Table 1: NCS Guideline Development Timeline
1. Release – 32 months; Jan NCS sends out poll to the membership soliciting topics for guidelines
2. Release – 31 month; Feb Poll results collated and discussed at GC meeting in February
3. Release – 30 months; Mar Topics ranked and presented to Executive Committee for a vote (March)
4. Release – 29 months; Apr Topic co-chairs proposed by GC
5. Release – 28 months; May GC PM invites potential co-chairs, COI and CA completed and returned
6. Release – 27 months; Jun The topic chairs meet with the GC Chairs to determine need, chronology, process,
anticipated endorsing or partnering Societies, and projected budget.
7. Release – 26 months; Jul The budget is approved by the NCS Executive Committee. Then, an email to the
membership asking for volunteers to work on the guideline will be released. This
should be considered a competitive process, as only 8-10 people will be selected of
about 100 volunteers.
8. Release – 25 months; Aug The Topic Chairs and GC Chairs determine the composition of the writing committee.
Invitation letters sent, conflicts of interest resolved, and writing committee finalized.
9. Release – 24 months; Sep Meeting of the writing group, topic co-chairs and GC chairs/GRADE coach at annual meeting
(6-8 hours). Presentation about GRADE and brainstorming session of PICO questions.
Number of PICO questions may be restricted by budget.
10. Release – 22 months; Nov The new committee meets monthly by teleconference to finalize PICO questions – in scope
and number, librarian, and GRADE coach
11. Release – 20 months; Jan PICO questions are assigned and literature review performed using provided software.
Monthly meetings to review the literature and draft recommendations.
12. Release – 12 months; Sept In-person meeting (6-8 hours) at the NCS annual meeting for review of literature and
determination of recommendations
13. Release – 10 months; Nov The new Guideline is written
14. Release – 6 months; Mar The new Guideline is distributed to internal reviewers
15. Release – 5 months; Apr Feedback is incorporated into an updated version
16. Release – 4 months; May The new Guideline is distributed to external reviewers
17. Release – 3 months; June Feedback incorporated into the final version; endorsements finalized
18. Release – 2 months; Jul The Guideline is submitted for publication with endorsements
19. Release The new Guideline is published and presented at the Annual NCS meeting
20. Release + 2 months The Guideline slide set is posted on the website, and the guideline is submitted to the
National Guideline Clearinghouse.
Figure 1: Overview of the GRADE Process7
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