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I will be looking at the methods and evidence related only to the subject Cochrane is reviewing. I'm not going to check the numbers in their GRADE tables, for example, and I'm not going to try to reproduce their analyses of qualitative or other research. My focus is on the quality of the...

I did not say that some Cochrane members are reluctant to scientific criticism being shared openly for every to review. I just pointed out that if I wanted to make everybody at Cochrane happy, I wouldn't start off with a long list of unvetted criticisms without responses to them, from the...

I think a range of abilities are needed for specific roles - and there are abilities in common across multiple roles, but some that are specific. For example, you don't need particular values and beliefs to provide a really valuable peer review. What you find out about people in interviews, or...

I don't believe PWME and their advocates bear joint responsibility for the unpopularity of ME topics, or for the stigma that flows from all being judged by the behavior of a minority. I don't believe criticizing, or being persistent in criticizing, is a problem: not for me, and not for Cochrane...

Yes, I agree it's one of the discussion points raised in the past, in a document already included. This review is going ahead - and it won't be expanded to cover all interventions about the condition. If that were on the table, my personal advice would be not to leave this as it is for another...

Thanks, Robert! I'll go through it carefully for new points and literature, and re-visit how to handle things that are not specifically about the Cochrane review. In the meantime, just a reminder that documents that aren't specifically about the Cochrane review can be added to this open...

Thank you - I will be really careful about the use of the term in future in that context: I'm sorry about this.

Thank you! The first one doesn't mention the Cochrane review, but I'll definitely look closely to see if there are points that are not already included. The NICE document will definitely go into the category of reviews that aren't in accord with the Cochrane review, and I and others are...

Goodness, no! I don't agree I said anything like that. And Cochrane is obviously updating this review, so I can't imagine why on earth you'd say I said they were reluctant to update it. On the other hand, while it makes me sad, I think it's understandable that when there's a hot potato, and it's...

Thanks! (I won't respond to everything here, especially where I've commented on the issue.) I take your point. However, there has also been lots of public criticism of how Cochrane excluded and misinterpreted or disregarded ME/CFS stakeholders. It was a trajectory that had to change, and...

Thanks for pointing that out - I'll get it updated next week. That was the original wording, and as the report makes clear, there is going to be a new protocol now. Originally, I'd thought a sensible way to start was with pointing out problems in the original protocol: but assembling and working...

It's not tone policing from Cochrane. I don't see activist as a pejorative term - I have described myself as an activist, for many years primarily as an activist, and done so with pride. I see what you mean, though, so I'll consult about a better way to describe this, and I welcome suggestions...

I'll consult on the terminology "activists": obviously, as someone who themselves has a long history of activism, I don't consider it a negative term. And I've saw no sign that any of the people involved in this discussion see it that way - and there is great concern for the quality of the...

I'm not going to discuss details of people's lives that they haven't discussed themselves publicly, so my answers aren't going to very satisfying, I'm afraid. Your original comment was about not having an impressive CV because of not having been able to have a career due to illness: if a person...

Cut and paste from the May progress report, for those who might not have read it: The new author team was decided by MOSS and PaPaS, in consultation with the Cochrane project manager and me. The IAG was not yet established at that time. We agreed on this composition for an author team of eight...

I'm going to pass this message on as some were so concerned that they don't have an impressive CV because of being too ill to work: it supports my contention that they are indeed impressive. I agree diversity is lacking, and it's one of the issues on the list to consider for the final position...

Thanks - I'll check when they last updated the bios/declarations of the authors to make sure. (We updated ours for the IAG in the last month or so.) (Still not remotely agreeing this this attempt to somehow saddle Kay Hallsworth with suspicion by theoretical association with the opinions of...

That's Kate Hallsworth. Kay Hallsworth was a Naval Commander, and as her bio states, she was doing that* for 28 years, so no, she wasn't a researcher in Newcastle in 2011. She's not a physiotherapist. Edit: * serving in the Navy.

Here's how I summarized it in a 2019 blog post: "Exercise is something of a sacred cow to many – including in the evidence community. So there was a constituency that wasn’t going to be as critical of studies claiming advantages of exercise as they might be for other treatments." The belief in...

Long bows can be drawn in thin air, yes. That doesn't mean there's a there, there. I'll expand on methods/processes down the line - the progress report isn't intended to be all there is on the early processes. We have very different beliefs and expectations of consumer participation in...