Cochrane and the GRADE Working Group (GRADE) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen their existing partnership.

This MoU helps both Cochrane and GRADE to meet their strategic plans and work towards the production of high-quality evidence and its use in policy and practice.

A number of joint activities have already been defined, including:

• Relevant software tools will be shared between partners.
• Training will be provided to both organizations’ members. This may include continuing education through workshops at Cochrane Colloquia and other meetings.
• The collaboration and information sharing around methods development will be strengthened.
• Joint advocacy efforts to raise the profile of evidence-informed decision-making will be developed.

This collaboration builds on the clear synergy of the visions, missions, goals, values, principles, and products of Cochrane and GRADE. Both organizations believe in systematic and rigorous approaches to evidence synthesis. Furthermore the assessment of the certainty in synthesized evidence is essential to improve the knowledge base for making decisions on healthcare policy and practice. This in turn will lead to better informed choices by policy makers, practitioners, and members of the general public; and will ultimately lead to better health outcomes.

“GRADE is an essential component in the production of high-quality evidence,” said Mark Wilson, Cochrane CEO. “Cochrane and many of our collaborators have been instrumental in the development of GRADE and we have enjoyed a very close relationship for many years. Cochrane highly values the methodological rigour and training provided by members of the GRADE Working Group; and I welcome the strengthening of this long-lasting relationship through a formal agreement.”

“For over a decade, GRADE and Cochrane have been working side by side, sharing ideas and adopting each other's approaches to strengthen the methods of evidence synthesis, presentation, and interpretation’’ said Gordon Guyatt and Holger Schunemann, Co-Chairs of rhe GRADE Working Group.  ‘’The formal collaboration will further enhance both groups' enormous contribution to the worldwide cause of evidence-based practice.”

Cochrane looks forward to working alongside GRADE in strengthening evidence-informed health decisions.

About GRADE
The GRADE Working Group was established in 2000 to develop a sensible approach to assessing the certainty in a body of evidence based on systematic reviews, to developing recommendations in health care. Its work has expanded to methodology for informing other health evidence-related products and decisions, in particular guidelines, health technology assessments, policy decisions, and coverage decisions. The GRADE Working Group has more than 500 international members and a growing number of globally distributed centres and networks.  Over 90 organizations worldwide have endorsed the GRADE approach, which is pre-eminent among the available frameworks.

About Cochrane
For more than 20 years, Cochrane has helped to transform the way health decisions are made. It produces reviews that summarize the best available evidence generated through research to inform decisions about health. Cochrane is a global independent network of more than 30,000 researchers, professionals, patients, carers, and people interested in health. Moreover, Cochrane’s work is recognized as representing an international gold standard for high quality and trusted information. Cochrane wants to be the leading advocate for evidence-informed health across the world.