Cochrane endorsed the Intervention Synthesis Questions (InSynQ) checklist as optional for prospective authors following a recommendation from the Methods Executive and relevant experts across Cochrane. The InSynQ checklist and guide for developing and reporting the questions addressed in systematic reviews of interventions, consists of 11 items that cover various aspects of the synthesis questions, including the specification of the synthesis questions (including the grouping of interventions, populations and outcomes; specification of comparisons; methodological groupings) and the role of groups in the synthesis (e.g. for pairwise comparisons, structuring text or tables, exploring possible causes of variation in the effects of the intervention, sensitivity analyses).
Who is the InSynQ checklist for?
The checklist is framed for authors but should also be helpful to those editing or peer-reviewing systematic review protocols or reports of intervention questions. It may assist methodologists working with author teams to plan their synthesis and commissioners seeking to ensure a planned synthesis aligns with their requirements.
About the project
The InSynQ checklist was developed as part of a collaborative programme of work aimed at delivering practical resources to help authors and editors translate guidance from the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions into practice.
Learn more about the InSynQ checklist and how it can be used:
- InSynQ official checklist webpage, which includes:
- Complete guidance on how to use the InSynQ checklist and guide.
- The checklist (available as a 2-pages document).
- Cochrane Handbook of Systematic Reviews of Interventions, in particular:
- The study centric data management and analysis collection on the Cochrane Training website.
- Methods Support Web clinics:
- "Considering scope at the review planning stage" (June 2023).
Posted by Ingrid Arevalo-Rodriguez