Producer | Cochrane |
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Access | |
Providers | John Wiley & Sons |
Cost | Subscription with limited preview |
Coverage | |
Disciplines | Healthcare |
Format coverage | Reviews |
Geospatial coverage | Worldwide |
Links | |
Website | www |
The Cochrane Library (named after Archie Cochrane) is a collection of databases in medicine and other healthcare specialties provided by Cochrane and other organizations. At its core is the collection of Cochrane Reviews, a database of systematic reviews and meta-analyses which summarize and interpret the results of medical research. The Cochrane Library aims to make the results of well-conducted controlled trials readily available and is a key resource in evidence-based medicine.
The Cochrane Library is a subscription-based database, originally published by Update Software and now published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. as part of Wiley Online Library. In many countries, including parts of Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Scandinavian countries, New Zealand, Australia, India, South Africa, and Poland, it has been made available free to all residents by "national provision" (typically a government or Department of Health pays for the license). There are also arrangements for free access in much of Latin America and in "low-income countries", typically via HINARI. All countries have free access to two-page abstracts of all Cochrane Reviews and to short plain-language summaries of selected articles. [1]
Cochrane Reviews appear to be relatively underused in the United States for two reasons: 1) because public access to Cochrane Library in the USA is limited (the state of Wyoming is an exception, having paid for a licence to enable free access to Cochrane Reviews for all residents of Wyoming). [2] 2) the government-funded U.S. National Library of Medicine maintains an alternative database MEDLINE, which is 100%-free of charge to everyone, and has a significantly larger coverage than Cochrane.
From 26 March to 26 May 2020, the Cochrane Library provided temporary unrestricted access to everyone in every country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. [3]
The Cochrane Library consists of the following databases after significant changes in 2018:
The Cochrane Library now also features results from Special Collections and Editorials as well as an option to link out to other reviews compiled by Epistemonikos. [7] [8]
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Protocols and CENTRAL are produced by Cochrane.
Discipline | Medicine |
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Language | English |
Edited by | Dr Karla Soares-Weiser |
Publication details | |
History | 1996–present |
Publisher | Wiley |
11.874 (2021) | |
Standard abbreviations | |
ISO 4 | Cochrane Database Syst. Rev. |
Indexing | |
ISSN | 2044-4702 (print) 1469-493X (web) |
LCCN | 99039924 |
The Cochrane reviews take the format of full-length methodological studies. Cochrane researchers will perform searches of medical and health databases including MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, etc.; a continually updated database of trials called the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL); hand searching, where researchers look through entire libraries of scientific journals by hand and; reference checking of obtained articles in order to identify additional studies that are relevant to the question they are attempting to answer. The quality of each study is carefully assessed using predefined criteria and evidence of weak methodology or the possibility that a study may have been affected by bias is reported in the review.[ citation needed ]
Cochrane researchers then apply statistical analysis to compare the data of the trials. This creates a review of studies, or systematic review, giving a comprehensive view of the efficacy of a particular medical intervention. Finished reviews are available as a full report with diagrams, in condensed form or as a plain language summary, in order to provide for every reader of the review. [9]
According to Journal Citation Reports , The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews has a 2021 impact factor of 11.874, ranking 20th of 172 journals in the Medicine, General and Internal category, down from 11th in 2020 (167 journals). [10] Reviews are abstracted and indexed in the following bibliographic databases: Science Citation Index Expanded, Scopus, CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE. [11]
The Cochrane Library Feedback tool allows users to provide comments on and feedback of Cochrane Reviews and Protocols in The Cochrane Library. If accepted, the feedback will be published in a scrolling list of comments in reverse chronological order, with the most recent submission at the top of the page. [12] The Collaboration has a procedure for the event of serious error, an event which has only occurred once in its history. [13]
Annual colloquia have been conducted by Cochrane since 1993. From 1994 onwards, Cochrane has maintained a database of posters and presentations of past colloquia. From 2009 onwards, Cochrane published the abstracts of those colloquia as supplements to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. From 2010 to 2016, an annual newsletter related to Cochrane methodology called Cochrane Methods ( ISSN 2044-4702), was published as an annual supplement. [14]
Cochrane is a British international charitable organisation formed to synthesize medical research findings to facilitate evidence-based choices about health interventions involving health professionals, patients and policy makers. It includes 53 review groups that are based at research institutions worldwide. Cochrane has approximately 30,000 volunteer experts from around the world.
MEDLINE is a bibliographic database of life sciences and biomedical information. It includes bibliographic information for articles from academic journals covering medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, and health care. MEDLINE also covers much of the literature in biology and biochemistry, as well as fields such as molecular evolution.
PubMed is a free database including primarily the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health maintains the database as part of the Entrez system of information retrieval.
A systematic review is a scholarly synthesis of the evidence on a clearly presented topic using critical methods to identify, define and assess research on the topic. A systematic review extracts and interprets data from published studies on the topic, then analyzes, describes, critically appraises and summarizes interpretations into a refined evidence-based conclusion. For example, a systematic review of randomized controlled trials is a way of summarizing and implementing evidence-based medicine.
