Title: Quality Assurance Editor
Specifications: Permanent – Full Time
Salary: £35,000 - £43,000 per annum
Location: (Remote) Resident in the UK, Germany or Denmark. 
Directorate: Evidence Production and Methods Directorate
Closing date: 1 May, 2025

Cochrane is an international charity. For 30 years we have responded to the challenge of making vast amounts of research evidence useful for informing decisions about health. We do this by synthesizing research findings and our work has been recognized as the international gold standard for high quality, trusted information.

As Quality Assurance Editor within Cochrane’s Editorial Department, you will assess whether protocols, reviews and updates submitted to Cochrane’s Central Editorial Service have met Cochrane’s methodological standards. You will recommend editorial decisions based on the quality of the methods in the articles submitted, provide feedback to authors on their articles, and support members of the Central Editorial Service with methods queries.  

The post holder will identify common methodological issues identified during methods assessments, and will recommend and support improvements to Cochrane’s guidance and training for authors and groups. 

Don’t have every single qualification? We know that some people are less likely to apply for a job unless they are a perfect match. At Cochrane, we’re not looking for “perfect matches.” We’re looking to welcome people to our diverse, inclusive, and passionate workplace. So, if you’re excited about this role but don’t have every single qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway. Whether it’s this role or another one, you may be just the right candidate.

Our organization is built on four core values: Collaboration: Underpins everting we do, locally and globally. Relevant: The right evidence at the right time in the right format. Integrity: Independent and transparent. Quality: Reviewing and improving what we do, maintaining rigour and trust. 

You can expect: 

• An opportunity to truly impact health globally
• A flexible work environment
• A comprehensive onboarding experiences
• An environment where people feel welcome, heard, and included, regardless of their differences

Cochrane welcomes applications from a wide range of perspectives, experiences, locations and backgrounds; diversity, equity and inclusion are key to our values.

Cochrane has offices with payroll in the UK, Germany and Denmark. 

How to apply

• For further information on the role and how to apply, please click here.
• The deadline to receive your application is 1 May, 2025. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
• The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements, using specific examples.
• Interviews will be held on w/c 5 May 2025.
• Read our Recruitment Privacy Statement.
• Read our Candidate pack for more information on the hiring process and staff benefits.

 

Thursday, April 24, 2025 Category: Jobs

A newly-published Cochrane review reveals significant gaps in the clinical rating scales used to assess pain in newborn babies, highlighting the urgent need for improved tools and global collaboration.

Despite the critical importance of accurately measuring pain in newborns, the review found that none of the available scales are backed by the high-quality evidence and methodological safeguards required to confirm their validity and reliability in clinical practice.

Neonatal pain assessment and management presents a challenge for clinical staff worldwide. Over 40 rating scales have been developed and adapted worldwide assessing different parameters and various types of pain.

Six to nine percent of all newborns require admission to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) due to either illness of prematurity. These infants endure multiple painful procedures daily, which can lead to long-term negative effects. Due to this, valid tools to support the assessment of pain are of great importance.

Infant pain scales lack robust evidence

The Cochrane review analysed 79 studies involving over 7,000 infants across 26 countries, evaluating 27 different clinical rating scales. All rating scales were found to be supported by very low-quality evidence, indicating major limitations in their effectiveness and clinical applicability.

“Over 70% of rating scales in this review did not assess content and structural validity, and both these factors are essential when selecting a measurement instrument,” says Kenneth Färnqvist, physiotherapist and PhD candidate at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. “Without a strong foundation in these areas, other necessary measures, such as reliability, cannot be accurately evaluated. Future studies must prioritise rigorous validation to improve neonatal pain assessment.” 

Measuring pain in newborns is particularly complex compared to adults. Such limitations may lead to an over- or under-estimation of pain, resulting in unnecessary sedation or inadequately treated pain, potentially jeopardising infant safety through treatment side-effects, including withdrawal symptoms or prolonged discomfort. Premature infants further complicate matters, as they often have a reduced ability to display robust pain behaviour due to their immaturity. The same is also true for ill or sedated infants.

“It is important to remember that clinical rating scales are only surrogates for pain measurement,” says Roger F. Soll, Professor of Neonatology at the University of Vermont. “Given the uncertainty highlighted in this review, clinical staff should avoid relying too heavily on the rating scales currently in practice and instead strive to decrease painful procedures as much as possible in this vulnerable population.” 

Global collaboration needed to improve infant pain assessment

Despite the disappointing results, this review presents an opportunity for progress in neonatal pain assessment, particularly through global collaboration and innovation.

Emma Persad, doctor and PhD candidate at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health at the Karolinska Institutet, sees this as an opportunity for global collaboration and a call to action. 

“This is our chance to unite medical professionals and methodologists in developing a rigorously validated scale from scratch, one that meets all necessary checks before implementation in research and practice,” Emma says. “We look forward to beginning this impactful work and the implications it will have on assessing and managing neonatal pain worldwide.” 

Are you interested in getting involved or staying updated on the progress?

As per the findings of this 2025 review, Clinical rating scales for assessing pain in newborn infants, we would like to proactively respond to these findings by convening medical professionals and methodologists worldwide to work together to develop a more rigorous and evidence-based pain scale. 

If you're interested in getting involved, or staying up-to-date on the progress being made, please fill out the following form. For more information, contact Mia Parkinson.

• Read the Cochrane review and the plain language summary

 

Friday, April 11, 2025

Role: Business Analyst
Location: Remote working (resident in the UK, Germany or Denmark). 
Specifications: 6 months Fixed term contract.
Hours: Full-time week (flexible working considered) – 37.5 hours.
Salary: £42,000 per annum.
Application Closing Date: Wednesday 23rd April 2025 (Midnight GMT).

