PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/Cochrane review

How to Cite a Cochrane Review in APA 7

An APA 7 reference for a Cochrane review is formatted like a journal article: the authors, the year in parentheses, the review title in sentence case, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews in italics, then the year as the volume in italics, the issue in parentheses, the word Article with the review number (CD and six digits), and the DOI. If the version you read doesn't show the volume, issue, or article number, you can leave them out. The in-text citation is the author and year: (Sherrington et al., 2019).

The format

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of the review. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Year(Issue), Article CDxxxxxx. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CDxxxxxx.pubx

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 21, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Paste the review's DOI into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA fills in every author, the year, the title, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews as the journal, the volume, the issue, the CD article number, and the DOI, and it leaves out the Cochrane review group, the way APA does.

Give the volume and issue a quick check against the review's "How to cite" line or the top of its PDF before you save. They should match the year and issue printed there (2016, Issue 8 means volume 2016, issue 8). Now and then, the DOI record behind the lookup carries a different volume and issue.

Adding one by hand? Choose Journal, then Journal article and A single published article. Put Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews in Journal Name, the year in both Publication Year and Volume Number, the issue in Issue Number, and the CD number as the article number. Then paste the DOI. If your version doesn't show an issue or article number, leave those boxes empty.

Look up
Paste a DOI, get the reference

10.1002/14651858.CD012424.pub2

Sherrington, C., Fairhall, N. J., Wallbank, G. K., Tiedemann, A., Michaleff, Z. A., Howard, K., Clemson, L., Hopewell, S., & Lamb, S. E. (2019). Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2019(1), Article CD012424. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012424.pub2

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Authors

List every author named on the review, up to 20: last name, a comma, and initials, with an ampersand before the last one. Cochrane reviews often have six to ten authors, and they all go in the reference.

Sherrington, C., Fairhall, N. J., Wallbank, G. K., Tiedemann, A., Michaleff, Z. A., Howard, K., Clemson, L., Hopewell, S., & Lamb, S. E.

Keep hyphens and accents exactly as the review prints them (Díaz-Rossello). Leave out the Cochrane review group and any editors the review credits.

2. Year

Use the year this version of the review was published, in parentheses, followed by a period. It's the year in "Version published" on the review's page, not the year the review was first written.

(2019).

3. Review title

Write the title in sentence case, with no italics. Cochrane titles are usually already in sentence case, so copy them as shown.

Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community.

4. Database name

Write Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews in full, in italics and title case, the way you'd write a journal name. Cochrane reviews exist only in this database, so APA keeps its name in the reference.

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews,

Don't shorten it to Cochrane Database Syst Rev, and don't swap in Cochrane Library or Wiley.

5. Volume, issue, and article number

The PDF and the "How to cite" line show these as something like "2019, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD012424." Translate that into APA's journal format: the year is the volume (italic), the issue goes in parentheses, and Art. No. becomes the word Article.

2019(1), Article CD012424.

The full-text version you see in your browser often shows none of these. APA says it's fine to leave them out when your version doesn't show them, and to include them when it does. Either way, the DOI gets your reader to the review.

6. DOI

End with the DOI as a link, with no period after it. Every Cochrane DOI starts with 10.1002/14651858 and ends with the review number and its version (.pub2, .pub3, and so on).

https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012424.pub2

Each update of a review gets its own .pub number, so copy the DOI of the version you read, not an older or newer one.

Examples

A Cochrane review with many authors

Sherrington and colleagues' 2019 review of exercise for fall prevention, a go-to source for gerontology and patient safety papers. All nine authors go in the reference. The volume, issue, and article number come from the review's PDF: 2019, Issue 1, Art. No. CD012424.

  • Parenthetical citation(Sherrington et al., 2019)
  • Narrative citationSherrington et al. (2019)

A Cochrane review with two authors

The 2016 review of kangaroo mother care for low birthweight infants, often cited in maternal-child and NICU papers. Both authors have hyphenated last names and one has an accent. Keep all of it. Cochrane lists this version as 2016, Issue 8.

