Evaluating your sources is a crucial step of the information research process.
Critical appraisal and risk of bias tools for research studies are listed below. Critical appraisal is the process of assessing the quality of study methods to determine if the reported outcomes are trustworthy, meaningful and relevant to your situation. Critical appraisal checklists can be used to evaluate primary research (intervention studies, cohort studies, case-control studies, economic evaluations studies, qualitative research, and animal studies) and secondary research (systematic reviews, meta-analyses etc.).
Further down this page are some general considerations for evaluating information by means of two different (but similar) checklists that you can apply, as well as specific criteria to consider for grey literature sources.
Not sure which critical appraisal or risk of bias tool to use?
Check out the Quality Assessment and Risk of Bias Tool Repository for finding and selecting a risk of bias or quality assessment tool for evidence synthesis projects. This project was created and is maintained by Duke University's Medical Center Library & Archives.
For animal studies:
Consideration of the presence (reporting) and the appropriateness (validity) of the items described below will help to assess the quality of the item. It is also recommended to consult with colleagues when possible.
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Reporting | Validity |
| Author/ publisher | Who is the author, are they who they claim to be? |
Does the author/host have an agenda? Publishing body:
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| Host/sponsor | Does the hosting site have a sponsor? |
Is the information shared for commercial purposes? Does the site sponsor have a political or philosophical agenda? |
| Facts and references | Are references included? |
Are references to research evidence? Is the information based on research/data/analysis or is it opinion piece? Can you verify some cited sources, facts? How current are the references? |
| Currency | Is a publication or revised date provided? | Is the information current? |
From the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion, 2015. https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/appraising-grey-lit-guide.pdf?la=en