Cochrane adheres to good evidence based practice establishing, where possible, the evidence base for the methods used in Cochrane Reviews. Methods relevant to the conduct of systematic reviews (SRs) cover many topic and subjects reflecting the multidisciplinary nature of SRs. Review methods encompass everything from deciding on the best statistical model for pooling data to deciding whether test mining approaches are as reliable as human beings for data extraction. Review methods cover both how review methods and the primary research studies were undertaken. In addition, the scope of review types, data or questions addressed includes diagnosis, prognosis, qualitative research, economics and broader issues such as equity. Cochrane and researchers need to keep abreast of the published literature. Ideally, as the literature increases we need a methods database that includes full text articles regularly updated with a well-organized index by methods topic, searchable and freely available. Currently not feasible, we start with the following and hope to develop this resource page to identify published literature on systematic review methods.
1. Cochrane Handbook of Systematic Reviews for Interventions
- Substantial updating of the Handbook is underway which will update the literature underpinning the chapters.
2. PubMed systematic Review filter
- This filter extends PubMed health to capture methods research related to clinical effectiveness and includes eligible resources of full text articles or English summaries of methods guidance, methods studies, and systematic reviews of methods studies. Hilda Bastion and Diana Jordan supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine co-ordinate the PubMed filter project.