CASP has produced simple critical appraisal checklists for the key study designs. These are not meant to replace considered thought and judgement when reading a paper but are for use as a guide and aide memoire. All CASP checklists cover three main areas: validity, results and clinical relevance.
What is Critical Appraisal?
Critical Appraisal is the process of carefully and systematically examining research to judge its trustworthiness, and its value and relevance in a particular context. It is an essential skill for evidence-based medicine because it allows people to find and use research evidence reliably and efficiently.
Learn more about what critical appraisal is, why we need it and more
Study Designs
Study designs come in different formats with each being best suited to answer different types from questions. Learn more about the differences and when you might opt to use a Randomised Control Trial vs Cohort study vs Qualitative study and more"
Glossary
On this page are links to definitions for the jargon words often used in research and the numbers and statistics used to describe it. For many of these terms, a simple description is all that is needed. If you see a term is missing, contact us and we will try to add it in for you.
Useful Links
A list of recommended websites and resources to look at, relating to evidence-based healthcare, statistics and research.
Bibliography
A complete list (published & unpublished) of articles and research papers about CASP and other critical appraisal tools and approaches, covering from 1993-2012.