A separate Working Group is responsible for developing
each volume of Monographs. A volume contains one
or more Monographs, which can cover either a single
agent or several related agents. Approximately one year
in advance of the meeting of a Working Group, the agents
to be reviewed are announced on the Monographs
programme website (http://monographs.iarc.fr)
and participants are selected by IARC staff in consultation
with other experts. Subsequently, relevant biological
and epidemiological data are collected by IARC from recognized
sources of information on carcinogenesis, including data
storage and retrieval systems such as PubMed. Meeting
participants who are asked to prepare preliminary working
papers for specific sections are expected to supplement
the IARC literature searches with their own searches.
For most chemicals and some complex mixtures, the major
collection of data and the preparation of working papers
for the sections on chemical and physical properties,
on analysis, on production and use, and on occurrence
are carried out under a separate contract funded by the
US National Cancer Institute. Industrial associations,
labour unions and other knowledgeable organizations may
be asked to provide input to the sections on production
and use, although this involvement is not required as
a general rule. Information on production and trade is
obtained from governmental, trade and market research
publications and, in some cases, by direct contact with
industries. Separate production data on some agents may
not be available for a variety of reasons (e.g. not collected
or made public in all producing countries, production
is small). Information on uses may be obtained from published
sources but is often complemented by direct contact with
manufacturers. Efforts are made to supplement this information
with data from other national and international sources.
Six months before the meeting, the material obtained
is sent to meeting participants to prepare preliminary
working papers. The working papers are compiled by IARC
staff and sent, prior to the meeting, to Working Group
Members and Invited Specialists for review.
The Working Group meets at IARC for seven to eight days
to discuss and finalize the texts and to formulate the
evaluations. The objectives of the meeting are peer review
and consensus. During the first few days, four subgroups
(covering exposure data, cancer in humans, cancer in experimental
animals, and mechanistic and other relevant data) review
the working papers, develop a joint subgroup draft and
write summaries. Care is taken to ensure that each study
summary is written or reviewed by someone not associated
with the study being considered. During the last few days,
the Working Group meets in plenary session to review the
subgroup drafts and develop the evaluations. As a result,
the entire volume is the joint product of the Working
Group, and there are no individually authored sections.
IARC Working Groups strive to achieve a consensus evaluation.
Consensus reflects broad agreement among Working Group
Members, but not necessarily unanimity. The chair may
elect to poll Working Group Members to determine the diversity
of scientific opinion on issues where consensus is not
readily apparent.
After the meeting, the master copy is verified by consulting
the original literature, edited and prepared for publication.
The aim is to publish the volume within six months of
the Working Group meeting. A summary of the outcome is
available on the Monographs programme website soon
after the meeting.
Posted 23 January 2006
