The information contained in this Module relates to Section 2 of the Reviewers' Handbook, which you should read now.

Planning your review

When thinking about getting on with your review, it is a good idea to be aware of what resources you will need to complete the job. In the next module we'll think a little bit more about how you can use the protocol for your review to do some detailed planning. In this module, we'll look at the resources you're likely to need to complete a systematic review, what a Cochrane systematic review looks like, and get you using RevMan.

Resources for a review

You'll need a range of knowledge and skills to complete a systematic review, and it pays to think about where you'll get these early on in the review process.

Here's a list of the sort of resources you'll need:

• somebody to do the work
• somebody to get the money
• somebody who is willing to write the review
• an information specialist (a librarian, or someone with in-depth knowledge of how to locate and retrieve studies)
• a methodologist
• content expertise - people who know about the condition from both the clinical and the consumer perspective

Don't panic if you don't meet all these criteria yourself! It's unusual to find all the knowledge, skills and resources required in one person. A systematic review is best prepared by a team of people rather than one individual, and some of these needs could be met by having an advisory group to give you input at intervals. Let's have a look at these criteria in turn.

It may sound obvious, but there is quite a bit of work involved in a systematic review - make sure someone in your team has the time to do this. Problems finding the time are one of the common reasons reviews don't progress quickly

You don't have to pay anyone to do a Cochrane review, but you will need some money to do a systematic review, if only for postage, access to the internet, paying for library costs, etc. Someone will need to have this, or go and get it from somewhere.

It helps to have someone involved who enjoys writing and is good at it. This often means your review won't need as many revisions, and the results of your review will be communicated more clearly and effectively.

Advice from an information specialist is invaluable, so look into that. You may need help from someone experienced in the methods of reviews. If you're not very familiar with the subject matter of the review, you'll need some input from someone who knows about it (a content expert). Content experts can be clinicians who know a lot about the topic, or consumers who have personal experience of the condition. It's helpful to have input from both.

Finally, it helps to have someone or a group of people to check on your progress - an advisory group. This can be an efficient way of getting help from some of the experts you'll be approaching.

The Cochrane review group with which you are preparing the review will be able to provide some help in the last four categories. Many groups have a Trials Search Co-ordinator, each group should have access to the help of a statistician and be able to suggest people with other types of methodological expertise, and they may be able to help you find a content expert. The editorial team can act, to some extent, like an advisory group.

Make a note of how you plan to cover each of these categories. If you are preparing this review with a Cochrane group, find out what help they are able to offer.

Allowing enough time for your review

How long will your review take? As described in Appendix 3a of the Reviewers' Handbook, this will vary depending on the content of the review, the time you have to devote to it and your skills. There are also busy times in a review, and quieter times, for instance when you're waiting to hear back from authors of studies. Appendix 3a contains a time scale that you could adapt to suit your own circumstances.