A new Cochrane peer review policy is being implemented as of January 2019. For our Group this means a change from a semi-open peer review process to an open peer review process (the authors will know the names and affiliations of the peer reviewers and you will know the names and affiliations of the authors). We will continue to acknowledge peer reviewers' contributions on our website. In addition, you can now opt in/out of being acknowledged in the published manuscript you commented on. 

How do we identify peer reviewers? We ask our editors and existing peer reviewers for suggestions and search PubMed for authors on relevant topic specific publications. We may occassionally post requests for peer reviewers on Cochrane's TaskExchange and welcome individuals to contact us with the interest of joining as a peer reviewer. 

How long do you get to review a manuscript? We usually assign two weeks for peer reviewing a protocol and three weeks for peer reviewing a new or updated review. We may suggest shorter deadlines for high priority reviews.

How can you comment? We are using online forms with pre-set questions and one open one for anything that is not covered elsewhere. 

What do we want you to comment on? We seek clinical expertise from our peer reviewers. 

Who else is commenting on our manuscripts? The editorial team, consisting of the Managing Editor, the Systematic Review Specialist and the Information Specialist, checks the methods, clarity and consistency of the protocols and reviews. Each manuscript has an assigned contact editor who is responsible for the overall manuscript, methods and clinical aspects. In addition, we seek input from at least one consumer reviewer (patient/carer). Each manuscript undergoes copy editing and gets signed off for publication by our Group's Co-ordinating Editor.