Access to archive of Cochrane reviews
Public access via the Cochrane Library
All citation versions of published Cochrane reviews and protocols are retained in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews beginning from Issue 4, 2003. The previous version(s) of a Cochrane review or protocol can be accessed via the publication’s ‘Other Versions’ link.
Cochrane access via Archie
Cochrane’s central server, Archie, stores all published versions of Cochrane reviews and protocols, including versions published before Archie’s launch in 2005-06. The published versions stored in Archie cannot be deleted. Alongside the published versions, Archie also contains unpublished draft versions.
Full access to all published Cochrane reviews in Archie has been available only to a few individuals in each Cochrane group; to Archie ‘Super Users’; and to system and data administrators. Cochrane editors normally should not use the archive to answer queries about previously published versions; instead they should use the publicly available archive in the CDSR. However, it is at editors' discretion to choose whether to provide archive copies of reviews to people who have asked for them.
Researcher access for methodological purposes
Researchers can apply for permission to access all previously published reviews by completing a Reviews and methods data request form.