Cochrane Library
The home of gold-standard systematic reviews.
At a Glance
- Publisher
- Cochrane (published by Wiley)
- Coverage
the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (9,000+ high-rigor reviews) plus CENTRAL, a register of 2M+ controlled-trial records
- Access
subscription, but free at the point of use in many countries via national licences and for low-income countries
- Free alternative
- PubMed for primary trials; free national access where available
- Regional
global.
Our Take
When a Cochrane review exists on your question, it’s usually the most rigorous synthesis of the evidence available — which makes the Library the first place to look before commissioning new work, and CENTRAL the most concentrated source of controlled trials for a fresh review. Coverage is deliberately narrow (mostly healthcare interventions) and reviews take time to produce, so the newest primary evidence won’t be there yet. Use it to find existing high-quality syntheses and to seed a trials search; go to PubMed and Embase for the latest primary studies.
Power Tips
- Check the Cochrane Database for an existing systematic review before starting your own — it may already answer the question, or scope it
- mine CENTRAL as a high-yield trials source when building a review, then dedup against PubMed/Embase results (Issue 3).
Alternatives & Complements
PubMed · Embase · Epistemonikos · PROSPERO.
Figures last verified: August 16, 2026