The Cochrane Collaboration

The Cochrane Collaboration is the name of an international organization of specialists in medicine who review biomedical trials and results of other research.

The organization was founded in 1993 and gathers over 6000 members from dozens of countries worldwide. The goal is to help people make well informed decisions about health care by preparing, maintaining and ensuring the accessibility of systematic reviews of the effects of health care interventions. The principles of the Cochrane Collaboration:

• collaboration
• building on the enthusiasm of individuals
• avoiding duplication
• minimizing bias
• keeping up to date
• striving for relevance
• promoting access
• ensuring quality
• continuity
• enabling wide participation