Note: The new Cochrane Library interface is now provided by Wiley InterScience.
For all information on subscriptions, technical enquiries, accessing full text and pdfs, and for general information on the new face of The Cochrane Library, please refer to: www.wileyeurope.com/go/cochrane
Introduction
No one can keep up to date with the relevant evidence in their field of interest. The major bibliographic databases cover less than half the world's literature and are biased towards English language publications. Of the evidence available in the major databases, only a fraction can be found by the average searcher. Textbooks, editorials and reviews which have not been prepared systematically may be unreliable. Much evidence is unpublished, but unpublished evidence may be important. More easily accessible research reports tend to exaggerate the benefits of interventions.
The Cochrane Library solves many of these problems. Published on a quarterly basis and made available both on CD-ROM and the Internet (see 'How to get access'), it is the best single source of reliable evidence about the effects of health care.
Cochrane reviews
Cochrane reviews are based on the best available information about healthcare interventions. They explore the evidence for and against the effectiveness and appropriateness of treatments (medications, surgery, education, etc) in specific circumstances.
The complete reviews are published in The Cochrane Library which is available by subscription, either on CDROM or via the Internet. You should be able to browse the Cochrane Library at your nearest medical library if you don't have your own subscription.
The Cochrane Library is published four times a year. Each issue contains all existing reviews plus an increasingly wider range of new and updated reviews. It is published and distributed by Wiley InterScience and is also distributed by a number of other Distribution Partners. It is not available for sale from Cochrane Centres.
Review abstracts and plain language summaries
The abstracts of the reviews are available free-of-charge on this website and provide a valuable source of healthcare information. Where available, plain language summaries are also provided; they are short synopses of the reviews' core findings, with a minimum of technical terms.
You can:
--search
the abstracts for a particular word or words,
--see a full alphabetical list by title, or
--browse
by Cochrane review group & topic: eg, for reviews about pregnancy choose the
Pregnancy and Childbirth Group; for reviews about smoking choose the Tobacco Addiction Group
You can:
--read commentary on some reviews in National electronic Library of Health's Little Gems
--visit the Cochrane Library Users' Group (CLUG); it provides a forum for discussion of usability, readability, searchability and formatting issues related to the use of The Cochrane Library.
Feedback
To ensure the highest quality of Cochrane Reviews,
those who find gaps or faults in reviews are
encouraged to submit feedback. To add a comment, view a Cochrane Review or Protocol within The Cochrane Library, and select the link "Add/View Feedback" in the left hand table of contents for the selected record. With
the help of Criticism Editors, Reviewers update their reviews according
to this feedback.
The
most recent comments and criticisms for each Review can be viewed by the same method.
Additional resources:
--'House Rules' (pdf) for responding to feedback on the web [.pdf]
--Details of the feedback process
Sample review
An example of a Cochrane Review can be seen here.
Structure of a review
Click here to read more about the structure of a Cochrane Review (courtesy of the Cochrane Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders Review Group).
Databases included in The Cochrane Library:
- The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (as described above)
- The Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects
- The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL)
- The Cochrane Methodology Register
- The NHS Economic Evaluation Database
- Health Technology Assessment Database
- Cochrane Database of Methodology Reviews (CDMR)
Related Products of The Cochrane Collaboration:
La Biblioteca Cochrane Plus
The Cochrane Library in Spanish - the principal source of reliable healthcare evidence published entirely in Spanish.
Reproductive Health Library (RHL)
An electronic review journal focusing on evidence-based
solutions to reproductive health problems in developing countries.
Available free in developing countries. More
about RHL
Further reading:
- A history of The Cochrane Library:
Starr M, Chalmers I. The evolution of The Cochrane Library, 1988-2003. (also available as a PDF document) This article documents the evolution of The Cochrane Library and its structure.
Copyright © The Cochrane Collaboration
Comments for improvement or correction are welcome.
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