Less than two months after its launch, Cochrane’s ‘COVID-19 Study Register’ has become one of the largest, most sophisticated and well-used resources for researchers needing to access and analyze the huge growth in primary studies being conducted on COVID-19. Since 7 April, Cochrane’s COVID-19 Study Register has attracted more than 10,000 users from around the world, accessing over 44,000 pages. The Register is constantly improving with the ambition of becoming the definitive source of studies on COVID-19.

The aim of Cochrane’s COVID-19 Study Register (accessible at: https://covid-19.cochrane.org/) is to support rapid and living evidence synthesis by all systematic review producers, as well as Cochrane's own work on COVID-19-related Rapid Reviews, Systematic Reviews and Network Meta-Analyses. It provides a ‘one-stop shop’ for researchers to access all primary studies being published related to COVID-19. Study references are pre-evaluated to meet eligibility for COVID-19 reviews, reducing searching and screening time for author teams. The Register helps systematic reviewers prioritize topics, identify available evidence and produce urgently needed reviews for front-line health professionals, public health policymakers and research teams developing new therapeutic, diagnostic and preventive interventions for COVID-19. 

With the rapid proliferation of global research related to COVID-19, it is increasingly challenging for researchers efficiently to find all relevant literature on this topic. The Cochrane COVID-19 Study Register removes the need to conduct extensive searches elsewhere, as it is continually updated with human studies on COVID-19 from trial registry platforms and PubMed. References from preprint archives and grey literature repositories that contain preliminary reports of in-process publications, organizational reports and policy literature produced outside of traditional publishing and distribution channels are also being added to the register. The register makes COVID-19 study evidence easy to find and filter through faceted search and browse options, including study characteristics and PICO (Population Intervention Comparator and Outcome) descriptors. The register’s universal data export formats (RIS and CSV) also makes new evidence simple to share and integrate into review production.

Cochrane will continue to develop, improve and extend the comprehensiveness of the COVID-19 Study Register in the weeks and months ahead. 

In May and June, the Register will:

• Increase its coverage by adding approximately 2,000 records from reputable preprint archives;
• Enhance searching with new filters for publication type and studies reporting results;
• Add PICO descriptors for all controlled trials; and
• Develop new surveillance and alerting features that will notify researchers to emerging evidence from the global response to COVID-19.

Upcoming opportunities to help build the COVID-19 Study Register will be available soon through Cochrane Crowd.

To find out more and get involved: 

Explore the Cochrane COVID-19 Study Register. 

Learn about Cochrane’s COVID-19 response and find other resources and news.