The following steps should be done when selecting relevant studies for inclusion into your review:
Source
Key steps to consider when appraising studies include:
Critical appraisal tools
The following table presents a selection of appraisal tools (this is not meant as an exhaustive list).
Study design | Critical appraisal tool |
---|---|
Systematic reviews | AMSTAR Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) is a 37-item assessment tool used to assess the methodological quality of systematic reviews. |
Randomized control trials (RCTs) |
Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool: RoB 2 |
Non-randomized control trials | Ottawa-Newcastle Scale The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was developed to assess the quality of non-randomized studies with its design, content and ease of use directed to the task of incorporating the quality assessments in the interpretation of meta-analytic results. The goal of this project is to develop an instrument providing an easy and convenient tool for quality assessment of non-randomized studies to be used in a systematic review. |
Observational studies |
STROBE |
Cohort studies | CASP: Cohort Studies (PDF) Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP): Cohort Studies is a methodological checklist which provides key criteria relevant to cohort studies. |
Case control studies | CASP: Case Control Studies (PDF) Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP): Case Control Studies is a methodological checklist which provides key criteria relevant to case control studies. |
Clinical practice guidelines |
AGREE II |
Qualitative studies | CASP: Qualitative Research (PDF) Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP): Qualitative Research is a methodological checklist which provides key criteria relevant to qualitative research studies. |
For more critical appraisal tools, see the following resources:
There are different types of systematic review software that you can consider, depending on the type of review you are conducting.
The Library has a subscription to Covidence. Consult our Covidence research guide to learn more.
There are other systematic review software that you can use, but the University of Ottawa Library does not support: