Judging the Quality of Medical Literature (Report)

Medical writers are medical literature consumers. They need to be able to evaluate the quality of the articles they use as information sources or choose to cite in their own writing. Writers without training in research design may intuitively recognize good articles. However, a more deliberate consideration of certain criteria will permit the most efficient use of both reviews and clinical studies. The goal of this article is to provide an overview of those criteria. The discussion will begin with a description of systematic reviews and their usefulness to medical writers. The majority of this article will review principles involved in the critical appraisal of clinical studies. RECOGNIZING HIGH-QUALITY REVIEWS