the most recent version in the Archie History. When you do this, Archie will automatically convert the draft to RevMan 5. You can then carry out the conversion checks on the new draft at the same time as carrying out the other editorial checks. By following this process, you will have converted the currently published version and marked it for republication in case the new draft is not ready by the November submission deadline. If the new draft is ready, you can simply mark the new version for publication which will automatically unmark the old version for publication.

(c) Currently registered titles

Contact the authors of registered titles to find out if they have started to prepare their protocol using the RevMan 4 file you sent them when you first registered their title. If they haven’t, convert the registered title in Archie to RevMan 5 and arrange for the Contact Person and co-authors (as requested) to have Archie user accounts so they can check the converted file out of Archie to prepare their protocol in RevMan 5. If the authors have already begun work on the protocol using RevMan 4, ask them to send you the current RevMan 4 version so you can check this in to Archie (XML format), convert it to RevMan 5 and set up user accounts for the Contact Person and other Authors as needed.

(d) Protocols that exist only in draft form

In the case of protocols that have draft versions in Archie but have never been published, the most recent draft version must be converted before 12 November 2008. If you have time and wish to do so, you can contact the authors to ask if they have a more recent version outside of Archie, check this in, and convert it. If you are short on time, you can simply convert the most recent version in Archie and process the next version as needed when it is submitted to the editorial office.

Note: Some CRGs may have draft versions of full reviews in Archie without a published protocol. Such cases should occur only in exceptional circumstances because Cochrane policy is that all full reviews should be preceded by a published protocol. Where such reviews do exist, however, the guidance given immediately above for protocols would apply to them as well.

(e) Withdrawn protocols and reviews

You can convert these now but as mentioned in Item 2, you don’t have to run through the full set of conversion checks because only the Title, Review information and the reason for withdrawal (Published notes field) are published.

(f) Inactive protocols and reviews

We recommend that you don’t spend time converting Inactive protocols and reviews. You can leave these to be converted centrally by the Nordic Cochrane Centre in November but please note that this central conversion will not involve any checking of contact details.

Concluding note: Please remember to contact your IMS Support person for advice on how to proceed if presented with a case that is not covered by any of the examples given above.

6. Withdrawing protocols and reviews

Although RevMan 4 reviews when withdrawn retained the citation for the full review prior to its withdrawal, RevMan 5 reviews are given their own new citations when withdrawn from publication. We are currently seeking guidance on the What's new and History Events that need to be created for RevMan 5 protocols and reviews that are being withdrawn for the first time. We will pass this information on to you in a future issue of the Bulletin as soon as we can .

7. Permissions for the Entity Role Internal Referee

The default permission for Internal Referees for reviews is currently set at Medium whereas for External Referees it is set at Low. The Medium setting allows Internal Referees to read all editorial drafts of all reviews for the Group which is their Primary Entity. We don’t think that Internal Referees should be able to see all Editorial drafts by default and have therefore requested that the default setting be changed to Low. Before doing this, we think it is important to let you know in case you have changed the default setting for your CRG’s Internal Referees. We therefore suggest that you note the default setting you have before the default is changed, currently planned for 11 July 2008.

8. Questions of the week

a) Question: Should I complete the ‘Assessed as Up-to-date’ date for protocols?

Answer: There is no need to complete the ‘Assessed as Up-to-date’ field because this date is not published for protocols.

(b) Question: Can anybody else arrange for the Archie registration message to be sent to authors or is it only the Super User of the author’s Primary Entity who can do this?

Answer: Only the Super User of the author’s Primary Entity can arrange for the Archie registration message to be sent to the author. If the Super User does not respond in time, please contact your IMS Support person for assistance. (Note: The Editorial Management Advisory Group (EMAG) has received a wish list item for others, in addition to the individual’s Primary Entity Super User, to be able to initiate the Archie registration message. EMAG will consider this request soon.)