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Critical Appraisal
www.tastafe.tas.edu.au

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Critical Appraisal of Research
• An important skill to have is to be able to
critically read research articles
• It is not wise to accept research findings
without a critical appraisal
It helps you to determine
• Is the research valid
• Can I apply it to my „population‟
• Was it conducted “properly”

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Articles will usually look like this…
• Title
• Abstract
• Key words (not usual in quantitative research
articles)
• Introduction, rationale or background
• Methodology
• Results
• Discussion
• References

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Appraisal – the first steps
• The Title
• The Abstract
• Key Words
• Publication Information
• Author Information
• This should be completed in 10-15minutes and you
should be able to get this information from the first page
of the article (and sometimes the
references/bibliography)

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The Title
• Should be specific and to the point
• Should show clear relationship to the
content
• Qualitative study titles can often be wordy
and not related to the content
(remembering qualitative is about
subjectivity and is word heavy)

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The Abstract
• A summary of the article
• By the end of the abstract, it should be clear if it is of
use to you
• Should be limited to 300 words or less
• Should contain
Why the research was conducted
How the research was conducted
Clear detail on the results or conclusions
• Quantitative research abstracts can be very minimalistic
and obscure using technical grammar and terminology
that is specific to the research
• Qualitative abstracts are more narrative

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Key Words
• Five or six words that cover the key
concepts of the research
• Usually straight after the abstract
• Not always included in quantitative
research articles
• Can help in literature searches i.e. use the
keywords to search

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Publication Information
• The type and quality of the publication chosen
by the author can quickly inform of the
potential quality of the research
• Nursing research publication in Australia has
only a brief history, however now a large
amount of journals etc to chose from
• Remember websites such as wikipedia can be
authored by anyone

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Hierarchies in Publication
Peer Reviewed Journals
• Assessed by one or two experts in the field
of research
• Considerations of the experts
High quality research – is it?
Fits the standards of the journals editorial
board – does it?
Makes a significant contribution to the area or
specialty – does it?

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Peer Review Journals in Australia
• Nursing Inquiry
• Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing
• Contemporary Nurse
• Collegian
• Australian Health Review
• and more…
The editorial board members are listed in the journal to
promote credibility and authority – adds weight.

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Non-Peer Reviewed
• Submitted research is not subjected to the same level
of critique
• Commonly read by more nurses as they are generally
supplied as part of a subscription to a professional
body
• Research may/may not be high quality
• Examples
Australian Nursing Journal (ANF publication)
JGenca (Gastro-Enterological Nurses College of
Australia)

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Author Information
• What are the authors qualifications?
• What are their affiliations?
• Do these suggest credibility?
• Does this increase your confidence in the
research?

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Review the References
• Can point to the quality of the research
• Ability to critique the references comes
with being an expert in the particular field
• Questions to ask
How many articles are cited?
Are the references current? (Last 5-10
years)
Are the authors and journals specialised
and relevant to the research?

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Where to next…?
• If you have determined that the article is
relevant to your needs, it is now time to
move on to appraisal of the methodology,
results and implications for practice.

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Further critique… some things to think about
• Ethics
Where any ethical issues identified?
If so, how were these addressed?
• How extensive was the literature search?
Was it conducted on current literature?
Was it extensive?
Is there a description of how the search was
conducted e.g. search terms?

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Ctd…
• Study Limitations
Were any limitations of the research identified
within the article?
Can you identify any limitations that were not
addressed within the article?
• Sample
How was the sample chosen?
Is the sample representative of your population?

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And even more…
• Examine the data collection tools, the data
collection process and analysis
Are there any visible flaws?
Was the collection tool reliable?
Is the collection tool shown in the article?
• Are the findings relevant to clinical practice?
• How was funding obtained?
Does the funding source present any ethical
issues?

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And after all that…
• Are the findings relevant to practice?
• Can the findings change practice?
• Is this research of use to me?