Covidence is recognised by Cochrane as the primary screening and data extraction tool for Cochrane authors conducting standard intervention reviews. Covidence is designed to make review production more efficient and is structured to complete relevant processes in compliance with Cochrane methods.

Covidence allows Cochrane author teams to complete the following processes relevant to the production of Cochrane reviews: 

  • upload search results 
  • screen abstracts and full text study reports 
  • complete data collection 
  • conduct risk of bias assessment 
  • resolve disagreements
  • export data into RevMan or Excel

Before starting work in Covidence, please review the following information:

  • We’ve introduced the ability to download completed data extractions and quality assessments (Risk of bias) when using Extraction 1 in a format that can be uploaded into RevMan Web.
  • Covidence is not optimised to support complex review types (diagnostic test accuracy, prognostic and qualitative reviews). Cochrane recommends that author teams use EPPI-Reviewer for these types of reviews. 
  • Covidence has recently introduced Extraction 2, an updated framework for completing Quality Assessment and Data Extraction. We are recommending that Cochrane authors continue to use Extraction 1 to work on Cochrane reviews, as its structure and functions currently align more closely with the parameters required for Cochrane reviews.
  • Covidence encourages all Cochrane authors to review the guidance on our Knowledge Base on setting up quality assessment and data extraction templates in Extraction 1 in order to fully understand how these templates work and are linked with studies in the Extraction section. Understanding and applying the optimal workflow in setting up, piloting, and implementing templates is critical to minimising the introduction of errors and discrepancies that can adversely affect progress and data outputs.
  • The transfer of data between Covidence and RevMan is not currently optimised for updates of existing Cochrane reviews. 
  • Customising quality assessment templates and data extraction forms in Covidence, especially custom effect measures in outcome tables, may affect your data export options to RevMan. If you wish to export your extracted data to RevMan, we recommend pilot-testing your form or template with a small number of studies. Do a test export to RevMan to review how the data appears. 

If you are interested in using Covidence to update an existing Cochrane review in RevMan, or to carry out quality assessment or data extraction using customized templates, please review the information on the 'Exporting studies to RevMan', 'How to upload your data to RevMan Web', and 'Updating a Cochrane review' pages. If you need more information, please contact support@covidence.org for more information on the most effective way to manage these processes.