In May 1996 the first meeting was held in order to explore what would be needed to establish the Cochrane Colorectal Group (formerly named Cochrane Colorectal Cancer Group). A letter was subsequently sent to about 170 people identified as 1) first authors of conference reports of randomised controlled trials within the field of colorectal cancer from the last three years, 2) people with an interest in the area as listed in the Cochrane Directory, and 3) other well-known persons within the field. This group of interested persons represents the following specialities:
- Surgery (both general and colorectal specialists)
- Oncology
- Radiation oncology
- Pharmacology
- Biostatistics
- Endoscopy
- Economics
- Specialised nurses
- Consumers
A pre-exploratory meeting was held in connection with the Cochrane Cancer Network meeting 1. February 1997. It was decided to continue and aim for an exploratory meeting in September, in Copenhagen. Throughout 1997 interested people were informed of progress in four newsletters.
The exploratory meeting was held in Copenhagen 12-13 September 1997. It was decided that the editorial office should be in Copenhagen, and that Peer Wille-Jørgensen should serve as co-ordinating editor and prepare the application to register with Cochrane. The scope and topics, possible reviews and search strategies were also discussed. In November 1997 the editorial office was established, with Henning Keinke Andersen as Managing Editor.
The Colorectal Group was officially registered with Cochrane on January 27th 1998. Except for the directly employed administrative persons, participation in all aspects of the work of the Colorectal Group is on a voluntary basis.
The Colorectal Group is always open to new members. Members not fulfilling their obligations will be asked to resign.
Cochrane is an independent, international non-profit organisation, dedicated to making up-to-date, accurate information about the effects of healthcare readily available worldwide. It produces and disseminates systematic reviews of healthcare interventions and promotes the search for evidence in the form of clinical trials and other studies of interventions. Cochrane was founded in 1993 and named for the British epidemiologist, Archie Cochrane.
The major product of Cochrane is the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews which is published quarterly as part of Cochrane Library.
Those who prepare the reviews are mostly health care professionals who volunteer to work in one of the many Cochrane Review Groups, with editorial teams overseeing the preparation and maintenance of the reviews, as well as application of the rigorous quality standards for which Cochrane Reviews have become known.
Learn even more about the structure, organization, and products of Cochrane.
Cochrane has embarked on an important change programme to transform the way we produce the high-quality, independent and timely evidence. The new model is designed to ensure Cochrane remains viable, sustainable, and focused on the greatest global health and care challenges now and into the future. As part of the new model we are implementing a Central Editorial Service to streamline the editorial process.