This should describe the changes to the protocol or review since it was last published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. At each update of a review, substantive or not, the ‘What’s new’ field should contain the calendar date of the change, the event and a description of what was changed. The following options for the events in the protocol are: feedback incorporated, amendment, declare new citation version (major change or minor change). In the full review examples of events to note include: Update (new search for studies), feedback incorporated, amendment, declare new citation version (conclusions changed or not changed) and declare review as no longer being updated. In the description, the authors should give a brief summary of how much new information has been added to the review (for example, number of studies, participants or extra analyses) and any important changes to the conclusions, results or methods of the review.
Changes which are made between versions prior to the penultimate version should be listed as events under ‘History’. The ‘What’s New’ section should only indicate changes made between the previous version and the current version.