ABSTRACT
The Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews is published quarterly as a DVD and monthly online (http://www.thecochranelibrary.com). The April 2013 issue (2nd DVD for 2013) contains 5484 complete reviews, 2341 protocols for reviews in production, and 22,600 short summaries of systematic reviews published in the general medical literature. In addition, there are citations of 692,000 randomized controlled trials, and 15,700 cited papers in the Cochrane methodology register. The health technology assessment database contains some 12,000 citations. Ninety-four new reviews have been published in the previous 3 months, of which four have potential relevance for practitioners in pain and palliative medicine. The impact factor of the Cochrane Library stands at 5.715. Readers are encouraged to access the full report for any articles of interest, as only a brief commentary is provided.