Following publication of the protocol, the CIS will contact the authors to arrange a time for running the searches on behalf of the authors (if they are not running the searches themselves). Depending on how long it has been since the draft strategy was first created, it may need to be checked and updated (i.e. if subject headings have changed or comments received following the publication of the protocol).

The CIS will run the searches and usually send a de-duplicated set of results to the author for screening. Once the searches have been run, the clock starts ticking and the authors have 12 months to publish the review. If this deadline is not met, top up searches will need to be run before publication, although this is good practice even if the publication date falls within 12 months.

The deadline for the submission of the first draft of the review is typically 6 months. CIS’ will need to check all search related content of the draft review, including; search date in the header, abstract, plain language summary, search methods for identification of studies in the methods section, description of studies in the results section, discussion, the search strategy in the appendices and the PRISMA diagram. CIS’ may be asked to check other sections, such as references, depending on the review group.

After all editorial comments have been addressed by the authors, the review will be published.