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Critical appraisal

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Quality assurance using critical appraisal enables the identification of research articles which are sufficiently well-designed to inform practice. The technique consists of the identification of studies which cross a quality threshold followed by the extraction of their most important points. This page includes a critical appraisal skills programme CASP checklist, CASP elearning modules, and practical exercises.

Why is it important

Critical appraisal enables the identification of research articles which are sufficiently well-designed to inform practice. The technique consists of the identification of studies which cross a quality threshold followed by the extraction of their most important points.

The process involves :

  • systematically evaluating scientific literature ;
  • identifying original research or meta-analyses which are methodically sound ;
  • selecting the items from the previous step which have a useful application in your daily work.

The application of the critical appraisal process results in the removal of barriers between research and practice and thus, supports the development of evidence based practice.

Applying critical appraisal

Retrieved research articles need to be assessed before a decision is made about their re-use. The three key principles in critically appraising research articles are :

  • validity
    • Validity applies both to the design and the methods of research. Validity in data collection means that findings truly represent the phenomenon the researcher claims to measure.
  • reliability
    • Reliability is the measure of how consistently a research study or instrument accomplishes its intended purpose. It is synonymous with the consistency of a test, survey, observation, or other measuring device.
  • relevance
    • Relevance concerns whether a piece of research responds to some genuine need. In other words, are the results of academic interest only or is there a practical application for the findings?

Refine
Condense the knowledge into concise and relevant ‘nuggets’ that represent the key insights, lessons learned and practices of the knowledge sources. If multiple sources of knowledge are harvested, identify common and opposing knowledge and highlight these.

Checklists and tools

CASP critical appraisal checklists
Collection of critical appraisal tools designed by the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) to be used when reading research. Includes checklists for: Systematic Reviews, Randomised Controlled Trials, Cohort Studies, Case Control Studies, Economic Evaluations, Diagnostic Studies, Qualitative studies and Clinical Prediction Rule

Open University PROMPT checklist
PROMPT: Presentation, Relevance, Objectivity, Method, Provenance, Timeliness provideS a structured approach to critical evaluation of information

Understanding health research
This tool will guide you through a series of questions to help you to review and interpret a published health research paper

RGU Critical Appraisal guide
Guides you through questions to consider with links to more help

CEBM: Which study design?
Short article from the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) to help you identify what type of study a paper is

NHS GGC Library Network: Critical Appraisal Tools pathway
Collection of links to checklists and other useful tools to help with critical appraisal

Full fact
Independant fact checker website, evaluating we claims made by politicians, public institutions and journalists, as well as viral content online

NHS Inform
Reliable health information for patients and service users

Guidance
Teaching critical appraisal

Choosing a topic

Ideally your audience will choose an article of interest to them. Below are some sources which can provide ideas

Reusable materials