Appraise - assessing the quality of the evidence - Research skills guide_new - WACHS Library at Western Australia Department of Health

Appraise - assess the quality of the evidence

Tools/Checklists

Critical appraisal of the quality of research evidence

Once the research has been identified the next step is to appraise (assess) the quality of research evidence.

The appraisal process is designed to address the following three questions:

Is the study valid?
What are the results?
Are the results useful?

Tools & Checklists

A number of tools & checklists have been developed to assist with this process. The type of tool or critical appraisal checklist you will use is dependent upon what you are researching, including the query type, and study types that constitute best evidence to support that type of question.

Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP): Making sense of the evidence

CASP checklists

BMJ's "How to read a paper" series
A series of articles in the BMJ that explain how to read and interpret different kinds of research papers including diagnostic or screening tests, drug trials, qualitative reviews and economic analyses as well as articles about assessing methodology and interpreting statistics for the non-statistician.
PRESS (Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies) checklist for systematic reviews, health technology assessments, and other evidence syntheses
A practice guideline for the peer review of electronic literature search strategies for librarians and other information specialists who perform literature searches for SR and HTA reports | Currently under review (2022 July)
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McGowan J, Sampson M, Salzwedel DM, Cogo E, Foerster V, Lefebvre C. PRESS Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies: 2015 Guideline Statement. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. 2016;75:40-46. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2016.01.021.
Continuum of Evidence of Effectiveness - A tool that clarifies and defines standards of 'best available research evidence'
[Online pdf]. [US. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Division of Violence Prevention. Continuum of Evidence of Effectiveness. Accessed 2016 Aug 23]
AMSTAR 2: A critical appraisal tool for systematic reviews that include randomised and/or non-randomised studies of healthcare interventions
This critical appraisal tool is designed for systematic reviews that include randomized, non-randomized studies, or both. The tool guides users through a series of questions (yes/partial yes/no) that results in an overall rating of high, moderate, low or critically low quality.
Checklist for reviewing a randomized controlled trial of a social program or project, to assess whether it produced valid evidence
[Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy. Checklist for reviewing a randomized controlled trial of a social program or project, to assess whether it produced valid evidence [Online pdf]. 2010. Accessed 7 July 2021]
Critical appraisal of qualitative research
[Dr Kritika Samsi, King's College London]
Compendium of critical appraisal tools for public health practice
An overview of critical appraisal tools that can be used to help incorporate the best research evidence into public health practice and policy. [Ciliska D, Thomas H, Buffett C. An Introduction to Evidence-Informed Public Health and A Compendium of Critical Appraisal Tools for Public Health Practice [Online pdf]. National Methods Centre for Collaborating Tools. 2008. Accessed 2016 Nov 19]
AACODS checklist for the evaluation and critical appraisal of grey literature
Health policy appraisal
"In order to make ... best use of ... resources, the costs and benefits of alternative policies, programmes and projects need to be carefully weighed up ... Special problems can arise in identifying and weighing up the effects on health and health services of policies, programmes and projects. This guide provides specific advice in the health field ..." [United Kingdom. Department of Health. Policy appraisal and health [Online pdf]. Accessed 2016 Aug 23]