Cochrane Library
Cochrane Library logo
|
|
| Producer | Cochrane |
|---|---|
| Access | |
| Providers | John Wiley & Sons |
| Cost | Subscription with limited preview |
| Coverage | |
| Disciplines | Healthcare |
| Format coverage | Reviews |
| Geospatial coverage | Worldwide |
| Links | |
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.
Cochrane Reviews appear to be relatively underused in the United States, presumably because public access 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).
The Cochrane Library consists of the following databases:
The Cochrane Reviews, CENTRAL, Methodology Reviews and Methodology Register are produced by the Cochrane Collaboration. DARE, HTA and NHS EED are compiled and maintained by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination.
Cochrane Reviews take the format of full-length methodological studies. Cochrane researchers will perform searches of medical databases including MEDLINE, PubMed and EMBASE; 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 studies that are relevant to the question they are attempting to answer.
...
Wikipedia