The Cochrane Library is now temporarily unrestricted for everyone in every country of the world, providing them access to high-quality, independent evidence to inform health decision-making in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cochrane, an international independent network of 80,000 researchers, professionals, patients, carers and people interested in health is taking this unprecedented move to ensure that Cochrane evidence is accessible for all those involved in combating the pandemic and its effects on global public health.
The Cochrane Libary is the world’s leading resource for systematic reviews in health care, containing more than 10,600 Cochrane Systematic Reviews and protocols; 2,300 Cochrane Clinical Answers (CCAs) providing readable, digestible, clinically-focused guidance for healthcare professionals; 33 ‘Special Collections’ of Reviews curated on specific topics; Editorials; and CENTRAL, one of the world’s largest registers of randomized controlled trials, with over 1.6 million entries.
Temporary unrestricted access to The Cochrane Library is part of a package of measures Cochrane is taking in response to this global health emergency, including making COVID-19 Cochrane Reviews openly available on the Wiley Online Library along with other relevant Wiley content.
Cochrane’s Editor in Chief, Karla Soares Weiser said: “To assist efforts to contain and mitigate the rapidly evolving Covid-19 pandemic, we know that access to science research is vital. We have been amazed and humbled by the staggering response from Cochrane’s community Groups across the world who wish to contribute and engage with our efforts to date. We will be continuing to work on new ideas to make our content accessible to facilitate the sharing of high-quality, trusted health information and knowledge during these hugely challenging times.”
Craig Robbins, Medical Director, Evidence-Based Practice, Care Management Institute from Kaiser Permanente welcomed today’s announcement: “As a long-term subscriber to the Cochrane Library, Kaiser Permanente has for many years used Cochrane systematic reviews to inform evidence-based care within our healthcare system in the U.S. During this unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, we applaud Cochrane’s decision to grant temporary unrestricted access to the Cochrane Library worldwide, especially the sharing of its COVID-19 collections and wide range of systematic reviews across medical conditions.”
Read full details of Cochrane’s response to COVID-19 here.