MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online, or MEDLARS Online) is a bibliographic database of life sciences and biomedical information. It includes bibliographic information for articles from academic journals covering medicine , nursing , pharmacy , dentistry , veterinary medicine , and health care . MEDLINE also covers much of the literature in biology and biochemistry , as well as fields such as molecular evolution .
41-454: The Cochrane Library (named after Archie Cochrane ) is a collection of databases in medicine and other healthcare specialties provided by Cochrane and other organizations. At its core is the collection of Cochrane Reviews , a database of systematic reviews and meta-analyses that summarize and interpret the results of medical research. The Cochrane Library aims to make the results of well-conducted clinical trials readily available and
82-424: A Boolean expression combining MeSH terms, words in the abstract and title of the article, author names, date of publication, etc. Entrez and PubMed can also find articles similar to a given one based on a mathematical scoring system that takes into account the similarity of word content of the abstracts and titles of two articles. MEDLINE added a "publication type" term for "randomized controlled trial" in 1991 and
123-564: A CBE for his contributions to epidemiology as a science. MEDLINE Compiled by the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), MEDLINE is freely available on the Internet and searchable via PubMed and NLM's National Center for Biotechnology Information's Entrez system. MEDLARS (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System) is a computerised biomedical bibliographic retrieval system. It
164-481: A MESH subset "systematic review" in 2001. MEDLINE functions as an important resource for biomedical researchers and journal clubs from all over the world. Along with the Cochrane Library and a number of other databases, MEDLINE facilitates evidence-based medicine . Most systematic review articles published presently build on extensive searches of MEDLINE to identify articles that might be useful in
205-402: A Medical Officer at Salonika (Greece) and Hildburghausen, Elsterhorst, and Wittenberg an der Elbe (Germany) prisoner of war camps. His experience in the camp led him to believe that much of medicine did not have sufficient evidence to justify its use. He said, "I knew that there was no real evidence that anything we had to offer had any effect on tuberculosis, and I was afraid that I shortened
246-485: A doctor in a prison of war camp. During this period, Cochrane acquired a hatred of fascism and became convinced of the importance of anti-fascism . But crucially, in a precursor of his landmark contribution to medicine: His sojourn in Europe in the early 1930s also instilled in him a hatred of fascism and a sceptical attitude to all theories (including psychoanalysis) which had not been validated in experiments. In 1936
287-546: A government or Department of Health pays for the license). There are also arrangements for free access in much of Latin America and in "low-income countries", typically via HINARI . All countries have free access to two-page abstracts of all Cochrane Reviews and short plain-language summaries of selected articles. Cochrane Reviews appear to be relatively underused in the United States for two reasons: 1) Public access to
328-561: A journal. The Journals Database (one of the Entrez databases) contains information, such as its name abbreviation and publisher, about all journals included in Entrez, including PubMed. Journals that no longer meet the criteria are removed. Being indexed in MEDLINE gives a non-predatory identity to a journal. PubMed usage has been on the rise since 2008. In 2011, PubMed/MEDLINE was searched 1.8 billion times, up from 1.6 billion searches in
369-548: A search that returns thousands of articles is not guaranteed to be comprehensive. Unlike using a typical Internet search engine, PubMed searching MEDLINE requires a little investment of time. Using the MeSH database to define the subject of interest is one of the most useful ways to improve the quality of a search. Using MeSH terms in conjunction with limits (such as publication date or publication type), qualifiers (such as adverse effects or prevention and control), and text-word searching
410-581: A video of the Rhondda Fach studies in which Cochrane talks about his research. In 1956, Cochrane underwent a radical mastectomy to remove what was thought to be cancerous tissue in his right pectoralis minor and axilla . Cochrane was appointed David Davies Professor of Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases at the Welsh National School of Medicine, now Cardiff University School of Medicine in 1960. Nine years later he became Director of
451-457: A way to do online searching of MEDLARS from remote medical libraries. This early system covered 239 journals and boasted that it could support as many as 25 simultaneous online users (remotely logged in from distant medical libraries) at one time. However, this system remained primarily in the hands of libraries, with researchers able to submit pre-programmed search tasks to librarians and obtain results on printouts, but rarely able to interact with
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#1732787907644492-594: Is a key resource in evidence-based medicine . The Cochrane Library is a subscription-based database, published initially by Update Software and now published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. as part of Wiley Online Library. In many countries, including parts of Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Scandinavian countries, New Zealand, Australia, India, South Africa, and Poland, it has been made available free to all residents by "national provision" (typically
533-672: Is held at the Archie Cochrane Library at University Hospital Llandough , Penarth . Cochrane was born in Kirklands, Galashiels , Scotland , into the wealthiest mill owning family in Galashiels. He was acquainted with death from an early age. His father was killed whilst serving with the King's Own Scottish Borderers during World War I . His family nurse and his young brother Walter died from tuberculosis. Cochrane
