Education section – The Cochrane Collaboration

Abstract

Journal of Evidence-Based MedicineVolume 6, Issue 4 p. 311-312 EDUCATION SECTIONFree Access Education section – The Cochrane Collaboration First published: 26 November 2013 https://doi.org/10.1111/jebm.12075Citations: 1AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Elsewhere in this issue of the Journal of Evidence Based Medicine, you can read about the work of several Cochrane Review Groups during this, the 20th anniversary year for The Cochrane Collaboration. Therefore, this is a good opportunity to describe that organisation. The Cochrane Collaboration is the world's largest organisation engaged in the production and maintenance of systematic reviews. It aims to help people make well-informed decisions by preparing, maintaining and promoting the accessibility of systematic reviews relating to health and social care. These include reviews of the effects of interventions; along with reviews of diagnostic test accuracy, methods for randomised trials, systematic reviews and other evaluations of care, and overviews of reviews in which multiple reviews are brought together in a single document. Cochrane Reviews follow a standard structure, depending on their type, and all are published in full in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) which is available in The Cochrane Library on the internet (www.TheCochraneLibrary.com) and DVD. The Cochrane Collaboration is supported by hundreds of organisations from around the world, including health service providers, research funding agencies, departments of health, international organisations and universities. There are currently 31,000 people contributing to the work of The Cochrane Collaboration from over 120 countries.This involvement continues to grow, with more than a thousand people joining the effort each year 1. The “engine rooms” for Cochrane Reviews are the 53 Cochrane Review Groups with bases spread around the world, who are responsible for reviews in particular areas of health and social care. Collectively, they provide a home for reviews in all aspects of health. They look after reviews from the original idea through to the full review and its updating; with oversight from the Cochrane Editorial Unit and the Editor in Chief based in London, England. Cochrane Reviews begin with the registration of the title with a Cochrane Review Group. This is followed by a formal protocol for the review, which is checked by peer referees and, after editorial approval, is published in CDSR. The author team then seek and appraise eligible studies, extract and synthesise information, and draw conclusions about the implications for practice and research. The subsequent full review, following further peer refereeing and editorial input, then replaces the protocol in CDSR. The review is not complete at that point, though.The responsible researchers continue to keep it up-to-date, to ensure that it provides a reliable and robust resource for people making decisions and choices. The Cochrane Review Groups and other aspects of the work of The Cochrane Collaboration are supported by regional Cochrane Centres; Methods Groups, with expertise in relevant areas of methodology 2; and Fields and Networks, with broad areas of interest often spanning the scope of many Review Groups. A Consumer Network helps to promote the interests and involvement of users of health and social care. An elected Steering Group provides strategic direction for the Collaboration as a whole, working with a central staff team and a Chief Executive Officer. The Collaboration was formed in October 1993, arising from the first Cochrane Colloquium which had 77 participants from 19 countries and was hosted by the Cochrane Centre (now the UK Cochrane Centre) that had opened the previous year in Oxford, England. Subsequent Colloquia have been held around the world, with the most recent in Quebec City, Canada, in September 2013. The launch issue of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, in 1995, contained 35 full Cochrane Reviews. This had grown to 500 reviews by 1999 and the 1000th full review was published in 2001. In recent years, production of new reviews has settled at 400 to 450 per year and there are currently 5500 full reviews and a further 2300 published protocols in CDSR. The output of The Cochrane Collaboration also includes the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), which is a unique collection of reports of trials. In 1993, when the Collaboration was established, fewer than 20,000 reports of randomised trials could be found easily in MEDLINE, and one of the main tasks facing the Collaboration was the need to identify and make accessible information on reports of trials that might be suitable for inclusion in Cochrane Reviews 3. Extensive efforts by Cochrane Review Groups, Centres and Fields; and hundreds of volunteers have transformed things over the last two decades. Records for more than 700,000 reports of trials now available through the portal for CENTRAL in The Cochrane Library. This enormous effort of The Cochrane Collaboration and its members to provide a solid evidence base for people making decisions about their own, or someone else's, health or social care has already yielded substantial benefits. It looks set to continue, and to grow, for years to come; not least because of the increasing capacity and input from low- and middle-income countries 4. This section was prepared as part of the work of the All-Ireland Hub for Trials Methodology Research, which is funded by the UK Medical Research Council. The Hub is helping improve the quality of clinical trials, through the conduct and dissemination of research relevant to the methods for trials and other evaluations in health and social care. References 1Allen C, Richmond K. The Cochrane Collaboration: international activity within Cochrane Review Groups in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Journal of Evidence Based Medicine 2011; 4(1): 2– 7. Wiley Online LibraryPubMedGoogle Scholar 2Chandler J, Hopewell S. Cochrane methods – twenty years experience in developing systematic review methods. Systematic Reviews 2013; 2(1): 76. CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar 3Lefebvre C, Glanville J, Wieland LS, Coles B, Weightman A. Methodological developments in searching for studies for systematic reviews: past, present and future? Systematic Reviews 2013; 2(1): 78. CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar 4Young T, Garner P, Kredo T, Mbuagbaw L, Tharyan P, Volmink J. Cochrane and capacity building in low- and middle-income countries: where are we at? [editorial]. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2013; 11: ED000072. Google Scholar Citing Literature Volume6, Issue4November 2013Pages 311-312 ReferencesRelatedInformation