Cochrane's vision is a world of better health for all people where decisions about health and care are informed by high-quality evidence. Since its inception, Cochrane has pioneered and developed systematic review methodology with highly structured, transparent and reproducible standards. Historically, Cochrane has concentrated on systematic reviews of interventions, with the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions being the leading guide for preparing and maintaining systematic reviews on the effects of healthcare interventions within Cochrane and globally. However, the health landscape has changed and given rise to complex challenges and a need for trusted health evidence to guide decision-making in areas beyond intervention research.

To continue meeting the needs of the users of our research, it is essential for Cochrane to increase its capacity to address different research questions. To provide guidance on the methodological standards for producing high-quality systematic reviews with other types of evidence, Cochrane has expanded its Handbook collection to include the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Diagnostic Test Accuracy (complete and available to buy), the Cochrane-Campbell Handbook for Qualitative Evidence Synthesis (complete and available in draft), and the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Prognosis (in development with some chapters available in draft). These three new Cochrane Handbooks are led by the Cochrane Screening and Diagnostic Tests, Qualitative and Implementation, and Prognosis Methods Groups, respectively, and draw on the expertise of hundreds of contributing methodologists, researchers and editors worldwide.

In this session, the Editors for each of the three new Cochrane Handbooks will introduce their Handbook and discuss methodological challenges that arise from these types of systematic reviews. In addition, they will highlight new developments in research methodologies and what they hope to achieve with the addition of these Handbooks to the collection of Cochrane guides that are available for authors, editors and the wider community.

Target audience: Authors, editors, methodologists and anyone interested in different types of systematic reviews.

Format: Lecture, panel discussion