574-600: The Nuffield Trust , was very influential. To quote from the book's summary : "An investigation into the workings of the clinical sector of the NHS strongly suggests that the simplest explanation of the findings is that this sector is subject to severe inflation with the output rising much less than would be expected from the input". According to a review in the British Medical Journal, "the hero of
615-877: The Spanish Medical Aid Society was formed in London in response to a request for help from republicans who were fighting fascism in the Spanish Civil War . Cochrane volunteered his services to the committee and subsequently worked in the First British Hospital and in the 35th Medical Division Unit. Cochrane joined the British Army in World War II . He was captured during the Battle of Crete . Subsequently he worked as
656-494: The Cochrane Library in the United States is limited (the state of Wyoming is an exception, having paid for a license to enable free access to Cochrane Reviews for all residents of Wyoming). 2) The government-funded U.S. National Library of Medicine maintains an alternative database MEDLINE , which is free of charge to everyone and has significantly more extensive coverage than Cochrane. From 26 March to 26 May 2020,
697-580: The Cochrane Library provided temporary unrestricted access to everyone in every country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic . The Cochrane Library consists of the following databases after significant changes in 2018: The Cochrane Library now also features results from Special Collections and Editorials as well as an option to link out to other reviews compiled by Epistemonikos . The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Protocols, and CENTRAL are produced by Cochrane . The Cochrane reviews take
738-643: The NLM computer output in real-time. This situation continued through the beginning of the 1990s and the rise of the World Wide Web . In 1996, soon after most home computers began automatically bundling efficient web browsers , a free public version of MEDLINE was deployed. This system, called PubMed , was offered to the general online user in June 1997, when MEDLINE searches via the Web were demonstrated. In May 2022,
779-557: The U.S., about 88% are published in English (overall about 84% ), and about 76% have English abstracts written by authors of the articles. Being an aggregated source, the PubMed database suffers from multi-source problems such as inconsistent representations from the upstream data providers. MEDLINE uses Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) for information retrieval. Engines designed to search MEDLINE (such as Entrez and PubMed) generally use
820-906: The UK was unavailable. Consequently he emigrated to Germany where, starting in 1931, he received psychoanalysis which was undertaken by Theodor Reik , initially in Berlin, then in Vienna and eventually in the Hague with the increasing threat to Reik from the Nazis . While receiving psychoanalysis, Cochrane undertook medical research in Vienna and at the University of Leiden . He eventually became dissatisfied with psychoanalysis. However he became fluent in German, which became extremely useful to him when he later served as
861-506: The book is the randomized control trial, and the villains are the clinicians in the "care" part of the National Health Service (NHS) who either fail to carry out such trials or succeed in ignoring the results if they do not fit in with their own preconceived ideas". Maintaining this challenge to the medical care system as he saw it, in 1978, with colleagues, he published a study of 18 developed countries in which he made
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#1732787907644902-645: The creation of the Cochrane Library database of systematic reviews , the UK Cochrane Centre in Oxford and Cochrane (previously known as the Cochrane Collaboration), an international organization of review groups that are based at research institutions worldwide. He is known as one of the fathers of modern clinical epidemiology and is considered to be the originator of the idea of evidence-based medicine . The Archie Cochrane Archive
943-579: The database contained more than 34 million records from 5,639 selected publications covering biomedicine and health from 1781 to the present. Originally, the database covered articles starting from 1965, but this has been enhanced, and records as far back as 1781 are now available within the main index. The database is freely accessible on the Internet via the PubMed interface, and new citations are added Tuesday through Saturday. For citations added during 1995-2003, about 48% are for cited articles published in
984-556: The efficacy of a particular medical intervention. Finished reviews are available as a full report with diagrams, in condensed form or as a plain language summary, in order to provide for every reader of the review. According to Journal Citation Reports , The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews has a 2021 impact factor of 11.874, ranking 20th of 172 journals in the Medicine, General and Internal category, down from 11th in 2020 (167 journals). Reviews are abstracted and indexed in
1025-476: The following bibliographic databases : Science Citation Index Expanded , Scopus , CINAHL , EMBASE , MEDLINE . The Cochrane Library Feedback tool allows users to provide comments on and feedback of Cochrane Reviews and Protocols in The Cochrane Library. If accepted, the feedback will be published in a scrolling list of comments in reverse chronological order, with the most recent submission at
1066-421: The following observations: "the indices of health care are not negatively associated with mortality, and there is a marked positive association between the prevalence of doctors and mortality in the younger age groups. No explanation of this doctor anomaly has so far been found. Gross national product per head is the principal variable which shows a consistently strong negative association with mortality." This work
1107-584: The format of full-length methodological studies. Cochrane researchers will perform searches of medical and health databases including MEDLINE / PubMed , EMBASE , PsycINFO , CINAHL , etc.; a continually updated database of trials called the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL); hand searching, where researchers look through entire libraries of scientific journals by hand and; reference checking of obtained articles in order to identify additional studies that are relevant to
