The Cochrane Library is known for its high quality systematic reviews and other synthesized research evidence in healthcare. It’s a powerful tool for healthcare professionals, researchers or funders to make well informed decisions. In the new version (2018), the Cochrane Library consists of three main databases: Cochrane Reviews, Trials, and Clinical Answers.

Cochrane Reviews is the leading resource for systematic reviews in healthcare. Prepared by the Cochrane Review Groups, the published  systematic reviews meet certain quality criteria, which reduce the impact of bias across different aspects of the review process. The reviews investigate the effects of interventions for prevention, treatment and rehabilitation in a healthcare setting.

The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Trials) is the world’s largest database of randomized controlled trials. This database includes the details of controlled trials and other studies of healthcare interventions from the major health-related databases (e.g., Medline and Embase), including trials from ClinicalTrials.gov. 

Clinical Answers is a new tool designed to be actionable and to inform point-of-care decision-making. The evidence summaries on a variety of questions of interest to healthcare professionals provide short answers and data from Cochrane Reviews. The evidence has a user-friendly presentation with a tabulated format and graphics.

Take a look at Cochrane Library, and we’d love to hear your stories as to how this resource is useful to your teaching, learning, research, or clinical care. Contact Barbara Cavanaugh (bbc@upenn.edu) with any feedback.