Evidence & Policy • vol 14 • no 1 • 121–42 • © Policy Press 2018 • #EVPOL Print ISSN 1744 2648 • Online ISSN 1744 2656 • https://doi.org/10.1332/174426417X15057479217899 Accepted for publication 01 September 2017 • First published online 11 October 2017 This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits adaptation, alteration, reproduction and distribution for non-commercial use, without further permission provided the original work is attributed. The derivative works do not need to be licensed on the same terms. article The Cochrane Collaboration: institutional analysis of a knowledge commons Peter Heywood,
[email protected] Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK and University of Sydney, Australia Anne Marie Stephani,
[email protected] University of Central Lancashire, UK Paul Garner,
[email protected] Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK Cochrane is an international network that produces and updates new knowledge through systematic reviews for the health sector. Knowledge is a shared resource, and can be viewed as a commons. As Cochrane has been in existence for 25 years, we used Elinor Ostrom’s theory of the commons and Institutional Analysis and Development Framework to appraise the organisation. Delivered by Ingenta Our aim was to provide insight into one particular knowledge commons, and to reflect on howCopyright The Policy Press this analysis may help Cochrane and its funders improve their strategy and development. An assessment of Cochrane product showed extensive production of systematic reviews, although assuring consistent quality of these reviews is an enduring challenge; there is some restriction of accessIP : 192.168.39.151 On: Mon, 27 Sep 2021 15:33:06 to the reviews, open access is not yet implemented; and, while permanence of the record is an emerging problem, it has not yet been widely discussed.