  • Parenthetical citation(Conde-Agudelo & Díaz-Rossello, 2016)
  • Narrative citationConde-Agudelo and Díaz-Rossello (2016)

A Cochrane review cited from the full-text web version

The 2023 update of the cranberries and UTI review, read in the browser at its DOI. That full-text page shows no volume, issue, or article number, so the reference goes straight from the database name to the DOI. This is the format APA's own Cochrane example uses. This version replaced one published in April 2023 (.pub6), so its DOI ends in .pub7.

  • Parenthetical citation(Williams et al., 2023)
  • Narrative citationWilliams et al. (2023)

In-text citations

Cite a Cochrane review like any journal article: the authors' last names and the year of the version you read.

  • Two authors: both names every time: (Conde-Agudelo & Díaz-Rossello, 2016) or Conde-Agudelo and Díaz-Rossello (2016)
  • Three or more authors: the first author and et al., starting with the first citation: (Sherrington et al., 2019) or Sherrington et al. (2019)
  • Two reviews at once: in alphabetical order, separated by a semicolon: (Sherrington et al., 2019; Williams et al., 2023)
  • A quote: Cochrane's web version has no page numbers, so name the section and the paragraph: (Williams et al., 2023, Authors' conclusions section, para. 1). If you're quoting from the PDF, use its page number.

When you name the database in your sentence, it isn't italic: A Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews meta-analysis by Sherrington et al. (2019) found ...

Common mistakes

  • Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2019(1), CD012424.Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2019(1), Article CD012424.That's PubMed's abbreviation. APA spells out the full name, and an article number takes the word Article in front of it.
  • Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2019, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD012424.Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2019(1), Article CD012424.Cochrane's own "How to cite" line isn't APA. Turn the year into an italic volume, put the issue in parentheses, and change Art. No. to Article.
  • Sherrington, C., et al. (2019). Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community.Sherrington, C., Fairhall, N. J., Wallbank, G. K., Tiedemann, A., Michaleff, Z. A., Howard, K., Clemson, L., Hopewell, S., & Lamb, S. E. (2019). Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community.Et al. belongs in the in-text citation only. The reference lists every author, up to 20.
  • Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Cochrane Library; Wiley.Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.The database name is the source. Don't add Cochrane Library, Wiley, or any other publisher after it.
  • (2016). ... Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2017(2), Article CD002771.(2016). ... Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2016(8), Article CD002771.Some DOI records carry a different volume and issue from the review itself. Go by the year and issue in the review's PDF or How to cite line, which match the year in the date.
  • https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD001321.pub6https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD001321.pub7Each update of a review has its own DOI. Use the one for the version you read, and match the year to that version.

Quick checklist

  • Every author, up to 20, with no editors or review group
  • The year of the version you read
  • Review title in sentence case, not italic
  • Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews spelled out in italics
  • Year(Issue), Article CD number, when your version shows them
  • The DOI for that exact version, .pub number included

Questions students ask

Is a Cochrane review a journal article?

For your reference list, yes. Cochrane reviews are published only in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and APA formats them like journal articles with the database name where the journal name goes.

Why doesn't my Cochrane reference have a volume or issue?

The full-text version on the Cochrane Library website doesn't show them, so you don't have to include them. The PDF does show the year, issue, and article number, and if you see them, put them in. Both versions are correct as long as the DOI is there.

What does .pub5 at the end of the DOI mean?

It's the version number. Cochrane updates reviews as new studies come out, and every update gets a new DOI ending in .pub2, .pub3, and so on. Cite the version you read, with its own year and DOI. The review's page says whether a newer version exists.

Where is the article number on a Cochrane review?

It's the CD number, like CD012424, which also appears inside the DOI. On the PDF and in the "How to cite" line it's labeled Art. No. In your reference, write Article CD012424.

Do I cite the Cochrane Library or the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews?

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. The Cochrane Library is the website that holds several Cochrane databases, but the reviews themselves are published in the CDSR, so that's the name that goes in your reference.

Can I cite the plain language summary instead?

The plain language summary is part of the review, so cite the review itself. If you quote the summary, name it in your citation: (Williams et al., 2023, Plain language summary section, para. 2).

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 8.17, 8.28, 9.8, 9.25–9.27, 9.30, 9.34–9.36, and 10.1, and the APA Style website's Cochrane review, database information, and nursing student reference guidance. Example sources verified on each review's Cochrane Library page (authors, version date, issue, and DOI) and against PubMed.

PERRLA builds the Cochrane review reference from its DOI, every author, issue, and article number included.

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