Cochrane Library

Introduction

The Cochrane Library presents the work of the Cochrane Collaboration and others interested in assembling the best possible evidence on the effects of health care.

The databases contained in The Cochrane Library are:

  • The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Cochrane Reviews) - CDSR includes the full text of the regularly updated systematic reviews prepared by The Cochrane Collaboration. Plus protocols of reviews being prepared.
  • Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (Other Reviews) - produced by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) at the University of York to provide information on published reviews of the effects of health care. Includes structured abstracts for reviews that have met CRD quality criteria, plus references to other published reviews.
  • The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Clinical Trials) - The CENTRAL register including bibliographic details of articles reporting clinical trials.
  • The Cochrane Methodology Register (Methods Studies) - a bibliography of materials on methodological aspects.
  • Health Technology Assessment Database (Technology Assessments) - produced by the CRD.
  • NHS Economic Evaluation Database (Economic Evaluations) - the CRD's register of published economic evaluations of healthcare interventions.

The Cochrane Library also contains information about The Cochrance review Groups (About Cochrane)

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and About the Cochrane Collaboration are updated monthly. The other databases are updated quarterly.

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Access to The Cochrane Library

This version of The Cochrane Library is provided by Wiley InterScience and is freely available to users in the United Kingdom. For more information on access from other countries, click on Access to Cochrane.

The Cochrane Library is available via MetaLib. To access MetaLib from the University homepage, follow the links:

Student home | Library | MetaLib gateway (under Quick Links)
Or
Staff home | Library | MetaLib gateway (under Quick Links)

Or

Go directly to MetaLib at http://metalib.york.ac.uk/.

In MetaLib, choose the Find Database tab. Locate The Cochrane Library from the alphabetical list of databases and click on the Cochrane Library (Wiley) link. The Cochrane Library will open in a new window. Note: It is not necessary to Log In to The Cochrane Library to browse or search.

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Browse options

The options for browsing in The Cochrane Library are listed on the left-hand side of the homepage.

To browse Cochrane Reviews by topic, click on the appropriate subject area. Click on increasingly specific topics until you get links to the individual records available.

Cochrane Reviews can also be browsed by New Reviews, Updated Reviews, A-Z, or by Review Group (click on Other Browse options).

To browse within the other databases (except Clinical Trials), click on the name of the database listed under Browse Other Resources. Records are displayed in alphabetical order. Click on a letter from the alphabetic list to move to the section you need. Click on a title to display the record.

It is not possible to browse the Clinical Trials database.

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Search options

Simple search

Simple searches can be performed by entering search terms in the SEARCH box to the left of the screen (see below).

Searches can be restricted to words in title, author, etc by using the drop-down menu headed Title, Abstract or Keywords.

Click on Go to perform the search.

Cochrane search

Advanced search

Advanced Search enables more complex searches to be entered. Click on Advanced Search. Search terms may be entered as in the example below:

Cochrane advanced search

Use the drop-down menus on the right to restrict terms to a field, for example, the title. Use the drop-down menus on the left to change how terms are combined.

Use the options beneath the search form to restrict your search to individual database(s) (Restrict Search by product) and by Date Range. Restrict by Record Status can be used to limit to a variety of statuses, for example, to new records, records where the conclusions have changed, or where a new literature search has been performed.  Note that Major Change is used to indicate a change in scope and applies to protocols only.

Click on Search to start the search.

MeSH search

Subject headings drawn from the MeSH Thesaurus published by the National Library of Medicine and used in the Medline database have been attached to many, but not all, documents. To identify MeSH headings, check definitions, view tree structures, and explode terms, click on MeSH Search. MeSH searches can be combined with other searches by using Search History (see below).

Search history

Search history provides a history of your searches in your current session. It can be used to combine searches to build more complex queries. Click on Advanced Search then Search History to display the Current Search History. Each search term and search ID (#n) are shown.

Searches can be combined using the search IDs (e.g. #1 and #2). Click on the search to display the results. Search History also offers the opportunity to edit or delete searches.

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Search tips

Truncation

The * character may by used to truncate terms. For example, arter* will find references to artery, arteries, arterial, etc; *depress* will find reference to depression, depressive, depressed, etc and also antidepressants.

Plurals are searched automatically, e.g. child will also find children. Some alternative spellings are searched automatically but use * to be sure, e.g. isch*mic to find ischaemic or ischemic.

Combining terms

Terms may be combined using AND, NEAR, NEXT, OR or NOT:

  • AND will find documents containing both terms e.g. osteoporosis and HRT
  • OR will find documents containing either term eg. cancer or carcinoma
  • NEXT finds documents containing the first term next to the second term in that order e.g. primary next care
  • NEAR will find documents containing the second term within 6 words of the first in either order e.g. cvs near amniocentesis
  • NEAR/n will find documents containing the second term within n words of the first term in either order, e.g. child near/3 abuse

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Viewing and printing search results

Search results are displayed by database, with Cochrane Reviews listed first. Click on the name of a database to move to the results for that database. Use the Sort by: options to sort by Record Title, Match % (relevance), or Date.

Note: The Cochrane Reviews include an indication of their status, e.g. Cochrane review = full review, Cochrane protocol = outline of review in preparation.

To view a record from a list of search results, click on its title. When viewing a Cochrane Review the abstract of the review will be displayed with tabs containing other parts of the review across the top. The "Jump to..." drop down menus can be used to jump straight to different sections. A link is provided to PDF versions of records in the Cochrane Reviews database. Records in this database include links to the meta-analysis diagrams for studies included in the documents. Links are also provided to more information on cited studies where they are available. For all other databases except Clinical Trials and Methods Studies, the table of contents for the record will be displayed in the left frame, the record itself in the right frame. The table of contents can be used to display the relevant part of the record. Use your web browser's print function (or that within Adobe Acrobat for PDF files) to print records.

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Exporting citations

It is possible to export the bibliographic details and of records in The Cochrane Library.

To export chosen citations from a search, first select records by clicking in the check box next to them. To select all citations on a page, click Select All. To export selected citations, click Export Selected Citations. To export all search results within a database, click on Export All Results.

You will be prompted to choose your Export Type (either Citation only or Abstract and Citation) and File Type (PC, Mackintosh, or Unix or Linux), then click on Go. Click on Save to save the file, and choose a filename.

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Saving searches and search alert

To save search strategies it is necessary to register with Wiley InterScience. In Advanced Search, click on Log In then Register to register. Registered users can use the Save Search Strategy option in Search History. This option can also be used to Activate Alert, ie to set up email alerts based on your search.

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Help

Click on Learn from The Cochrane Library homepage to find out more about The Cochrane Library and how to use it. Click on Help from The Cochrane Library home page and to access the Search Manual.