Sir Iain Geoffrey Chalmers is a British health services researcher, one of the founders of the Cochrane Collaboration, and coordinator of the James Lind Initiative, which includes the James Lind Library and James Lind Alliance.
Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) is a treatment using powerful acoustic pulses which is mostly used to treat kidney stones and in physical therapy and orthopedics.
Embase is a biomedical and pharmacological bibliographic database of published literature designed to support information managers and pharmacovigilance in complying with the regulatory requirements of a licensed drug. Embase, produced by Elsevier, contains over 32 million records from over 8,500 currently published journals from 1947 to the present. Through its international coverage, daily updates, and drug indexing with EMTREE, Embase enables tracking and retrieval of drug information in the published literature. Each record is fully indexed and Articles in Press are available for some records and In Process are available for all records, ahead of full indexing. Embase's international coverage expands across biomedical journals from 95 countries and is available through a number of database vendors.
The Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 22 times a year. It is the official journal of the Australian Medical Association, published by Wiley on behalf of the Australasian Medical Publishing Company.
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering alternative medicine published by Mary Ann Liebert. It was established in 1995 and is the official journal of the Society for Acupuncture Research. The editor-in-chief is John Weeks, who succeeded the founding editor, Kim A. Jobst.
Canadian Family Physician is a monthly peer-reviewed open-access medical journal published by the College of Family Physicians of Canada. It provides continuing medical education for family physicians and other primary care clinicians. The journal publishes original articles presenting a family medicine perspective to clinical medicine through approaches to common clinical conditions and evidence-based clinical reviews intended to assist family physicians in patient care. Most articles are published in both English and French. The journal was established in 1967 and the editor-in-chief is Nicholas Pimlott.
Sexually Transmitted Infections is a peer-reviewed medical journal that publishes original research, descriptive epidemiology, evidence-based reviews and comment on the clinical, public health, translational, sociological and laboratory aspects of sexual health, HIV and AIDS, from around the world. It also publishes educational articles, letters, a blog and podcasts.
Acupuncture in Medicine is a bi-monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering aspects of acupuncture and related techniques. The journal was established in 1982 by the British Medical Acupuncture Society, but was published by the BMJ Group on behalf of the Society from 2008 to 2018 and SAGE Publishing from 2019. The current editor-in-chief is David Coggin-Carr.
Hypertension is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1979. It is published on behalf of the American Heart Association by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. The editor-in-chief is Rhian M. Touyz. The journal publishes original manuscripts, invited review summaries, invited case-based reviews, recent study highlights, invited brief commentaries, scientific or technical tutorials, letters to the editor, and novel findings of unusual interest. It covers all aspects of research on hypertension, including pathophysiology, blood pressure regulation, clinical treatment, and prevention.
The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology is a peer-reviewed medical journal that covers the field of pharmacology. The editor-in-chief is Joseph S. Bertino, Jr.. It was established in 1961 and is currently published by John Wiley & Sons in association with the American College of Clinical Pharmacology.
The United States Cochrane Center (USCC) was one of the 14 centers on the world that facilitated the work of the Cochrane Collaboration. The USCC was the reference center for all 50 US states and US territories, protectorates, and districts: the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. The USCC was also the reference Center for the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guam, Guyana, Jamaica, Japan, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. The USCC discontinued on February 7, 2018.
Evidence-based conservation is the application of evidence in conservation biology and environmental management actions and policy making. It is defined as systematically assessing scientific information from published, peer-reviewed publications and texts, practitioners' experiences, independent expert assessment, and local and indigenous knowledge on a specific conservation topic. This includes assessing the current effectiveness of different management interventions, threats and emerging problems and economic factors.
The Journal of Women's Health is a monthly peer-reviewed healthcare journal focusing on women's health care, including advancements in diagnostic procedures, therapeutic protocols for the management of diseases, and research in gender-based biology that impacts patient care and treatment. The journal was established in 1992 and is published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The editor-in-chief is Susan G. Kornstein. It is the official journal of the Academy of Women's Health and the American Medical Women's Association.
Kay Dickersin is an academic who trained first in cell biology and subsequently epidemiology. She went on to a career studying factors that influence research integrity, in particular publication bias and outcome reporting bias. She is retired Professor Emerita in the Department of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where she was Director of the Center for Clinical Trials and Evidence Synthesis there. She was also Director of the US Cochrane Center and the US Satellite of the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group within the Cochrane Collaboration. Dickersin received multiple awards for her research.
Nursing Open is a bimonthly open access peer-reviewed medical journal covering all aspects of nursing. It is published by Wiley.
Robert Brian Haynes OC is a Canadian physician, clinical epidemiologist, researcher and an academic. He is professor emeritus at McMaster University and one of the founders of evidence-based medicine.