What is the role of a DynaMed author?

A DynaMed author either creates a new topic or revises an existing topic. For new topics, an author would use a standard template to create the entry for a disease, condition or drug that did not previously exist in the database. The author would select evidence, organize the information and summarize the findings. For pre-existing topics, an author’s objective is to revise and improve the topic through re-examination. This includes reviewing the existing topic and current evidence, and validating this material to ensure that it is clinically sound and easy to locate. The end result is the most accurate, current and valuable information on a given topic.

An author must:

• Identify evidence (conduct a search for the best available evidence) and/or evaluate evidence (perform a critical appraisal sufficient to assign level of evidence labels where applicable) for a substantial portion of a topic summary.
• Draft a topic summary or critically revise it for important intellectual content.
• Participate sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content in the topic summary.

What is the role of a DynaMed reviewer?

A DynaMed reviewer helps to ensure that a new or revised topic meets the needs of practicing clinicians. A reviewer provides recommendations for improving the usefulness of the summary, especially with respect to relevance, completeness and ease of use. Validity assessment and selection of the best available evidence is welcome, but reviewers can also rely on DynaMed authors and editors for specific evidence evaluation.

Authors and reviewers are not blinded. After the initial review, authors and reviewers are included collectively in e-mail notices regarding updates and encouraged to collaborate in continually improving the summary. Authors and reviewers are required to disclose competing interests (financial or otherwise).