June 2017: Handbook Editors' Update  

The Handbook editorial team is currently updating Handbook versions 5.0, 5.1 and 5.2 for a planned release of Version 6 in 2018. This is a major update. Senior Scientific Editors Julian Higgins and James Thomas have reorganized some material to include recent developments. There are also several new chapters including writing a protocol, equity and specific populations, complex interventions, network meta-analysis, and synthesizing findings using non-statistical methods. Please note following the introduction of the Methodological Expectations for Cochrane Intervention Review (MECIR) standards, we set out to produce a minor Handbook update, version 5.2 to include these standards. Due to limited editorial capacity, we only produced a limited number of chapters. These chapters are 1, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 21 and are available as pdf versions for Cochrane members. These chapters only include minor edits to improve clarity, some limited new material and updating. There are currently no substantive changes to methods in these chapters, we expect to include these in Version 6. For more details see the What's new? page.

Click here to browse Handbook version 5.1 online

Click here for selected new chapters from Handbook v5.2 (login required)

The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions is the official guide that describes in detail the process of preparing and maintaining Cochrane systematic reviews on the effects of healthcare interventions. The current complete version of the Handbook is 5.1 (updated March 2011), edited by Julian Higgins and Sally Green.

All authors should consult the Handbook for guidance on the methods used in Cochrane systematic reviews. The Handbook includes guidance on the standard methods applicable to every review (planning a review, searching and selecting studies, data collection, risk of bias assessment, statistical analysis, GRADE and intepreting results), as well as more specialised topics (non-randomized studies, adverse effects, economics, patient-reported outcomes, individual patient data, prospective meta-analysis, qualitative research, reviews in public health and overviews of reviews).

Official translations of the Handbook are also available in Spanish and Simplified Chinese (see links above right).

Further information is also available about the Handbook including supplementary material, information about what's new in each version, updates and corrections and more.

You can also access the Handbook in the following ways:

• In RevMan: the Handbook can be accessed offline through the Help menu of Cochrane's review production software.

• As a textbook: Version 5.0.2 of the Handbook was published in by Wiley-Blackwell in September 2008 and is still available for sale. Note that this is no longer the most current version of the Handbook, and readers should consult the What's New section for more information.

• Printable (PDF) versions of all chapters (Version 5.2) are available to registered Cochrane contributors (Archie login required).