Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) is the leading resource for systematic reviews in health care. The CDSR includes Cochrane Reviews (the systematic reviews) and protocols for Cochrane Reviews as well as editorials. The CDSR also has occasional supplements. The CDSR is updated regularly as Cochrane Reviews are published ‘when ready’ and form monthly issues; see publication schedule.

To explore Cochrane Reviews you can use the advanced search or you can browse by topic or by Cochrane Review Group.

Cochrane Reviews are prepared by review author teams, working with Cochrane Review Groups, which are led by one or more Co-ordinating Editors. Each Cochrane Review Group takes responsibility for a specific area of health care or policy.

The Editor in Chief is Dr David Tovey, supported by the Cochrane Library Editorial Board.

Cochrane's editorial and publishing policies, as well as general information about the editorial and publishing processes, and publications is available in the Cochrane Editorial and Publishing Policy Resource.

The Cochrane editorial process follows a consistent and structured path. It is unique in two ways: (1) CRGs monitor the process of review development throughout the editorial life cycle, beginning with registration of a title, through preparation and publication of the protocol and completed review; (2) Cochrane Reviews are updated to take account of emerging evidence, to provide the best and most current evidence to guide decision-making.

Editorials and supplements

Editorials aim to stimulate discussion and ideas around the development of evidence synthesis to promote good decision-making in clinical care and health policy. The Editor in Chief may commission editorials linked to Cochrane Reviews of interest or on topics likely to be of interest to a broad readership. Proposals for editorials are welcome and should be submitted to the Editor in Chief for consideration.

Since 2009, the abstracts from Cochrane Colloquia and other conferences have been published as CDSR supplements. From 2010 to 2016, Cochrane Methods (ISSN: 2044-4702), the official annual newsletter for methodological issues within Cochrane, was published as an annual CDSR supplement. See  Supplements for more information.

Information for authors

View How to prepare a Cochrane Review for further information, including author resources and training information.

Impact factor

Clarivate Analytics publishes the impact factors of all journals indexed in the InCites Journal Citation Report. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) impact factor describes the ratio of the number of Cochrane Reviews published, for example, during 2014 and 2015 to the number of citations these reviews received in 2016. The CDSR received its first impact factor in 2007.

The 2016 Impact Factor for the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) is 6.264.

Altmetric score

Altmetric tracks social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest as well as blogs, newspapers, magazines and online reference managers like Mendeley and CiteULike for mentions of the published Cochrane Protocols and Reviews.

Access

As outlined on the access page, access is free for many people in low- and middle-income countries via a number of initiatives. This is in addition to general access options, including national licenses and subscriptions. There are “green” and “gold” open access options for Cochrane Reviews.

How to submit comments and feedback

We welcome and encourage feedback on individual Cochrane Reviews, and there is a dedicated process for this. Readers of a Cochrane Review can do this by clicking on the "Submit comments" button, under article tools (access via the 'standard' version of the Cochrane Review), not the enhanced version.

Most accessed Cochrane Reviews (2016)

Cochrane Reviews are ranked by access and full-text downloads during the year; therefore a Cochrane Review published in January may have a higher ranking than one published in September.

1. Interventions for preventing obesity in children Elizabeth Waters , Andrea de Silva-Sanigorski , Belinda J Burford , Tamara Brown , Karen J Campbell , Yang Gao , Rebecca Armstrong , Lauren Prosser and Carolyn D Summerbell
2. Interventions for preventing falls in older people living in the community Lesley D Gillespie , M Clare Robertson , William J Gillespie , Catherine Sherrington , Simon Gates , Lindy M Clemson and Sarah E Lamb
3. Exercise for depression Gary M Cooney , Kerry Dwan , Carolyn A Greig , Debbie A Lawlor , Jane Rimer , Fiona R Waugh , Marion McMurdo and Gillian E Mead
4. Early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and their healthy newborn infants Elizabeth R Moore, Gene C Anderson, Nils Bergman, Therese Dowswell
5. Effectiveness of different nursing handover styles for ensuring continuity of information in hospitalised patients Marian Smeulers , Cees Lucas and Hester Vermeulen
6. Honey as a topical treatment for wounds Andrew B Jull , Nicky Cullum , Jo C Dumville , Maggie J Westby , Sohan Deshpande and Natalie Walker
7. Pulmonary rehabilitation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Bernard McCarthy , Dympna Casey , Declan Devane , Kathy Murphy , Edel Murphy and Yves Lacasse
8. Interprofessional education: effects on professional practice and healthcare outcomes (update) Scott Reeves , Laure Perrier , Joanne Goldman , Della Freeth and Merrick Zwarenstein
9. Interventions for enhancing medication adherence Robby Nieuwlaat , Nancy Wilczynski , Tamara Navarro , Nicholas Hobson , Rebecca Jeffery , Arun Keepanasseril , Thomas Agoritsas , Niraj Mistry , Alfonso Iorio , Susan Jack , Bhairavi Sivaramalingam , Emma Iserman , Reem A Mustafa , Dawn Jedraszewski , Chris Cotoi and R. Brian Haynes
10. Cranberries for preventing urinary tract infections Ruth G Jepson , Gabrielle Williams and Jonathan C Craig

Number of Cochrane reviews and protocols published over last 12 months

Number of Cochrane reviews and protocols by issue (PDF)