Resources for Review Authors

This page provides links and resources for planning, conducting, and reporting your equity-relevant systematic review. For additional training materials, including webinars, please visit the Training and Webinars page.

Resources for Cochrane Authors

Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions
Chapter 16: Equity and specific populations
Welch VA, Petkovic J, Jull J, Hartling L, Klassen T, Kristjansson E, Pardo Pardo J, Petticrew M, Stott DJ, Thomson D, Ueffing E, Williams K, Young C, Tugwell P. Chapter 16: Equity and specific populations. In: Higgins JPT, Thomas J, Chandler J, Cumpston M, Li T, Page MJ, Welch VA (editors). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions version 6.2 (updated Febuary 2021). Cochrane, 2021. Available from www.training.cochrane.org/handbook.


Cochrane Interactive Learning
Module 11: Health equity in systematic reviews. This module will give you an introduction to health equity considerations when planning and conducting a systematic review. 

PRO-EDI: improving how equity, diversity and inclusion are handled in evidence synthesis: https://www.trialforge.org/trial-diversity/pro-edi/

PRISMA-Equity extension: Equity — PRISMA statement (prisma-statement.org)

PROGRESS-Plus: https://methods.cochrane.org/equity/projects/evidence-equity/progress-plus

 

Conducting evidence synthesis/methods 

Racism and Health I: Pathways and Scientific Evidence: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3863357/

Global Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) synthesis coalition: https://www.sdgsynthesiscoalition.org/

Cochrane ACTIVE: https://training.cochrane.org/ACTIVE

Identifying Social Factors that Stratify Health Opportunities & Outcomes (ISSHOOs): https://www.isshoos.org/

 

Conducting guidelines/methods 

GRADE Equity Guidelines: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5675012/

Dewidar O, Pardo JP, Welch V, Hazlewood GS, Darzi AJ, Barnabe C, Pottie K, Petkovic J, Kuria S, Sha Z, Allam S, Busse JW, Schünemann HJ, Tugwell P. Operationalizing the GRADE-equity criterion to inform guideline recommendations: application to a medical cannabis guideline. J Clin Epidemiol. 2024 Jan;165:111185. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2023.10.001. Epub 2023 Nov 11. PMID: 37952701.

ROBVALU: a tool for assessing risk of bias in studies about people’s values, utilities, or importance of health outcomes: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2024-079890

Identifying Social Factors that Stratify Health Opportunities & Outcomes (ISSHOOs): https://www.isshoos.org/

Dewidar O, Kawala BA, Antequera A, Tricco AC, Tovey D, Straus S, Glover R, et al. Methodological guidance for incorporating equity when informing rapid-policy and guideline development. J Clin Epidemiol. 2022:150:142-153.

Examples: 

The Canadian Guidelines for Post COVID-19 Condition (CAN-PCC): https://canpcc.ca/home/

 

Generic resources

Justice, equity, diversity, inclusion and Indigenous reconciliation (JEDI-IR) resource from Macmaster University: https://hei-steer.healthsci.mcmaster.ca/resources/

A tutorial on methodological studies: the what, when, how and why: https://bmcmedresmethodol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12874-020-01107-7

European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity: https://allea.org/code-of-conduct/

Lotfi T, Welch V, Pardo Pardo J, Petkovic JTreweek S, Darzi AJ, Glover R, et al. Equity in evidence synthesis: You can’t play on broken strings. Cochrane Evidence Synthesis and Methods. 2024;2:e12091
Parker R, Petkovic J, Pardo Pardo J, Darzi A, Dewidar O, Khabsa J, Kristjansson E, et al. The equity group: Supporting Cochrane's social responsibility of improving health equity. Cochrane Evidence Synthesis and Methods. 2023;1:e12012.

 

Priority setting

WHO priority setting process for better refugee and migrant health: https://www.who.int/news/item/30-10-2023-who-outlines-crucial-research-priorities-for-better-refugee-and-migrant-health

Identifying Social Factors that Stratify Health Opportunities & Outcomes (ISSHOOs): https://www.isshoos.org/

James Lind Library priority setting partnerships: https://www.jla.nihr.ac.uk/priority-setting-partnerships/

 

Interest holder Engagement

Parker R, Tomlinson E, Concannon TW, Akl E, Petkovic J, Welch VA, Crowe S, et al. Factors to consider during identification and invitation of individuals in a multi-stakeholder research project. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2022. DOI:10.1007/s11606-022-07411-w

Cochrane ACTIVE: https://training.cochrane.org/ACTIVE

Engagement resources from Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI): https://www.pcori.org/engagement/research-fundamentals

PCORI Engagement Toolkit: https://www.pcori.org/engagement/research-fundamentals/promotional-toolkit

GRIPP2 reporting checklists: tools to improve reporting of patient and public involvement in research: https://www.bmj.com/content/358/bmj.j3453

            Examples and good practice: 

3ie Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Plan for Systematic Reviews: 

www.3ieimpact.org/sites/default/files/2018-12/3ie_SECP%20template.pdf

The Bridge Engagement Centre: https://bridgeengagement.ca/

Preferred Terms for Select Population Groups & Communities from CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/Preferred_Terms.html

 

Reporting guidelines

GRIPP2 reporting checklists: tools to improve reporting of patient and public involvement in research: https://www.bmj.com/content/358/bmj.j3453

PRISMA-Equity extension: Equity — PRISMA statement (prisma-statement.org)

Ethnicity in trials: RECONSIDER by BIanca Brijnath in Australia https://www.equator-network.org/library/reporting-guidelines-under-development/reporting-guidelines-under-development-for-clinical-trials/#RECONSIDER

GRIPP2 reporting checklists: tools to improve reporting of patient and public involvement in research: https://www.bmj.com/content/358/bmj.j3453