It is important to note that not all articles you find in PubMed or any other database may be relevant to your topic or of good quality. You must appraise the literature to determine its relevance and the quality of the evidence presented.
Critical appraisal is the process of assessing the validity, reliability, and relevance of published evidence. It provides a systematic and objective way of examining the evidence used for decision-making. Some questions you can ask yourself when assessing the literature include:
Based on CEBM's Critical Appraisal Tools
Several critical appraisal tools and worksheets are available below to help guide you. This will be further discussed in your Epidemiology class.