Systematic Review: A review in which...appropriate methods have been used to identify, appraise, and summarise studies addressing a defined question. It can, but need not, involve meta-analysis. A meta-analysis is a statistical technique that summarises the results of several studies in a single weighted estimate, in which more weight is given to results of studies with more events and sometimes to studies of higher quality.
Randomized Controlled Trials: A trial in which participants are randomly assigned to two or more groups: at least one (the experimental group) receiving an intervention that is being tested and another (the comparison or control group) receiving an alternative treatment or placebo. This design allows assessment of the relative effects of interventions.
Cohort Studies: A non-experimental study design that follows a group of people (a cohort), and then looks at how events differ among people within the group. Prospective cohort studies (which track participants forward in time) are more reliable than retrospective cohort studies (which track participants backwards in time).
Case-Control Studies: A study design that examines a group of people who have experienced an event (usually an adverse event) and a group of people who have not experienced the same event, and looks at how exposure to suspect (usually noxious) agents differed between the two groups. This type of study design is most useful for trying to ascertain the cause of rare events, such as rare cancers.
Case Series: Analysis of series of people with the disease (there is no comparison group in case series).
Source:
BMJ Publishing Group. (2012, September 20). A glossary of EBM terms. In EBM Toolbox. Retrieved from https://bestpractice.bmj.com/info/toolkit/ebm-toolbox/a-glossary-of-ebm-terms/
How to evaluate a research article
Not all research is good research. It's very important to critically evaluate the evidence you find. Consider the following when reviewing an article:
What is the article about?
Is this article relevant for your research paper topic?
Is the article qualitative OR quantitative research?
What is the purpose of the study?
Does this research add to the literature? Is it a bigger, longer, more substantial study?
Is the hypothesis clearly stated?
Does the article include a literature review and cover related studies?
How are the study methods described?
Who was studied? Age, sex, ethnicity?
Who was not studied?
What size was the population studied? (ex. N value)
How was the population studied? In a clinical or real setting?
How long was the study?
What materials were studied? (i.e. drugs or devices)
Who funded the study?
What type of study was conducted?
How are the study results described?
Do the results include statistical analysis?
Are all results discussed, including unexpected results?
Can the results be applied outside this study?
Understanding the Types of Research
Log in using B Number (example: B00999999) and PIN, birth date MMDDYY (last two digits of birth date for YY).
A series of articles that explain how to read and interpret different kinds of research papers: -Papers that go beyond numbers (qualitative research) -Papers that summarise other papers (systematic reviews and meta-analyses) -Papers that tell you what things cost (economic analyses) -Papers that report diagnostic or screening tests -Papers that report drug trials -Statistics for the non-statistician -Statistics for the non-statistician II: "Significant" relations and their pitfalls -Assessing the methodological quality of published papers -Getting your bearings (deciding what the paper is about) -The Medline database
from the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at the University of Oxford
Video: How to Read a Scientific Article
This video from the USU Libraries gives you tips on how to break down scientific articles into easy to read sections. (2:11) Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed) https://youtu.be/Fm6pdg3uAPA
