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Stage 5: Assessing Quality: Step 1: How to Identify Appraisal Criteria

Appraising Studies

In order for your review to guide evidence-based recommendations, you must ensure that the sources synthesized in your review is a representation of the best available evidence. This is achieved by critically appraising the quality of each included study.

How do you conduct critical appraisal for each included study? By using a critical appraisal tool.

Your goals in this step are to:

  • Choose a critical appraisal tool
  • Pilot your tool

Select a Critical Appraisal Tool

Assessing the validity and accuracy of the included studies is done by using a critical appraisal tool which is typically in the format of a checklist. The checklist provides a structure for independently reviewing each article’s methodology and reporting against the checklist criteria.

In general, the minimum criteria that your critical appraisal tool will consider is the:

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Choosing a critical appraisal tool may be overwhelming, as there are many available. The following is the process for how to select one according to Buccheri and Sharifi (2017): ​

If considering a generic tool, ensure that it will encompass all of the types of evidence from your included studies. For example, the sources for those conducting a Realist Review may include knowledge exchange with stakeholders and conference presentations (Cooper et al., 2017), which are types of evidence that may not have appraisal criteria adequate to addressing the source's quality. In this case, you may find that using a design-specific tool is a better fit.

For a list of some of the critical appraisal tools available.

Pre-test the Critical Appraisal Tool

Akin to piloting the screening and data extraction process, it is best to practice using your critical appraisal checklist amongst your reviewers.

Once you have identified your appraisal tool(s):

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