Hi Jon,
For a PubMed search, you get:
Randomized controlled trial[PTYP] >> 333596
Controlled Clinical trial[PTYP] >> 84639
Combined >> 413488
This will get you the RCTs/ NRCTs.
As for Central being free, I just searched it without being logged on through www.thecochranelibrary.com. I had no issues with searching the library or CENTRAL. You can also download any number of citations from Central as needed, but you can’t access the full text of the reviews in the CDSR, which is password protected. I don’t think Canada has a nation-wide access policy so if it works fine here then it should also work in the UK. I definitely used to do this regularly when searching while still in Egypt a few years ago and never had any problems searching CENTRAL.
Hope this helps.
Ahmed
From: Evidence based health (EBH) [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jon Brassey
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2012 2:24 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: RCTs
Hi Ahmed,
Thank you for that important distinction.
You highlight that the number from PubMed is 413,000 which suggests around 40,000 are controlled trials (The RCT filter finds around 375). I wonder if there is a more 'relaxed' filter to find controlled trials, not just RCTs.
As for Central being free, is that correct? I'd assumed you needed a subscription to Cochrane to get it, as we have in the UK. Also, it might be free access but they control the access. For what I want the RCTs for it requires a more liberal definition of 'free'.
BW
jon
On Mon, Dec 3, 2012 at 8:14 AM, Ahmed Abou-Setta, M.D. <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hi Jon,
There is an important distinction here… not all citations in the Cochrane CENTRAL are RCTs. They are RCTs + Controlled Clinical Trials (i.e. reports of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-randomized controlled trials (QRCTs) - Publication Types “Randomized Controlled Trial” and “Controlled Clinical Trial”). Therefore the actual total number from PubMed is over 413,000. Now Central also receives input from Embase, and other sources including hand-searching, but it’s also free to search. I doubt there is a one-stop shop for all RCTs/ NRCTs anywhere in the world that is free and kept up-to-date in a short time after the original databases are updated. If there is then I would love to hear about it.
Hope this helps.
Ahmed
From: Evidence based health (EBH) [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jon Brassey
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2012 1:49 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: RCTs
Hi!
Can anyone advise me the best open/free resources for RCT identification. The obvious one being PubMed and using various filters/hedges I can identify around 375,000 RCTs, but this is much smaller than Cochrane CENTRAL's 650,000+.
So, I'm looking at ways to minimise that gap. Embase isn't free and open so that's ruled out.
I was wondering about sources such as Mendeley and Connotea. I assume these are rich sources of RCTs?? Do people know if there are any search filters for these?
Any help would be appreciated.
BW
jon
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Jon Brassey
TRIP Database
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Jon Brassey
TRIP Database
Find evidence fast