As a Business Analyst, you will gather, validate, and document business requirements using workshops, user research, use cases, and task and workflow analysis. You will ensure requirements are sufficiently detailed, reviewed, signed off, and kept up-to-date and are fully traceable. You will create and manage functional specifications, and contribute to identifying and validating appropriate solutions to support business objectives.

You will act as a key liaison between relevant stakeholders and departments, and product and software development teams to ensure feature implementation goals are met. 

You will be proactive, approachable, and curious. You will demonstrate an aptitude for user-centric, data-informed problem solving. As well as being a skillful communicator, you will be able to engage with technical and non-technical stakeholders across all levels. You will be driven to provide value and deliver demonstrable impact.

Cochrane is a global, independent network of health practitioners, researchers, patient advocates and others, responding to the challenge of making vast amounts of research evidence useful for informing decisions about health. We do this by synthesizing research findings to produce the best available evidence on what can work, what might harm and where more research is needed. Our work is recognized as the international gold standard for high quality, trusted information. 

How to apply

• For further information on the role and how to apply, please click here.
• The deadline to receive your application is 23 April, 2025.  We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
• The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements, using specific examples.
• Interviews will be held on w/c 28 April 2025.
• Read our Recruitment Privacy Statement
• Read our Candidate pack for more information on the hiring process and staff benefits

 

Wednesday, April 9, 2025 Category: Jobs

Cochrane will no longer use the term ‘consumer’ to represent patients and the public, which we previously defined as ‘healthcare consumers’.  We have adopted the term ‘patient and public involvement’ to describe research being carried out ‘with’ or ‘by’ members of the public, rather than ‘to’, ‘about’ or ‘for’ them. 

Represented groups include patients and potential patients, carers, people who use health and social care services, and people or organizations that represent these groups. 

Patient and public involvement helps to make our research ethical, relevant, and impactful. Insights from members of the public can shape meaningful research questions and produce useful findings. People living with a health condition are often in a better position to identify unanswered questions and determine what research would most likely improve their quality of life. 

Involving patients and members of the public also improves transparency, informed consent, ensures respectful and practical participation, and enhances communication by presenting information in accessible and useful formats. Ultimately, it helps research to better serve the needs of patients and the public. 

“Involving patients and members of the public has long been an important part of Cochrane’s work,” says Karla Soares-Weiser, Acting Chief Executive of Cochrane. “It ensures that our reviews are not only scientifically rigorous, but also meaningful and relevant to the people they aim to serve. We hope that this name change makes clear that anyone can contribute to Cochrane, and we welcome diverse experiences from patients and members of the public across the world.”  

Anyone who would like to get involved in Cochrane’s work can volunteer through our website or join the Patient and Public Network to receive monthly updates and opportunities to get involved. 

Jack Nunn, Co-Chair of the Cochrane Patient and Public Network Executive, said: 

"Cochrane started as a collaboration for everyone over 30 years ago. Language evolves, and choosing the right words is essential. Cochrane's change to using 'patient and public involvement' reflects a global shift and shows they have listened to the many voices from around the world who felt 'consumer' was no longer the right word. By saying 'patient and public involvement', more people are likely to understand the important and essential concepts behind those words — and the actions to which they point, which is involving everyone in shaping the future of evidence."

Cochrane acknowledges that many different terminologies are used across global health. We are committed to revisiting these terminologies regularly and collaboratively updating them as they evolve, ensuring that concepts not only translate across languages but also align with local contexts. 

Using language that better reflects the values of the people who support and use Cochrane evidence has the potential to improve inclusivity, foster a sense of belonging, build relationships, and strengthen trust with diverse communities including underrepresented groups.  

Our Patient and Public Involvement Manager, April English, will be updating Cochrane materials to reflect the new language over the coming months. 

• Join the Patient and Public Network here

Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Monday 7 April marks World Health Day, a day organised by the World Health Organization (WHO) to highlight a particular global health issue. This year, it aims to kick off a year-long campaign on maternal and newborn health.

Maternal, newborn, and child health is a major global health priority, and yet in many parts of the world there are still far too many preventable deaths among mothers and young children. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that close to 300,000 women die during and following childbirth each year. Around 95% of those deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, in one of the starkest demonstrations of global health inequities. Postpartum haemorrhage alone accounts for over a quarter of maternal deaths each year, a number that emphasises the urgent need for evidence-based interventions.

Maternal, newborn, and child health: one of the four pillars

At Cochrane, our vision is a healthier world for everyone where health and care decisions are informed by high-quality evidence.

Cochrane has a long and proud history of advancing maternal, newborn, and child health. Much of our early work focused on evaluating evidence-based strategies to prevent illness and death among expectant mothers and babies, shaping international guidelines on labour induction and postnatal care. We have also contributed to landmark reviews, including one on the benefits of steroid injections for women at risk of preterm birth, research that even inspired the Cochrane logo.

With maternal, child and newborn health being one of the strategic pillars in our scientific strategy, we remain committed to improving the health and wellbeing of mothers and children worldwide and tackling the vast health equity gap between different populations. We will assess strategies aimed at preventing illnesses and deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth, enhance prevention and treatment for diseases in babies and children, and help improve sexual health and fertility services.

What are we doing?

Cochrane has a strong track record in maternal, newborn, and child health, with over 220 reviews informing WHO recommendations in this area.

Last year we collaborated with the WHO on a suite of 14 rapid reviews to improve the prevention and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage. This work is part of WHO’s four-point plan to accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality to 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030 (SDG 3.1). By fast-tracking evidence synthesis, Cochrane’s reviews will inform updated WHO guidelines, influencing maternal healthcare policies worldwide.