1148-669: The lives of some of my friends by unnecessary intervention." As a result, he spent his career urging the medical community to adopt the scientific method . After the war, Cochrane studied for a Diploma in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine , after which he spent a year at the Henry Phipps Institute in Philadelphia on a Rockefeller Fellowship . In 1948 he joined
1189-591: The mechanization of the Index Medicus , prompted by a desire for a better way to manipulate all this information, not only for Index Medicus but also to produce subsidiary products. By 1960 a detailed specification was prepared, and by the spring of 1961, request for proposals were sent out to 72 companies to develop the system. As a result, a contract was awarded to the General Electric Company . A Minneapolis-Honeywell 800 computer, which
1230-598: The new Medical Research Council 's Epidemiology Research Unit in Cardiff. His groundbreaking paper on validation of medical screening procedures, published jointly with fellow epidemiologist Walter W. Holland in 1971, became a classic in the field. His 1971 Rock Carling Fellowship monograph Effectiveness and Efficiency: Random Reflections on Health Services , first published in 1972 by the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust, now known as
1271-416: The previous year. A service such as MEDLINE strives to balance usability with power and comprehensiveness. In keeping with the fact that MEDLINE's primary user community is professionals ( medical scientists , health care providers ), searching MEDLINE effectively is a learned skill; untrained users are sometimes frustrated with the large numbers of articles returned by simple searches. Counterintuitively,
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1312-421: The question they are attempting to answer. The quality of each study is carefully assessed using predefined criteria and evidence of weak methodology or the possibility that a study may have been affected by bias is reported in the review. Cochrane researchers then apply statistical analysis to compare the data of the trials. This creates a review of studies, or systematic review , giving a comprehensive view of
1353-522: The review. MEDLINE influences researchers in their choice of journals in which to publish. More than 5,200 biomedical journals are indexed in MEDLINE. New journals are not included automatically or immediately. Several criteria for selection are applied. Selection is based on the recommendations of a panel, the Literature Selection Technical Review Committee, based on the scientific scope and quality of
1394-550: The scientific staff of the recently formed Medical Research Council 's Pneumoconiosis Unit in the Welsh National School of Medicine (now Cardiff University School of Medicine ) at Llandough Hospital , Penarth. While there he began his famous series of studies on the health of the population of Rhondda Fach — which pioneered the use of RCTs. The website of the British Film Institute has
1435-634: The top of the page. The Collaboration has a procedure for the event of serious error, an event which has only occurred once in its history. Annual colloquia have been conducted by Cochrane since 1993. From 1994 onwards, Cochrane has maintained a database of posters and presentations of past colloquia. From 2009 onwards, Cochrane published the abstracts of those colloquia as supplements to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews . From 2010 to 2016, an annual newsletter related to Cochrane methodology called Cochrane Methods ( ISSN 2044-4702 ),
1476-553: Was academically gifted from an early age. He initially won a scholarship to Uppingham School . Then he acquired a scholarship to King's College, Cambridge , where he achieved a Double First in Natural Sciences Tripos . Later, in 1930, he completed two MB studies in physiology and anatomy. He qualified in 1938 at University College Hospital , London. Like his sister, Cochrane inherited porphyria , which caused health problems throughout his life. Medical help in
1517-554: Was launched by the National Library of Medicine in 1964 and was the first large-scale, computer-based, retrospective search service available to the general public. Since 1879, the National Library of Medicine has published Index Medicus , a monthly guide to medical articles in thousands of journals. The huge volume of bibliographic citations was manually compiled. In 1957 the staff of the NLM started to plan
1558-411: Was published as an annual supplement. Archie Cochrane Archibald Leman Cochrane CBE (12 January 1909 – 18 June 1988) was a Scottish physician noted for his book, Effectiveness and Efficiency: Random Reflections on Health Services , which advocated the use of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to improve clinical trials and medical interventions. His advocacy of RCTs eventually led to
1599-601: Was selected for inclusion in a compendium of influential papers, from historically important epidemiologists, published by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) in 1988. Cochrane promoted the randomised trial and is a co-author with Professor Peter Elwood on a report on the first randomised trial of aspirin in the prevention of vascular disease . He retired from the Epidemiology Research Unit in 1974, when he
1640-555: Was succeeded in the role by Peter Elwood . After his retirement he was a key adviser in a highly detailed cohort study, the Caerphilly Heart Disease Study . Cochrane retired in 1974, after which Peter Elwood was appointed as Unit Director. Cochrane was awarded an MBE by the British Government for his "gallant and distinguished services in prisoner of war camps. He was later appointed
1681-850: Was to run MEDLARS, was delivered to the NLM in March 1963, and Frank Bradway Rogers (Director of the NLM 1949 to 1963) said at the time, "..If all goes well, the January 1964 issue of Index Medicus will be ready to emerge from the system at the end of this year. It may be that this will mark the beginning of a new era in medical bibliography." MEDLARS cost $ 3 million to develop, and at the time of its completion in 1964, no other publicly available, fully operational electronic storage and retrieval system of its magnitude existed. The original computer configuration operated from 1964 until its replacement by MEDLARS II in January 1975. In late 1971, an online version called MEDLINE ("MEDLARS Online") became available as