Background
The Cochrane Register of Studies (CRS) is both a sophisticated data management tool and repository for Specialised Registers of all Cochrane Review Groups (CRGs). Each group focuses on a specific topic area and includes a full editorial team. The groups provide authors with methodological and editorial support in the preparation of Cochrane Reviews, helping to manage the editorial process and peer reviews.
A Specialised Register contains all relevant studies and other pertinent data in an area of interest. These registers enable review authors and others within a CRG to have easy access to relevant information in their specialty, and provide a place where any information identified during research can be stored, therefore augmenting and enhancing this rich resource of evidence compiled by experts in each specialty.
Records in Specialised Registers are submitted regularly for inclusion in The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). CENTRAL is the world’s best source of reports of randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials – a powerful and respected tool to those wanting to enhance healthcare knowledge and decision-making. It is a vital resource for systematic reviewers and other researchers trying to find evidence.
Records in the CRS from one CRG becomes available to all CRGs, thus work undertaken by one group can be retrieved and re-used by another.
Overall objectives of CRS
To help meet the growing challenge of identifying and retrieving evidence-based research data needed to support informed healthcare decision-making.
To support review authors and researchers with easy to use data management tools that streamline the process of searching, adding and retrieving information in whatever form that is relevant to their specialty or particular interest.
The role of Metaxis
To create a bespoke content management solution to manage the import, deduplication and curation of bibliographic and clinical study records.
To make the solution easy to use via a dynamic, accessible and reliable user interface and to keep the repository current by marshalling regular and sensitive searches for information from a variety of data sources.
Sophisticated management processes ensure methodologically sound data imports and deduplications from across the Cochrane data ecosystem. This process is extremely important to the overall integrity of the solution as the CRS is critical in updating CENTRAL and CRS Online every month. Thousands of people rely on this comprehensive data resource for their work in curating, analysis, research, evidence synthesis and ultimately improved public health due to better informed decision-making.
Key features:
- Bespoke content management solution and front-end web user interfaces
- Intuitive, comprehensive and easy to use
- Sophisticated search interfaces enabling fast and relevant data access
- Maximised data integrity
Key benefits:
- Expert augmented evidence data
- Faster access to an ever-increasing amount of relevant studies and research evidence
- Improved cross-specialty communication – sharing of information
- Better informed decision-making