Beyond postpartum haemorrhage, Cochrane is evaluating interventions for maternal infections, pre-eclampsia prevention through calcium supplementation, diabetes management during pregnancy, and clinical management of caesarean sections. These areas are critical for improving maternal health outcomes, particularly in low-resource settings.

“High-quality evidence is essential for improving maternal and newborn health worldwide. Through Cochrane’s scientific strategy, we address critical global health needs and pressing research questions,” explains Roses Parker, Commissioning Editor at Cochrane. “We collaborate with decision-makers to ensure they have access to the best available evidence for policy and practice. Currently, we are focusing on a suite of reviews on diagnosing and managing gestational diabetes and partnering with Cochrane India to develop an evidence gap map to guide future work on neonatal mortality.” 

The need for evidence-based policy

The leading causes of maternal, neonatal, and child mortality are largely known, preventable, and treatable through strategic, population-based healthcare policies. Despite this, inequalities due to income, education, gender, race and/or ethnicity limit access to care, further marginalising these vulnerable populations. Recognising this disproportionate burden in LMICs, Cochrane is prioritising capacity building and evidence co-production in these regions.

Cochrane remains committed to working alongside the WHO, governments, and health systems to turn high-quality research into life-saving policies. Strengthening maternal, newborn, and child health systems through evidence-based interventions is critical to achieving global health goals and ensuring health for all.

• Read more about World Health Day 2025
• Find out more about our scientific strategy

 

Monday, April 7, 2025

Title: Subscription Renewals Officer
Specifications: Permanent – Full time or Part Time (minimum 22.5 hours)
Salary: £35,000 per annum full time 
Location: (Remote) resident in the UK, Germany or Denmark. 
Directorate: Development and External Relations Directorate
Closing date: 15 April, 2025

The Subscription Renewals Officer role will work closely with the Business Development Manager to grow the organisation’s commercial services income. As SRO, you will be responsible for supporting customer satisfaction and maximising customer lifetime value through successful contract renewals.

Joining our team means becoming part of a mission to enhance global health through reliable, evidence-based practices. You'll collaborate with dedicated professionals and partners worldwide to ensure health decisions are informed by the best available data. Our core values — collaboration, relevance, integrity, and quality — guide all our actions. By joining us, you'll contribute to making a significant impact on health outcomes globally.

Don’t have every single qualification? We know that some people are less likely to apply for a job unless they are a perfect match. At Cochrane, we’re not looking for “perfect matches.” We’re looking to welcome people to our diverse, inclusive, and passionate workplace. So, if you’re excited about this role but don’t have every single qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway. Whether it’s this role or another one, you may be just the right candidate.

Cochrane welcomes applications from a wide range of perspectives, experiences, locations and backgrounds; diversity, equity and inclusion are key to our values.

How to apply

• For further information on the role and how to apply, please click here.
• The deadline to receive your application is 15 April, 2025.  We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
• The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements, using specific examples.
• Interviews will be held on w/c 28 April 2025.
• Read our Recruitment Privacy Statement.
• Read our Candidate pack for more information on the hiring process and staff benefits.

 

 

Wednesday, April 2, 2025 Category: Jobs

How accurate are Truenat assays for detecting pulmonary tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance?

On World TB Day, we highlight findings from a new review assessing the accuracy of Truenat assays for detecting pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) and rifampicin resistance in adults and adolescents.

TB remains a global health threat, with 10.8 million cases and 1.25 million deaths in 2023, according to the World Health Organization. The number of people with tuberculosis keeps increasing. Both false-positive results and false-negative results have a severe impact on individuals tested. It is crucial that there is early and accurate diagnosis to prevent the spread of TB and ensure timely treatment. 

This review included six studies with over 4000 participants, comparing Truenat assays to the WHO-recommended Xpert Ultra test. While Truenat MTB Plus showed promise, further research is needed to refine diagnostic tools, particularly for drug-resistant TB.

Key findings:

• Truenat MTB Plus was more accurate than Truenat MTB for detecting TB. However, Truenat MTB misidentified many people as having TB when they did not, raising concerns. 
•  Xpert Ultra was found to be more accurate than Truenat MTB.
• Evidence on Truenat’s accuracy for detecting rifampicin resistance was limited.

Read the full review here: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD015543.pub2/full

Thursday, March 20, 2025

Catherine Spencer OBE, who served as the Cochrane Collaboration’s Chief Executive Officer since 2022, has decided to step down from the role.

Catherine has led Cochrane through transformational change, developing a new strategy for a more evidence-informed world and ensuring the organization is well-placed to deliver it. She has helped to cement Cochrane’s reputation as a world-leading source of trustworthy evidence and expand the charity’s reach and impact around the world.

“I have been so fortunate to work with incredibly talented and loyal colleagues, Board Members and community members,” said Catherine. “All have worked hard to ensure that Cochrane has a great future and is a wonderful environment in which to work and grow. I wish all the team well as they focus on the continued success of Cochrane.”

The Governing Board has appointed Dr Karla Soares-Weiser as Acting CEO while they prepare to recruit the next CEO. Cochrane’s Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Toby Lasserson, will serve as Acting Editor-in-Chief.

Dr Susan Phillips, Chair of Cochrane’s Governing Board, said:

“The Governing Board would like to thank Catherine for her valued contribution to Cochrane and Cochrane community. In her time as CEO, she has ensured that the organization has a warm and collaborative culture that fosters innovation and trust.

“We wish to acknowledge the important contribution Catherine has made towards stabilizing Cochrane’s operations, developing the 2024-2027 Organizational Strategy, supporting Cochrane’s transition to a centralized editorial service and implementing the Roadmap to Open Access.

“Consequently, Cochrane is in a strong position, and we anticipate building on these achievements. Our priorities will be to strengthen Cochrane’s evidence synthesis model, including our use of AI tools, and to develop business models and methods which make us more responsive to funders’ needs.”

