Using the Cochrane Library

What is the Cochrane Library? | Browsing | Searching | MeSH Searching | Viewing Results | Marking and Exporting Citations | Printing | Saving | Related Databases | Search this Database | 

Access the comprehensive User Guide from the Cochrane Library (PDF file): http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/homepages/106568753/CochraneLibraryUserGuide.pdf

What is the Cochrane Library?

From the Cochrane web site: "The Cochrane Library is a unique source of reliable and up-to-date information on the effects of interventions in health care. Published on a quarterly basis, The Cochrane Library is designed to provide information and evidence to support decisions taken in health care and to inform those receiving care."

The Cochrane Library is composed of a number of different databases including:

  • Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Cochrane Reviews), "A systematic review identifies an intervention for a specific disease or other problem in health care, and determines whether or not this intervention works. To do this authors locate, appraise and synthesize evidence from as many relevant scientific studies as possible."
  • Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (Other Reviews), includes “structured abstracts of systematic reviews from around the world…These reviews cover topics that have yet to be addressed in Cochrane reviews.”
  • Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Clinical Trials), includes “details of published articles [reporting the results of controlled trials]…and other published and unpublished sources. CENTRAL records include…bibliographic details…They do not contain the full text of the article.” However, in some cases "Links" are available and if the text of the article is available on the Web, it is made available.
  • Cochrane Database of Methodology Reviews (Methods Reviews), “systematic reviews of methodological studies” – not for health care interventions, but how research and reviews are performed
  • Health Technology Assessment Database (Technology Assessments), “information on healthcare technology assessments…details of ongoing projects and completed publications from HTA organizations,” usually just name and contact info, sometimes structured abstract
  • NHS Economic Evaluation Database (Economic Evaluations), “abstracts of articles describing economic evaluations of health care interventions…Papers included if they provide a comparison of treatments and examine both the costs and the outcomes of the alternatives.”

Browsing

  1. On the main Cochrane Library page, see the links near the top of the page for "BROWSE Cochrane Reviews by" and select Topics
  2. Select a broad topic from the pull-down menu
  3. Continue to browse through presented lists of suptopics and eventually, documents.
  4. You can also browse alphabetically the contents of all databases within Cochrane, except "Clinical Trials" which contains so many records, a user is forced to perform an Advanced Search of the database. (see below for more details on viewing "Clinical Trials" results)

Searching

Basic Search

  1. The database defaults to present you with a simple search box (near the top, right side of the page) in which you can type your search terms, such as "pregnancy and smoking cessation."
  2. The default is to search "Title, Abstract or Keyword"
    • To perform a comprehensive search, change the pull-down menu to "Search All Text."

Advanced Search

  1. The database defaults to search across all sections of the Cochrane Library. If you would like to restrict your search to only one section, for example, only search the Cochrane Reviews, follow the Cochrane Advanced Search link below the search box. On the Advanced Search screen you can limit your search by "Product" or section of the Cochrane Library, as well as by date.
  2. Cochrane Advanced Search is also valuable if you have a complex topic with more than two concepts. Use the search boxes and the Boolean operators to construct your search.
    • Use AND to combine terms and narrow a search
    • Use OR to perform a broad search and to search for synonyms
    • Use the NEAR/ proximity operator to search for terms near each other on the document
    • An asterisk (*) may be used as a truncation symbol, for example, you can truncate schizo* to search for both schizophrenia and schizophrenic.
    • For example:
      • osteoporosis near/5 (menopaus* or postmenopausal)
      • This search would locate the word "osteoporosis" within 5 words of the term "menopaus*" and its variations, or within 5 words of the term "postmenopausal"

MeSH Searching

  1. A MeSH search allows you to determine the appropriate language or vocabulary to use in your search. MeSH is an abbreviation for Medical Subject Headings, which are used to categorize and organize items in databases such as Cochrane. It ensures consistent language is used to describe particular concepts or things. For example, a layperson may refer to cancer, but the Medical Subject Heading is neoplasm.
  2. Click the MeSH Search link.
  3. Enter your search term in the text box, and click the Thesaurus button.
  4. You will see a list of all the Subject Headings (a.k.a descriptors) containing your search term.
  5. Click on the link for the term you want.
  6. To search the Cochrane Library for only your selected term, on the next screen, click in the Search this term only box and click the GO button.
  7. To perform a more comprehensive search, when viewing a MeSH term, the “Explode” option is by default selected, this will automatically include all narrower terms below the term highlighted in your search as well. Click on the GO button to perform the search.
  8. NOTE: Keywords from MeSH have been attached to “many, but not all” records in the Cochrane Library, therefore we recommend you perform a combination of MeSH searching as well as using Advanced Search and searching for keywords.

MeSH Trees

  1. If you know a Medical Subject Heading, and you want to locate related terms, enter your search term/Subject Heading in the Mesh search box, and click the Go to MeSH Trees button.
  2. This will place you into the full MeSH document and you can browse to see related and narrower terms.

Viewing Results

  1. After searching the Cochrane Library a list of results is displayed.
  2. Across the top of the results list you can see how many of the results fall into each section of the Cochrane Library, for example, how many are in "Cochrane Reviews," how many are in "DARE," etc.
  3. The database defaults to display of Cochrane Reviews first. To view items in the other sections, click the link for that section.
    • When viewing Cochrane Reviews, if a Record link is followed by a small P in a circle, that is a Protocol, which is an "outline of reviews in preparation."
    • To view a document, click the Record link.
    • The document is displayed with a Table of Contents on the left, you can navigate through the document using these links.
    • Click on the PDF link to open the entire document in PDF format - this is the most convenient way to Print or Save a full document using the Adobe Acrobat Reader Save and Print options.
    • NOTE the availability of Figures and Tables for each Cochrane Review.
    • All other Cochrane databases (except CENTRAL, see below) can be viewed and navigated in similar fashion.
  4. When viewing a record from the "Clinical Trials" database, you will see citation information and sometimes an abstract; usually there is a "Links" link present next to the article title, click this to access full citations and abstracts when available - and sometimes full text if an article is available on the free Web; coverage varies, so Links are not available for every item.

Printing and Saving

  1. When viewing a Record from the Cochrane Reviews database click on the PDF link to open the entire document in PDF format. Use the Adobe Acrobat Reader Save and Print options.
  2. When viewing records from other databases within the Cochrane Library, be sure to click within the frame where the document is displayed, then use the browser Print button.

Marking and Exporting Citations

  1. When viewing a list of results, click on the box to the left of each item you would like to save.
  2. Click the Export Selected Results button at the bottom of the page.
  3. Choose your preferred format and file type, then click the GO button. (You can export citations and abstracts only. To print or save a full document, open the document in PDF format and use the Adobe Acrobat save and print options.)

    To print a list of results, when prompted, select Open.
    Your results are displayed in plain text format.
    From the File menu, select Print.
    To save a list of results to a disk or to your hard drive, when prompted select Save.
    Give the file a name you will remember, ending in .txt
    Browse to the appropriate drive or directory and click Save.
    To email a list of results, when prompted select Open.
    When the list of results is displayed, copy and paste the list into an email message.

Related Databases

See related Nursing Databases.

Search this Database

Begin searching the Cochrane Library.

Still need help? Ask a librarian!

Created by Pace University Library
Last Updated 5/06
Sarah Burns Feyl
sburnsfeyl@pace.edu