Quality and risk of bias assessment is an essential step in conducting a systematic review, and it is performed for each study that will be included in the review. The purpose of this process is to minimise biases and highlight the strength of the underlying evidence. This procedure also helps determine whether the included studies provide comprehensive enough information to support decision-making. Some studies may introduce biases in their findings due to design flaws, which can raise doubts about their reliability.
Below you may find recommended tools for different types of studies and reviews.
SANRA - a scale for the quality assessment of non-systematic review articles
AMSTAR-II (Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews) - tool used for critical appraisal of systematic reviews which include randomised and/or non-randomised studies of healthcare interventions.
CASP (Critical Appraisal Skills Programme) - several checklists for assessment of various study types
Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) appraisal tools - worksheets for critical assessment of reliability, significance, and relevance of clinical evidence.
Cochrane Critical Appraisal Training Videos - a series of instructional videos of appraisal of different types of evidence
JBI (Joanna Briggs Institute) - offers comprehensive checklists for evaluating and assessing a wide range of study types.
RoB 2 (Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for Randomised Trials Version 2) - a preferred method for evaluating bias risk in randomised trials that are part of Cochrane Reviews.
NIH (National Institutes of Health) Library - List of free tools, assessment tools and other material for conducting the various steps of scoping or systematic review.
Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) - used for assessing the quality of nonrandomised studies in meta-analyses.
Compiled by:
Agata Scicluna Derkowska - Senior Assistant Librarian, University of Malta.
Emanuel Schembri - Visiting lecturer at the Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta.
Last updated: 17 Nov, 2023