Preparations to recruit the next CEO will be led by Cochrane’s Governing Board.

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

March 2025 marks the third anniversary of Cochrane’s commitment to Public Involvement in Health and Social Care Research, a pledge launched in 2022. This commitment underscores Cochrane's ongoing efforts  to enhance its practice of public involvement, ensuring that the voices of the users of our evidence are at the heart of health and social care evidence.

Excellent public involvement is an essential part of health and social care research and improves the quality and impact of research. Excellent public involvement is inclusive, values all contributions, ensures people have a meaningful say in what happens, and influences outcomes, as set out in the UK Standards for Public Involvement.

Cochrane is proud to be one of the thirty two organizations in partnership on this important initiative. Together, partners connect during quarterly Learning and Sharing meetings to share best practices and new developments, amplifying excellent public involvement and maximising resources for optimised efforts and impact.

Reflecting on this milestone, April English, Cochrane’s Consumer Engagement Manager, states: “Our commitment to public involvement is key to advancing health and social care research and demonstrating our value for the invaluable contributions of patients and the public, ultimately improving the quality and impact of research.”

“People have the right to be involved in all health and social care research,” Ana Beatriz Pizarro, member of the Consumer Network Executive, reflects. “People’s lived experiences should be a key driver for health and social care research.”

Key Achievements and Initiatives

Over the past three years, Cochrane has taken significant steps to strengthen public involvement, including:

• Cochrane’s Consumer Network: In 2025, three new members joined the Consumer Network Executive, and as of January 2025, over 2,500 members have joined the Consumer Network. Both, strengthening the community of people interested in high-quality health evidence, and in helping to be a part of producing and sharing evidence.
• Reporting Consumer Involvement: Since 2024, all new Cochrane reviews must report on consumer involvement.
• Consumer Representation on Editorial Board: The Editorial Board is responsible for supporting Cochrane’s Editor in Chief and overseeing the production of Cochrane Reviews and other Cochrane Library content. The Editorial Board includes representation from the Consumer Network.
• Consumer Peer Review of Submitted Cochrane Reviews and Protocols: Recent consumer peer reviews include Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation, Interventions implemented through sporting organisations for promoting healthy behaviour or improving health outcomes, Prevention of self‐harm and suicide in young people up to the age of 25 in education settings, and Water fluoridation for the prevention of dental caries. 
• The Co-Production Methods Group: Launched in October 2023, this group advances research on co-production methods, shares best practices, and supports learning to help systematic review authors engage meaningfully with healthcare consumers.
• Evidence Essentials:  A free, online learning module co-produced by healthcare consumers, researchers, and Cochrane specialists, helping people understand health evidence and make informed health choices. In 2024, module six was launched on critical appraisal of rapid reviews.
• Learning Live Webinars:  A series of free webinars tailored for different audiences, including review authors and the public, providing guidance on engaging with Cochrane evidence and making research more accessible.

Cochrane’s Framework for Public Involvement

Cochrane’s framework for consumer engagement and involvement focuses on five key elements:

1. Engagement: Strengthening communication, evidence dissemination, recruitment, and learning opportunities for consumers.
2. Co-Production: Increasing consumer involvement in evidence production and governance to align research with user needs.
3. Accessibility: Enhancing health literacy and making Cochrane evidence easier to access and understand.
4. Strategic Partnerships: Collaborating with patient groups and other stakeholders to advance engagement, co-production, and advocacy efforts.
5. Evaluation and Reporting: Establishing key engagement and involvement metrics for evaluating and reporting the impact of Cochrane’s engagement and involvement activity. 
   
   
   

How to Get Involved?

There are many ways to play a part in health and social care research  at Cochrane.

Join Cochrane's Consumer Network, a large and growing community of people across the world. We welcome patients, carers and the public who are interested in getting involved in and sharing high-quality health evidence.

Cochrane Engage and Cochrane Crowd are always looking for volunteers to get involved with research.

• Learn more about Cochrane’s commitment to healthcare consumers
• Contact the Cochrane’s Consumer Engagement Manager or Cochrane’s Consumers Network Executive at consumers@cochrane.org 
  

 

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Title:  Digital Marketing Manager
Specifications: Permanent – Full Time
Salary: £52,000 per annum
Location: (Remote) resident in the UK, Germany or Denmark. 
Directorate: Development and External Relations Directorate
Closing date: 19 March, 2025

The Digital Marketing Manager is an exciting new role that reflects the strategic importance of digital marketing to Cochrane, an internationally renowned charity providing high-quality health evidence.

You will establish and oversee the organization’s digital marketing function, recruiting and managing a part-time (0.6 FTE) Digital Marketing Officer. Together you will deliver high-quality, targeted digital marketing campaigns that inspire engagement and support from a range of audiences.

This role will oversee both brand marketing for diverse audiences and B2B/B2C marketing aimed primarily at universities and academics. Brand marketing will involve ownership of Cochrane’s social media accounts and oversight of email marketing, working closely with colleagues who manage the CRM (SugarCRM). Commercial marketing will include promoting academic conferences, on-demand training courses, and specialist software (SaaS).

Joining our team means becoming part of a mission to enhance global health through reliable, evidence-based practices. You'll collaborate with dedicated professionals and partners worldwide to ensure health decisions are informed by the best available data. Our core values — collaboration, relevance, integrity, and quality — guide all our actions. By joining us, you'll contribute to making a significant impact on health outcomes globally.

Don’t have every single qualification? We know that some people are less likely to apply for a job unless they are a perfect match. At Cochrane, we’re not looking for “perfect matches.” We’re looking to welcome people to our diverse, inclusive, and passionate workplace. So, if you’re excited about this role but don’t have every single qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway. Whether it’s this role or another one, you may be just the right candidate.

