David Tovey replies to Melanie Newman and The BMJ

dtovey@cochrane.org Newman asks whether Cochrane has “lost its way” given recent ructions arising from the governing board’s decision to remove membership status from Peter Gøtzsche.1 On the contrary, by all objective measures, Cochrane is thriving. Underlying this success are the international author teams and 52 Cochrane review groups, yet they barely rate a mention in Newman’s article, and only one coordinating (lead) editor is quoted. Rather than credit these positive contributions, critics focus on the necessary, overdue introduction of 21st century measures relating to good governance and accountability.