The leadership of the international Cochrane Collaboration failed to make a decision on drug company sponsorship at last week's annual conference in Barcelona, opting instead for a complex consultation with its 10 000 members.

Professor Jim Neilson, who co-chairs the collaboration's steering group, told the BMJa discussion paper will be released next month, and a final decision will be made in February. “The members have made it very clear they want to have input into this decision.”

The Cochrane Collaboration (http://www.cochrane.org/) produces systematic reviews of the evidence about healthcare interventions, but its supporters …