How will we transition from the old system to the new system? 

Changes are being made in Cochrane systems now to prepare for the implementation of this new group role system.  We will be transitioning groups to the new system gradually and expect this to be done by the end of October 2024. 

 

What do I need to do now? 

Individuals: Look out for an email inviting you to accept a Core role over the coming months, and make sure you promptly fill out your Declaration of Interest after you accept your Core role. 

Group Super Users: Look out for an email requesting you to check your group staff and information in Archie. We will need you to check that:  

• The overall group address, email, and contact person is up to date. Here’s how to update this if needed.

• The “Staff” category for your group in Archie includes everyone who should have a Core role in your group. You can add a “Staff” role to someone’s record by following these instructions.  

• Decide what person (or 2-3 people) should be designated as the Admin person(s) for your group (the person responsible for requesting to add or remove people from your group). This will likely be your current group Archie Super User. 

• Contact Cochrane Support when you have completed the above actions to confirm this is done and share who should be the Admin person(s) for your group. 

Adding staff roles in Methods Groups and Translation Projects

Adding staff roles in Methods Groups and Translation Projects

Archie does not allow staff roles in these group types so we appreciate you cannot add these. If your group has people who need a Core role under the criteria for Core roles but who are not leaders (Convenors or Managing Translators) please send support a list of names and email addresses of these people and we will invite them to a new Core role.

 

Adding staff roles in Thematic Groups

Roles in Thematic Groups are already managed via Cochrane Support - if you need to update who has a role in your Thematic Group, please contact the support team as usual.

 

What will happen next?

We know that there are many people who have left Cochrane Groups, but who still have a role in Archie. We need to make sure the data we hold about people is correct. So, we will invite anyone with an active Staff or leadership role to accept a new Core role if they are still involved with the Group. If they do not respond, their old role will eventually be removed, along with any access to Cochrane systems that are related to their role.

 

People with any of the following roles will receive an invitation for a Core role that they will need to accept.  

 

Group type	Role type
Review Group	Staff
Review Group Satellite	Staff
Methods Group	n/a
Field	Staff
Geographic Centre, Associate Centre, Affiliate, Geographic Network	Staff
Thematic Group	Staff
Governing Board, Editorial Board, and some executives/boards	Group member
Central Executive Team	Staff

The start date of each staff role will be retained as the start date of the new Core role.

 

People with any of the following roles will receive an invitation for a Core role with a Leader element that they will need to accept:

 

Group type	Role type
Review Group	Co-ordinating Editor, Deputy Co-ordinating Editor
Methods Group	Convenor
Field	Director
Geographic Centre, Associate Centre, Affiliate, Geographic Network	Director
Thematic Group	Director
Translation Project	Managing Translator

The start date of the earliest role will be retained as the start date of the Leadership role. 

 

If an invitation is not accepted or declined in two weeks, a reminder will be sent. The invitation will expire and the role will be removed after four weeks. 

 

Will everyone with any role in my group in Archie get a role in the new system? 

No – only people with the roles listed above. The following roles will be removed over the coming months: 

 

Phase 1 – by end October 

• Mailing List (all group types) 

• Group member (Review Groups, Fields, Methods Groups) 

• CIS / Assistant IS* 

• Administrative Assistant* 

• Editorial Assistant* 

• Assistant Managing Editor* 

• Deputy Co-ordinating Editor* 

• Feedback Editor* 

• Peer Reviewer 

• Editor 

• Consumer Reviewer 

• Associate Director* 

• Statistician* 

• Annotator 

• Advisory Board Member 

• Affiliated Researcher 

• Other 

• Web Publisher* 

• Super User* 

 

If anyone holding these roles in your group should have a Core role, please give them a staff role in your group.  If your group is a Methods Group, Translation Project or Thematic Group see above.

 

Phase 2 – when review management moves to RevMan (likely in 2025) 

• Author** 

• Managing Editor* 

 

* People who have one of these roles typically also have a staff role in their group. Everyone with a Staff role will be invited to have a Core role. 

 

** When review management moves out of Archie and into RevMan, authors will be identified via their document role in RevMan instead of by their group role. However, authors will be able to see that they are a Cochrane Author in their Cochrane Account and in Cochrane Engage, if they have made their profile visible. 

 

We will retain an archived record of deleted roles, but they will no longer be visible to Groups/in your Cochrane account.  

 

How do people get permissions to access Cochrane systems if this list of group roles is being removed? 

Permissions for access to systems (beyond those of a standard user who has a Cochrane Account) will be managed within each system, and individuals should not notice any changes. If a person requires access to a particular system and doesn’t have it, please contact the owner of the system or support@cochrane.org. 

 

How do we keep in touch with people who are interested in our group but don’t need a Core role? 

If someone does not need the resources above and does not need to complete a Declaration of Interest, you should not give them a Core role. If you still want to acknowledge their contribution publicly you can add them to your webpage. People who are interested in your group’s work, and potential volunteers, should not have a Core role. If you wish to find a volunteer for a specific task, we recommend you use Cochrane Engage. 

 

If you want to send out a newsletter to people who are interested in the work your group is doing, we recommend you set up a mailing list that will allow you to contact them. Your group is responsible for any personal data you store, so we recommend using an online dedicated mailing platform like Brevo or MailChimp. Full details can be found in the guidance on data protection for Cochrane Groups.