Cochrane welcomes applications from a wide range of perspectives, experiences, locations and backgrounds; diversity, equity and inclusion are key to our values.

How to apply

• For further information on the role and how to apply, please click here.
• The deadline to receive your application is 19 March, 2025. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
• The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements, using specific examples.
• Interviews will be held on w/c 24 March 2025.
• Read our Recruitment Privacy Statement.
• Read our Candidate pack for more information on the hiring process and staff benefits

 

Friday, March 7, 2025 Category: Jobs

A new Cochrane review has found evidence that music-based therapy may benefit people living with dementia, particularly by improving symptoms of depression. 

Dementia is a collective term for progressive degenerative brain syndromes that affect memory, thinking, behaviour and emotion. Alzheimer’s Disease International reported that there were 55 million people with dementia worldwide in 2019, a figure predicted to increase to 139 million by 2050. While some medicines are available, the therapeutic use of music is considered a relatively simple and inexpensive approach that remains accessible even in the later stages of dementia.  

The research team from several institutions in the Netherlands examined evidence from 30 studies involving 1,720 people. The studies investigated the effects of music-based therapeutic interventions on emotional well-being including quality of life, mood disturbance, behavioural problems, social behaviour, and cognition. Most participants were in care homes, with interventions delivered either individually or in group settings. 

The trials were primarily conducted in high-income countries, including Australia, Taiwan, the US, and various European countries.  Almost all the therapies included active elements (such as playing instruments), often combined with receptive elements (such as listening to live music provided by a therapist).

"This review increases our understanding of the effects of music therapy and strengthens the case for incorporating music in dementia care, particularly in care home settings.

“Music therapy offers benefits beyond those of other group activities, helping to support mood and behaviour in a way that is engaging and accessible, even in later stages of dementia. Care home managers should consider integrating structured musical sessions as part of a person-centred approach to dementia care.”

- Jenny van der Steen, lead author from Leiden University Medical Center and Radboudumc Alzheimer Center.

The findings suggest that music-based therapy probably improves depressive symptoms and may improve overall behavioural problems by the end of treatment. Music therapy is unlikely to significantly impact agitation, aggression, emotional well-being, or cognition but, when compared to other interventions, there is some evidence that it may improve social behaviour and could decrease anxiety. 

Long-term effects, beyond four weeks after treatment, may be smaller but remain uncertain due to the limited number of trials monitoring effects after treatment ends.

The review also highlights the growing recognition of non-pharmacological interventions in dementia care. 

“Music therapy is a drug-free way of helping people feel less sad and less anxious. We hope that the higher quality of recent studies and increasing evidence-base will result in more attention being given to music therapy and other non-pharmacological approaches.

"Looking at the effect sizes, music therapy is a reasonable alternative to pharmacological approaches and is much more person-centred.”

- Annemieke Vink, co-author from ArtEZ University of the Arts who has first-hand experience delivering music therapy to people with dementia.

The review underscores the need for further research into the long-term effects of music-based therapy particularly in community settings. Much of the existing evidence comes from care homes, so expanding studies to community-based environments could provide valuable insights into how music therapy can be integrated into everyday life for people living with dementia.

• Read the Cochrane review and the plain language summary
• Read the press release in Spanish

 

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Title:  Systematic Reviewer
Specifications: Permanent – Part time (0.6 FTE)
Salary: £45,000 per annum (£27,000 per annum at 0.6 FTE)
Location: (Remote) resident in the UK, Germany or Denmark. 
Directorate: Development and External Relations Directorate
Closing date: 17 March, 2025

As a Systematic Reviewer you will assist with the provision and delivery of commissioned systematic reviews and review tasks for Cochrane Response, Cochrane’s evidence consultancy unit.

Cochrane Response provides a broad range of literature review and evidence synthesis services to international policy makers and guideline developers to support evidence informed healthcare decision making. We work closely with Cochrane networks to increase Cochrane’s capacity to respond to requests for commissioned evidence reviews and tailored evidence services.

This position is aligned with Cochrane’s strategy to secure the long-term sustainability of the organisation by ensuring the success of Cochrane Response as a business unit that produces relevant information to guide healthcare decisions and responds to the needs of our stakeholders.

Joining our team means becoming part of a mission to enhance global health through reliable, evidence-based practices. You'll collaborate with dedicated professionals and partners worldwide to ensure health decisions are informed by the best available data. Our core values — collaboration, relevance, integrity, and quality — guide all our actions. By joining us, you'll contribute to making a significant impact on health outcomes globally.

Don’t have every single qualification? We know that some people are less likely to apply for a job unless they are a perfect match. At Cochrane, we’re not looking for “perfect matches.” We’re looking to welcome people to our diverse, inclusive, and passionate workplace. So, if you’re excited about this role but don’t have every single qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway. Whether it’s this role or another one, you may be just the right candidate.

Cochrane welcomes applications from a wide range of perspectives, experiences, locations and backgrounds; diversity, equity and inclusion are key to our values.

How to apply

• For further information on the role and how to apply, please click here.
• The deadline to receive your application is 17th March, 2025.  We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
• The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements, using specific examples.
• Interviews will be held on w/c 24th March 2025.
• Read our Recruitment Privacy Statement.
• Read our Candidate pack for more information on the hiring process and staff benefits.

 

Tuesday, March 4, 2025 Category: Jobs

We are delighted to announce a new, joint Methods Group between the Cochrane Collaboration, the Campbell Collaboration, JBI and the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence (CEE) focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) and automation in evidence synthesis. 

