Independent advisory group for the full update of the Cochrane review on exercise therapy and ME/CFS (2020), led by Hilda Bastian

Later on in the Q and A from Toby

"If I can come back to the earlier questions about editorial notes, I have been asking one of the team about that. I've been assured that, it is a known issue, the editorial note coming to the PLSs including in translating them, which is quite an important feature of the.org. The hosting the Plain Language Summaries and looking to get a solution for that after a meeting in May."

Toby Lasserson - Deputy Editor in Chief
Toby works closely with the Editor in Chief to deliver the objectives and targets of the Cochrane’s Editorial and Methods Department. Toby supports the Editor in Chief by leading our global review production operations and helps to implement our goal of offering high-quality, relevant, up-to-date systematic reviews and other synthesized research evidence that informs health decision-making around the world. Toby also supports the strategic and editorial development of the Cochrane Library according to user needs, and ensures the Library remains a premier international source of healthcare evidence. Toby works closely with and supports the Cochrane Review Groups Networks.

So, this may be the quickest answer Caroline has had to one of her questions!

It can also be followed up in June, if nothing happens.

 

I do find a rather tragic irony in how lacking in progress a progress report can manage to be.

 

Classic Cochrane.

 

Oh - just seen this! I know Toby quite well, and he will have known this question came from me - no doubt about it. I think this a very serious point of ethics which Cochrane did not think through when continuing to reject the requests to withdraw both CFS reviews. So yes, can follow up in June.

 

Not having the notice visible or somewhere else reminds me of when I rented a house for the weekend with friends. We used the napkins from the drawer but didn't notice until the last day the notice UNDER all the napkins saying, "Please don't use these napkins."

 

doing a BMJ?

 

I agree the delay in updating has been terrible - but that won't continue. I'll make it clear why things did not go as originally planned, in the first progress report. Sorry to be so vague at the moment - but I'll be happy to discuss in detail once that's out.

 

This isn't what's happening and there is no connection with the NICE guidelines.

 

COVID did have a huge impact, but although that was for a long time, it's not ongoing.

 

I'm definitely hoping you won't give up. My uninformative responses are because I don't want to pre-empt the report, and I'll be more responsive afterwards, and as this moves forward.

 

I'm very grateful for your comment, and I hope you will consider it was worthwhile as this develops.

 

Apologies again that I'm not going to pre-empt the report: and say the lack of a progress report does not mean there hasn't been any progress.

 

I did mean weeks - and although the slowdown was long, it won't continue that way.

 

Important point: yes, we should have done that.

 

I had the impression you were reading my replies - should I re-send them if you've only seen one?

 

The communication method with the IAG is the email address as publicized, and we received expressions of interest from individuals and groups. How the process evolved will be detailed in the report, and I'll be happy to discuss it further after that.

 

Am I still there? I thought I had been removed. (It turns out they had added a bunch of people who qualified for membership from past involvement that had apparently been overlooked and emailed us to let us know: while it's true I qualify for membership, I do not want to be one.)

 

That hasn't been an issue at all, I'm pleased to say.

 

No - not going to publicly pre-empt the report anywhere.

 

Agree. Grumpy is obviously justified. Working on resolving that disconnect.