Reviews needed

Results of priority title voting 2009

We have recently asked the membership to vote for the 8 review titles that they think should be prioritised in the coming year.We have now received proposals from potential review teams. We shall be asking an independent group of our editors to assess the applications.

The winning titles are:

• Different strategies for using topical corticosteroids
• Interventions for preventing and managing radiation-induced skin reactions in cancer patients
• Interventions for localised scleroderma
• Histamine H-2 receptor antagonists for urticaria 
• Interventions for cutaneous sarcoidosis
• Local therapies for scalp psoriasis
• Treatments for established stretch marks
• Dermatological side effect interventions for targeted cancer treatment

The following titles were not voted for and will be placed back on the list for when we conduct the next round of voting:

• Interventions for the prevention and treatment of Buruli ulcer
• Interventions for the prevention of recurrent erysipelas
• Photodynamic therapy for psoriasis
• Anti-TNF blocking agents in paediatric psoriasis

The following titles were not voted for and will not be placed back on the list for the next round of voting. This is because titles that aren't selected after two rounds are not eligible to be voted on a third time:

• Botulinum toxin for facial wrinkles
• Systemic treatments (including homeopathy) for children with warts

The following titles were removed from the voting list for the following reasons:

Reason: Lost contact with the proposers (> 2 years)
Title: - Vaccines for preventing leprosy
- Gentian violet for infective skin disorders
- Benzoyl peroxide for acne
- Concomitant hyperthermia and radiation for recurrent or metastatic malignant melanoma
- The effectiveness of topical steroids in treating childhood phimosis
- Interventions for intertrigo
- transplantation for androgenic alopecia

Reason: Title has been superseded by a review in progress
Title: - 'Topical selenium sulphide for seborrhoeic dermatitis/skin disorders' has now been superseded by 'Interventions for seborrhoeic dermatitis'.
- 'Interventions for sporotrichosis' has now been superseded by 'Oral potassium iodide for the treatment of sporotrichosis'.

Reason: Title has been amended 
Title: - 'Management of cutaneous reactions in cancer patients treated with EGFRI's (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor inhibitors)' has been changed to the broader 'Dermatological side-effect interventions for targeted cancer treatment: a systematic review'.
- '(Appropriate use of)Topical corticosteroids for atopic eczema' has been changed to 'Different strategies for using topical corticosteroids'.

The following titles are funded by the National Institutes of Health Research (NIHR) or are prospectively-funded reviews:
- Efficacy of specific allergen immunotherapy for the treatment of atopic dermatitis
- House dust mite avoidance measures for eczema
- Immunotherapy (desensitisation) in patients with atopic dermatitis
- Temozolomide for metastatic melanoma

Other Priority Titles

In addition to the Title Voting process the Skin Group occasionally finds that existing review teams are no longer in a position to continue updating their review. In cases such as this the titles are automatically regarded as a priority and open to competition from teams who are interested in taking them over.

Priority title voting 2010

The following titles have been accepted by the editorial base and will be voted on in the next ballot:

• Interventions for urticarial vasculitis
• Laser therapy for psoriasis
• Interventions for epidermodysplasia verruciformis

Please see the following explanation of our titles prioritisation process:

Titles
When a suggestion for a new title is received the Co-ordinating Editor decides whether to accept it as relevant to the scope of the Skin Group.
The title is then held with others until we periodically ask all the membership to vote and list the available titles in their order of priority. We then publicise the winning titles to the membership and on the website. We openly invite interested groups to apply to do the reviews. These titles are not only open to current Skin Group members, but to all who feel they would be interested in becoming part of a Cochrane Skin Group review team and would have something to offer the review team.

In order for selection of the review teams to be as fair as possible we ask that those who wish to declare their interest to answer the following questions:
1. List the members of your team and their roles.
2. State why your team is well positioned to prepare and maintain this review (250 words maximum).
3. List up to 4 references that you or your team have published relevant to your application.
4. List the Cochrane reviews that you have completed so far. We require anyone leading a review team to have completed a Cochrane review before starting another review (to clarify: as leading a Cochrane review takes much time and effort, we advise you not to take on more than one Cochrane review at a time).
5. It is also a Cochrane and a Skin Group requirement that your review team has a methodologist such as a statistician as part of the team. Please provide the name and email of this person.

If anyone is interested in becoming involved in writing a review for one of the selected titles, but is unable to build a team, or cannot fulfil all of the above 5 points, we still welcome expressions of interest. We ask that they tell us how they would like to be involved and how they could contribute. We then endeavour to inform the membership and help them to become part of a review team.
When other author(s) have previously expressed an interest in the same or a similar title, the individuals concerned are encouraged to collaborate on the project. In addition, the editorial base may be able to suggest to authors the names of potential co-authors and consumers that can participate in the review if that help is required. Occasionally, additional co-authors from specific backgrounds such as primary care or child health are solicited by contacting the appropriate Cochrane field.
We will then forward all applications to our panel of 3 independent editors who will decide which teams seem most able to complete a Cochrane systematic review.

Once the successful teams are chosen the lead author is asked to submit a title registration form to the editorial base csg@nottingham.ac.uk . This form includes a plan of work and clarifies the roles played by members of the review team.
1. We require each new review team to include a methodologist
2. We require each new review team to include a team member with previous Cochrane Review experience.
3. We strongly recommend that all new review teams include a consumer: their participation ensures that the review is written in language accessible to lay people and that the outcomes chosen are consumer focussed.
4. Ideally, there should be a minimum of three people in addition to the consumer.
5. It is important that authors agree between themselves at an early stage how each will contribute to the process of delivering a final review.
6. It is the responsibility of the lead author to confirm that co-authors agree to their assigned tasks before the title registration form is submitted.
7. We recommend that at least one member of a review team is a native speaker of English.

Completion of the form is a prerequisite for registration.

If title registration has not been completed within 3 months of acceptance of the title, the title may be released for other authors to pick up.

After the title registration form has been accepted, the title is entered into the Information Management System for two weeks and checked for possible overlaps with other Cochrane Groups. At the end of that time period the authors are sent all the appropriate electronic paperwork to enable them to start writing their protocol.

This page last updated 11th September 2009 by Laura Prescott (contact: csg@nottingham.ac.uk)