Course Hands-on practical approach to Cochrane systematic reviews with focus on bias analysis

The course C338/01 Hands-on practical approach to Cochrane systematic reviews with focus on bias analysis is being offered by the Graduate School of Health, Aarhus University, Spring 2026.

Criteria for participation: University degree in medicine, dentistry, nursing, or Master’s degree in other fields and/or postgraduate research fellows (PhD students and research-year medical students).

Requirements for participation: Basic knowledge about literature search strategy (please see relevant courses offered by AU Library). Access to Covidence software (acquired through AU Library) and the Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB2) tool (download: Risk of bias tools - Current version of RoB 2).

Aim: The overall aim of this course is to provide participants with a hands-on, practical approach to Cochrane Systematic review methodology. Specifically, the course will focus on 1) understanding the key principles of building a structured and relevant search strategy, and selecting studies based on a predefined protocol, 2) assessing the risk of bias in included studies, 3) acquiring knowledge about how to effectively present the results of bias assessment, 4) gaining practical experience with Covidence software and the RoB2 tool.

Learning outcomes: 

Day 1: Building and executing search strategy using Covidence software

• Be introduced to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic reviews and the Cochrane Library
• Apply a predefined research question to develop and execute a search strategy in at least two relevant databases (e.g., PubMed and Embase)
• Learn to use Covidence software to manage the studies selection process
• Extract key data from individual studies

Day 2: Risk of Bias Assessment

• Assess the risk of bias in individual study results using RoB2 tool
• Understand the seven domains of RoB2 tool, including:

1. random sequence generation,
2. allocation sequence concealment,
3. blinding of participants and personnel,
4. blinding of outcome assessment,
5. incomplete outcome,
6. selective outcome reporting, and
7. other sources of bias.

• Present and interpret the results of the risk of bias assessment, including visual presentation using f.eks. forest plots

Workload: The full workload of the course is expected to be 42 hours

Content: Short lectures followed by group work, including student presentation and plenum discussion of the assignments. There will be an opportunity for individual and group specific discussion and feedback.

Instructors: 

Alma B. Pedersen

Mette Nørgaard

Librarians from AU Library: Karen Rodríguez Sigaard, Anne Vils Mead, Helene Sognstrup

Literature reading:

On Day 1, students will be introduced to a short and specific research protocol for conducting a systematic review. Toward the end of Day 1, up to 3 individual studies will be selected for review, with focus on reading and understanding their methodology and results. These studies will form the basis for practical exercises in risk of bias assessment on Day 2, using the Revised Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB2) tool and its accompanying guidelines.  

Venue: Aarhus University, Aarhus

Participation in the course is without cost for:

• PhD students, Health Research Year students from Aarhus University
• PhD students enrolled at partner universities of the Nordoc collaboration
• PhD students from other institutions in the open market agreement for PhD courses

Course dates:

• 11 May 2026 09:00 - 16:00
• 12 May 2026 09:00 - 16:00