Research Guides: Systematic Reviews (in the Health Sciences): Appraisal

Appraisal

Steps for Appraisal

Each included study is appraised/assessed for quality independently by at least two reviewers.
Many SR teams also assess the strength of the entire body of evidence using the GRADE approach.

GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation)
GRADE is a tool for judging the body of evidence as a whole. GRADE has two levels: strong and weak recommendations.

Each study needs to be appraised based on study type. This page includes common quality assessment and risk of bias tools for different types of studies. You can find more examples in published systematic reviews and via a Google search.