Previous edition: ©2008.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Starting a review -- Determining the scope of the review and the questions it will address -- Defining the criteria for including studies and how they will be grouped for the synthesis -- Searching for and selecting studies -- Collecting data -- Choosing effect measures and computing estimates of effect -- Considering bias and conflicts of interest among the included studies -- Assessing risk of bias in a randomized trial -- Summarizing study characteristics and preparing for synthesis -- Analysing data and undertaking meta-analyses -- Undertaking network meta-analyses -- Synthesizing and presenting findings using other methods -- Assessing risk of bias due to missing results in a synthesis -- Completing 'Summary of findings' tables and grading the certainty of the evidence -- Interpreting results and drawing conclusions -- Equity and specific populations -- Intervention complexity -- Patient-reported outcomes -- Adverse effects -- Economics evidence -- Qualitative research and Cochrane Reviews -- Prospective approaches to accumulating evidence -- Including variants on randomized trials -- Including non-randomized studies on intervention effects -- Assessing risk of bias in a non-randomized study -- Individual participant data.