The rapidly growing evidence base and the increasing complexity of methods makes completing timely, high-quality, and comprehensive evidence synthesis, more and more challenging. Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation promises to help address this, and make it possible to keep up with the demand and expectations of users of evidence synthesis. But to realize this potential, we - as a collective across the whole evidence synthesis ecosystem - need to ensure AI doesn’t compromise on the principles of research integrity in which evidence synthesis was built. Therefore, this Methods Group will help define and support responsible AI use across four of the leading evidence synthesis organizations, including the Cochrane Collaboration, the Campbell Collaboration, JBI and the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence (CEE).   

As a Methods Group, we aim to: 

• Spearhead methods research and development and act as a bridge between evidence synthesis organizations and the wider research community. 
• Define best practice and ensure guidance for accepted methods is up to date. 
• Support the implementation of new or amended methods by acting as an advisor or through involvement in methods implementation in our respective evidence synthesis organizations.  

Spearheading methods research and development and act as a bridge between evidence synthesis organizations and the wider research community. 

We are part of the International Collaboration for Automation in Systematic Reviews (ICASR) and recommend those who want to share and discuss AI methods research, developments and opportunities, do so via the ICASR LinkedIn group, as we will as a Methods Group. 

Across our Methods Group, we are also involved in other key developments in the evidence synthesis ecosystem, including the Evidence Synthesis Infrastructure Collaborative safe and responsible use of AI working group. 

Our aim is for the Methods Group to work across these organizations and developments in the field and facilitate discussion and critical thinking, particularly around standards for accuracy, evaluations and validation, with events, webinars and other activities.  

Defining best practice and ensuring guidance for accepted methods is up to date. 

We are involved the responsible AI use in evidence synthesis recommendations and guidance (RAISE), which offers tailored advice for a diverse range of roles in the evidence synthesis ecosystem. Whether you're an evidence synthesist, methodologist, AI developer, or an organization or publisher involved in evidence synthesis, this guidance is a first step to help clarify your responsibilities and alleviate some of the concerns around AI use. For more information see the RAISE Open Science Framework project page. 

One of our first actions as a Methods Group will be to  provisionally endorse the next version of the RAISE recommendations and guidance for use in Cochrane, the Campbell Collaboration, JBI and the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence (CEE), which  is due to be released soon. 

Supporting the implementation of new or amended methods by acting as an advisor or through involvement in the methods implementation projects.  

The Methods Group has individuals from across four of the major evidence synthesis organizations, and even though implementation of AI and automation is the responsibility of each organization individually, by coming together we can aim to align best practice and share lessons learned on effective approaches. Our implementation will be based on the RAISE recommendations, with more details being shared in the coming months.  

As a first step, we are in the process of defining our position on AI and automation for researchers and authors within our organizations, to ensure they have clarity and are empowered to use them in their evidence synthesis. 

Our implementation will also consider how we can we improve AI literacy across our organizations, including how we can work with methodologists and trainers, so researchers and editors have the skills they need to ensure AI is used responsibly and reported transparently.  

 

Methods Group Convenors: 

• Ella Flemyng (Cochrane, UK)
• Gerald Gartlehner (University for Continuing Education Krems and Cochrane Austria, Austria)
• Zoe Jordan (JBI, Australia)
• Biljana Macura (Stockholm Environmental Institute and the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence, Sweden)
• Joerg Meerpohl (University of Freiburg and Cochrane Germany, Germany)
• Will Moy (Campbell, UK)
• Anna Noel Storr (Cochrane, UK)
• James Thomas (UCL, UK) 

Want to find out more? 

Register for the webinar on ‘Recommendations and guidance on responsible AI in evidence synthesis’ on 3 June 2025, part of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods in evidence synthesis series, to find out about why we all need to embrace responsible AI and how this Methods Group will support it. 

Also see our AI Methods Group website, which includes a news and events section. You can also follow each individual organization for more news and information as the Group develops. 

 

 

Friday, February 28, 2025

Title:  Head of Publishing Operations 
Specifications: Permanent – Full Time 
Salary: £63,000 per annum 
Location: (Remote) resident in the UK, Germany or Denmark.  
Directorate: Publishing and Technology Directorate 
Closing date: 14 March, 2025 

We are seeking an experienced and proactive Head of Publishing Operations to lead and manage Cochrane’s publishing systems and processes. In this key role, you will act as liaison between internal teams, external technology suppliers, and our publishing partner, ensuring smooth, efficient and innovative xml-first workflows from submission to publication. You will oversee the performance of our publishing technology, manage vendor relationships, and drive continuous improvements to our production processes. With a strong focus on operational excellence, stakeholder collaboration, and author experience, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring Cochrane’s publishing systems and processes are efficient, reliable, and aligned with our strategic goals. 

Joining our team means becoming part of a mission to enhance global health through reliable, evidence-based practices. You'll collaborate with dedicated professionals and partners worldwide to ensure health decisions are informed by the best available data. Our core values — collaboration, relevance, integrity, and quality — guide all our actions. By joining us, you'll contribute to making a significant impact on health outcomes globally. 

Don’t have every single qualification? We know that some people are less likely to apply for a job unless they are a perfect match. At Cochrane, we’re not looking for “perfect matches.” We’re looking to welcome people to our diverse, inclusive, and passionate workplace. So, if you’re excited about this role but don’t have every single qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway. Whether it’s this role or another one, you may be just the right candidate. 

Cochrane welcomes applications from a wide range of perspectives, experiences, locations and backgrounds; diversity, equity and inclusion are key to our values. 

