BACKGROUND Systematic reviews (SRs) are expected to critically appraise included studies and privilege those at lowest risk of bias (RoB) in the synthesis. This study examines if and how critical appraisals inform the synthesis and interpretation of evidence in SRs. METHODS All SRs published in March-May 2012 in 14 high-ranked medical journals and a sample from the Cochrane library were syste...

screened for appropriateness for one or more of the following criteria; describing tool development; detailing instructions for use of the tool; or reporting at least one psychometric property. Full text articles were obtained for all psychometric studies. Critical appraisal and data extraction were completed using published tools designed specifically for psychometric studies; a detailed descr...

Critical appraisal is the process of carefully and systematically examining research to judge its trustworthiness, and its value and relevance in a particular context. G The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme aims to help people develop the necessary skills to make sense of scientific evidence, and has produced appraisal checklists covering validity, results and relevance. G Different research...

BACKGROUND Evidence-based practice is important to.clinical health care professionals. Clinical nurses can make informed decisions by applying the best evidence to their care. However, standardized curricula on evidence-based medicine are lacking in nursing education programs. This study evaluated a critical appraisal education program and assessed its value in increasing nurses' knowledge of c...

The appraisal system as a means of disciplinary or termination decisions support is a common target of legal disputes by employees involving charges of unfairness and bias. Since labor and employment laws do not mandate performance appraisals, the latter have become one of the most critical tools of risk management that subject an employer to various liabilities. The study provides comparative ...

BACKGROUND Journal clubs (JCs) are a common form of interactive education in health care aiming to promote the uptake of research evidence into practice, but their effectiveness has not been established. OBJECTIVE This systematic review aimed to determine whether the JC is an effective intervention in supporting clinical decision making. METHODS We searched for studies which evaluated wheth...