Identifying systematic reviews: key resources

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Abstract
The first stage, and often the only necessary stage, in finding an up to date systematic review of the effects of healthcare interventions should be to search the Cochrane Library.1 The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) in the Cochrane Library contains a unique, cumulative collection of full text systematic reviews which are valuable not only in terms of their rigorous methodology but also because they are periodically updated as new research evidence is published and in response to valid criticisms. Should searchers not be able to find an up to date Cochrane Review in the CDSR on their topic of interest, the Cochrane Library has summaries of other quality assessed reviews (including reviews of diagnostic tests) in the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE) and abstracts of technology assessments in the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) database. Looking first at the Cochrane Library can save searchers much time and effort in searching other resources. Non-subscribers to the full Cochrane Library can search abstracts of Cochrane reviews together with DARE and HTA database records free on the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination web site.2

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