How to apply 

• For further information on the role and how to apply, please click here. 
• The deadline to receive your application is 14th March, 2025.  We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible. 
• The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements, using specific examples. 
• Interviews will be held on w/c 24th March, 2025.
• Read our Recruitment Privacy Statement
• Read our Candidate pack for more information on the hiring process and staff benefits 

Friday, February 28, 2025 Category: Jobs

Title:  Head of Finance
Specifications: Permanent – Full Time
Salary: £63,000 per annum
Location: (Remote) based in the UK, Germany or Denmark.
Closing date: 7 March, 2025

As an experienced and qualified Accountant, you will lead and manage Cochrane’s finance functions; developing and implementing strategies, policies and systems to ensure that they are provided in an effective and efficient manner to support the strategic aims and operational activities of the organisation. You will also contribute to Cochrane’s financial sustainability through inputs to fundraising, product & business development and robust financial management.

Reporting to the Director of Finance & Corporate Services, you will lead our small, friendly and dedicated Finance Team, responsible for the effective management and control of the financial function of a medium sized dynamic Charity. This is a pivotal role leading the financial outcomes, which will directly support senior leadership and top-level decision making and closely partner an array of key non-finance colleagues across the Charity.

Joining our team means becoming part of a mission to enhance global health through reliable, evidence-based practices. You'll collaborate with dedicated professionals and partners worldwide to ensure health decisions are informed by the best available data. Our core values — collaboration, relevance, integrity, and quality — guide all our actions. By joining us, you'll contribute to making a significant impact on health outcomes globally.

Don’t have every single qualification? We know that some people are less likely to apply for a job unless they are a perfect match. At Cochrane, we’re not looking for “perfect matches.” We’re looking to welcome people to our diverse, inclusive, and passionate workplace.

So, if you’re excited about this role but don’t have every single qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway. Whether it’s this role or another one, you may be just the right candidate.

Cochrane welcomes applications from a wide range of perspectives, experiences, locations and backgrounds; diversity, equity and inclusion are key to our values.

How to apply

• For further information on the role and how to apply, please click here.
• The deadline to receive your application is 7 March 2025.  We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
• The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements, using specific examples.
• Interviews will be held on 20 and 21 March 2025.
• Read our Recruitment Privacy Statement
• Read our Candidate pack for more information on the hiring process and staff benefits

Monday, February 24, 2025 Category: Jobs

We are pleased to announce that earlier this week, Cochrane’s status as a non-State actor (NSA) in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO) was renewed at the 156th session of the WHO Executive Board meeting in Geneva.

The Executive Board is composed of 34 technically qualified representatives from different Member States, elected for three-year terms. Every year, the Executive Board meets at WHO headquarters to discuss global health priorities for the year ahead and sets the agenda for the World Health Assembly.

The renewal of our official relations status is underpinned by a new joint plan of work for the next three years, which focuses on providing WHO with evidence syntheses that will help inform guidelines, the essential medicines list, methodological assistance and training, supporting activities that facilitate the use of evidence in policymaking at country, regional and global levels, alongside other technical assistance.

This official relation status also enables us to join and make statements at key WHO meetings as a non-voting participant. This includes the World Health Assembly (WHA), WHO’s decision-making body, which is attended by representatives of all Member States, and is a key forum to advocate for evidence-informed health policies and resolutions.

Cochrane was represented at this year’s Executive Board meeting by Governing Board member, Emma Persad; CEO, Catherine Spencer; and Advocacy and Partnerships Officer, Mariam Salman.

The session began with an opening statement by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. He highlighted the key achievements of the past 12 months and welcomed the adoption of the Fourteenth General Programme Of Work (GPW14), which Cochrane were invited to consult on through our NSA in official relations status.

He mentioned that maternal health is the theme for World Health Day this year and that although we have made progress on maternal and child mortality, we still have a long way to go to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Director-General also applauded Science Division, stating that its normative and standard-setting function is helping ensure that Member States are given the highest quality, evidence-based advice as fast as possible.

As part of the discussions, Cochrane submitted a statement to the Executive Board for consideration. Our statement supported the adoption of a draft resolution on strengthening national capacities in evidence-based decision making, as well as advocating for the production of high-quality evidence.  The full statement can be read below:

“Honorable Chair, Esteemed Delegates,

For over 30 years, the Cochrane Collaboration has been at the forefront of improving global health and life expectancy. We produce high-quality and trusted synthesized evidence to inform health decision making.

In a dramatically changing world with overlapping global health challenges, this is more vital now than ever.

We therefore urge Member States to adopt the Resolution titled “Strengthening national capacities in evidence-based decision making for the uptake and impact of norms and standards”

We also acknowledge that in order to ensure the production of high-quality evidence, the relevant WHO departments need core, recurrent funding for this essential function to continue its impact on a country-level.

We are pleased to see the alignment between WHO’s priorities and the Cochrane Collaboration’s Scientific Strategy, and express our sincerest gratitude and support in our ongoing engagement.”

• For more information on the work that Cochrane does with WHO and this year’s Executive Board meeting, please email msalman@cochrane.org.
• Find out more about the 156th session of the Executive Board.

Thursday, February 13, 2025

Honouring Cochrane's Volunteer Translators: Bridging Language Gaps in 2024

Cochrane proudly celebrates the incredible efforts of our volunteer translators in 2024. Their dedication has been instrumental in breaking language barriers and making high-quality health information accessible to communities worldwide.

This year, more than 730 volunteers actively contributed to our translation programme, with 48.6% coming from lower- or middle-income countries. Some language teams work with a larger number of volunteers than others, showcasing the diverse nature of our global multi-language programme.

In 2024 alone, our translation teams have published over 6,056 new or updated plain language summaries—and, for some languages, abstracts as well—bringing the total number of review summary translations to an impressive 54,272. This extraordinary collective effort ensures that Cochrane's trusted, evidence-based health information reaches those who need it most, regardless of the language they speak.

