Article type
Year
Abstract
Introduction: A major problem facing those preparing systematic reviews of the effects of health care is the difficulty in identifying all eligible studies. In a programme of activity coordinated by the Baltimore Cochrane Center, the Cochrane Collaboration is working with the US National Library of Medicine to enhance Medline with information about reports of controlled trials. Cochrane collaborative review groups and fields are responsible for identifying reports of controlled trials published in specialty sources; Cochrane Centres are responsible for identifying trials in general health care sources. In this European Union project, the four European Cochrane Centres and two other project partners are collaborating to identify as high a proportion as possible of reports of controlled trials published in general health care journals in Europe.
Objective: To ensure that by 1998, reports published since 1948 in European general health care journals about completed, ongoing and planned RCTs become accessible through Medline.
Methods: General health care journals published in all the member states of the European Union have been identified through Ulrich's Serials Database, and by people in the countries involved. These journals have been ranked according to the likely yield of eligible reports. Each collaborating centre is devising its own strategy for completing its task, depending on the resources available locally.
Results: Over 1500 potentially eligible journals have been identified through Ulrich's Serials Database. The proportions assigned (on the basis of the country of publication) to each of the collaborating countries are as follows: Denmark, 6%; France, 14%; Germany, 21%; Italy, 21%; Netherlands, 6%; and UK, 26%. Journals published in Belgium (2%) and Switzerland (5%) have been assigned to France and the Netherlands on the basis of publication language.
Discussion: By the end of 1995, this project will have already contributed importantly to increasing the proportion of controlled trials identifiable through Medline. By the time that the 1998 issue of Medline is released, the project should have provided substantial help to those preparing systematic reviews and have helped to reduce some of the biases in systematic reviews, which can result from incomplete identification of eligible studies.
Objective: To ensure that by 1998, reports published since 1948 in European general health care journals about completed, ongoing and planned RCTs become accessible through Medline.
Methods: General health care journals published in all the member states of the European Union have been identified through Ulrich's Serials Database, and by people in the countries involved. These journals have been ranked according to the likely yield of eligible reports. Each collaborating centre is devising its own strategy for completing its task, depending on the resources available locally.
Results: Over 1500 potentially eligible journals have been identified through Ulrich's Serials Database. The proportions assigned (on the basis of the country of publication) to each of the collaborating countries are as follows: Denmark, 6%; France, 14%; Germany, 21%; Italy, 21%; Netherlands, 6%; and UK, 26%. Journals published in Belgium (2%) and Switzerland (5%) have been assigned to France and the Netherlands on the basis of publication language.
Discussion: By the end of 1995, this project will have already contributed importantly to increasing the proportion of controlled trials identifiable through Medline. By the time that the 1998 issue of Medline is released, the project should have provided substantial help to those preparing systematic reviews and have helped to reduce some of the biases in systematic reviews, which can result from incomplete identification of eligible studies.