The Criticism Management System for the Cochrane Library

In April 1997, the Cochrane Collaboration implemented the Criticism Management System for The Cochrane Library, allowing readers to electronically submit criticisms on Cochrane reviews and protocols. As a result of resource constraints and user feedback, the Criticism Management System evolved through three different versions. Major problems have included difficult access to the system, a lack of automation within the system, a low number of submissions (171 criticisms submitted per 1,388 reviews), and a low response rate to these criticisms by authors of reviews (26 criticisms have received published responses). These low figures suggest that users of The Cochrane Library are not commenting on the published reviews or not using the Criticism Management System to make their criticisms known to the authors. An easier-to-use system and better ways of encouraging feedback from readers and responses from reviewers are needed in the future.