Beyond the numbers, the dedication of our volunteers is truly inspiring. Many of them balance their translation work with professional and personal commitments, yet they remain steadfast in their mission to improve global health literacy. 

Inès Belalem, volunteer in the French translation team, shared:

Pagakrong Lumbiganon from the Thai translation team reflected:

We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone involved in Cochrane’s translation projects for their unwavering commitment. Your contributions are invaluable, and together, we are making a meaningful impact on global health.

Thank you for being an essential part of Cochrane’s mission to provide accessible, high-quality health information to all.

About Cochrane's Multi-Language Programme

Cochrane translates evidence-based health information into multiple languages to improve accessibility and reduce linguistic barriers to global evidence-informed health decisions. We regularly translate content into languages including Croatian, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Thai, and Traditional Chinese.

Only around 6% of the world’s population are native English speakers, and 75% of people do not speak English at all. Many individuals lack access to high-quality health information simply because it is not available in a language they understand. By translating Cochrane evidence, we aim to bridge this gap and ensure that everyone, regardless of language, can make informed health decisions.

•  If you are interested in joining our community of volunteer translators and contributing to this vital work, please click here for more information on how to get involved.

 

Monday, February 3, 2025

Thursday, January 30, 2025

New Cochrane Library feature will help Information Specialists and systematic review authors produce trustworthy evidence.

Cochrane has launched a new feature in CENTRAL, our database of reports of clinical trials, to identify and flag publications that have been retracted by the publisher.

Cochrane's policy for managing potentially problematic studies states that studies with associated retractions should not be included in Cochrane reviews. This has previously been harder to achieve than it should be due to inconsistent ways of tagging published retractions that affects their accessibility and discoverability. But recent developments to standardise retractions and open the curated Retraction Watch database are helping address this.

To help Information Specialists and systematic review authors produce timely and trustworthy evidence that does not include problematic studies, we have been working hard to identify when a report of a randomized controlled trial is retracted; and to consistently label these as retracted publications in CENTRAL, with publication type label Retracted publication:pt. You can read our FAQ page on retracted publications to find out more about what sources we are using to identify these, and our plans to use additional sources in the future to identify more.

New for January 2025

This month we launch the first feature that helps users of CENTRAL (Cochrane’s database of trials) on the Cochrane Library better identify retracted publications in CENTRAL. When a user of Search Manager conducts a search, and views results in the Trials tab, if their search results contain records to papers retracted by the publisher a banner will appear, alerting them:

This will mean that when conducting a search for a review, it will be easier to identify known retracted publications. Why do we say ‘known’ retracted publications? In practice, “Although a journal may retract a publication, the communication of that retraction is often incomplete, both in the use of vague retraction notices with euphemistic language and the inconsistent and ineffective annotation of retracted publications.” (Bakker 2024). 

Plans for 2025

This work doesn’t end here, we need to do more to ensure that studies with associated retractions are not included in Cochrane reviews. There are additional challenges because, 'identifying retracted publications is important but logistically challenging; publications may be retracted while a review is in preparation or in press and problems with a publication may also be discovered after the evidence synthesis is published' (Bakker 2024).

We are currently linking those studies we have identified with retracted publications to published and in progress Cochrane reviews. Developments will also include automatic ways to inform the authors of these Cochrane reviews about the retractions, in order to proactively address this challenge; and to ensure that Cochrane remains the home of trustworthy evidence.

Hints and tips

CENTRAL is a unique source for identifying reports of randomized controlled trials retracted by publishers. Want to make the most of this valuable data source, and the new feature on the Cochrane Library? There is further information available on the Cochrane Library, and in this short video below which offers practical tips for users of CENTRAL via Search Manager on the Cochrane Library.

References

Bakker C, Boughton S, Faggion CM, Fanelli D, Kaiser K, Schneider J. Reducing the residue of retractions in evidence synthesis: ways to minimise inappropriate citation and use of retracted data. BMJ Evidence Based Medicine 2024;29:121-126. [DOI: 10.1136/bmjebm-2022-111921]

 

 

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Cochrane peer reviewers can now feature their peer review activity on their Web of Science profiles thanks to a new collaboration between Cochrane and Clarivate. 

Clarivate operates the Web of Science platform, a database that tracks citations, authorship and contributions in peer-reviewed scientific journals. The Web of Science Reviewer Recognition Service allows peer reviewers to track, verify and showcase their work and expertise through the platform.  

“We are extremely grateful to all our peer reviewers, Associate Editors, and Senior Editors who again and again volunteer their expertise and time to actively support Cochrane,” says Colleen Ovelman, Head of Editorial at Cochrane. “As a small token of gratitude, we have ensured that their hard work is now automatically recognized on their Web of Science reviewer profile.” 

All peer reviewers contributing to Cochrane reviews from 15 January 2025 onwards have the option to showcase their contributions on Web of Science. Unfortunately we are not able to recognise historical contributions in this way.  

What do peer reviewers need to do?  

If you already have a Web of Science profile, you do not need to create a new one to benefit from this service. If you do not yet have a Web of Science profile, you can sign up now for free.  

To ensure your contributions appear on your Web of Science profile: when you next provide feedback on a Cochrane review using an online peer review form in Editorial Manager, please answer 'Yes' to the question "Would you like to receive recognition for this contribution on Web of Science?". A record of your contribution will then be sent automatically from Editorial Manager to your Web of Science profile. The contribution should appear on your profile within 48 hours.  

Don’t forget: your contributions as a peer reviewer also go towards earning you Cochrane Membership. You can track your contributions as a peer reviewer in your Cochrane Account. 

You can get involved in peer review via Cochrane Engage by searching for tasks tagged as methodological, clinical or consumer depending on your role. 

Wednesday, January 29, 2025