Following Cochrane review protocols to completion 10 years later: a retrospective cohort study and author survey

Ref ID 712
First Author E. Runjic
Journal JOURNAL OF CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
Year Of Publishing 2019
URL https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2019.03.006
Keywords Cochrane
Protocols
General medical
Currency
Problem(s) Untimely (taking too long) or resource intensive
Unpublished or "zombie" reviews (the file-drawer effect)
Number of systematic reviews included 576
Summary of Findings From 576 included Cochrane review protocols, 77.4% were published as a full review and 22.6% were still unpublished in February 2018. Median time from protocol publication to publication of the completed review was 2.78 years. Common reasons for nonpublication were: lack of time to work on the review; topic was out of date because of long Cochrane production process or Cochrane review group rejected the completed reviews and the authors published them elsewhere.
Did the article find that the problem(s) led to qualitative changes in interpretation of the results? Not Applicable
Are the methods of the article described in enough detail to replicate the study? Yes