Acquire the Evidence Video Series
How to Answer a Background Question
Background questions are often best answered using Secondary information resources. A good synthesis or summary resource will provide an analysis or evaluation of an original study, a group of studies, or a body of research, summarizing these results in a concise and authoritative manner to provide the best available evidence for a clinical problem. Summary resources may also be referred to as pre-appraised evidence or evidence digests.
Examples of this type of resource might be a textbook (search the library discovery system), a review article, or an updated source that synthesizes the evidence, like UptoDate. Note that the evidence in secondary information resources may vary from expert opinion to high levels of evidence.
- UpToDate This link opens in a new window
Learn about mobile access | UpToDate® is a physician-authored clinical decision support resource that assists clinicians with point-of-care decisions. Includes easy-to-search graphics and a drug database and drug interactions tool (in partnership with Lexicomp®).
How to Answer Foreground (PICO) Question
Foreground questions are usually best answered by primary information resources. In the health sciences, this usually means locating a peer reviewed journal article, though conference papers would also be considered a form of primary literature.
Journal articles report on different types of research, so its important to limit your results to studies best suited to answering your research question. Use the Levels of Evidence Pyramid to limit your search results to the highest level of evidence for your clinical question.
While PubMed is the standard tool to locating journal articles in the biomedical sciences, the library has other journal citation databases that may be appropriate for your research. For a complete listing of article citation databases, please the the library's AtoZ database list. We also encourage you to contact the library to learn about specific tools and how to use them effectively as part of your literature search.
Please note: It is possible to use specific search strategies in PubMed and other databases in order to limit your results to different research designs, or levels of evidence. Need help limiting your search to specific levels of evidence? Ask a Librarian for more information.
Dahlgren Memorial Library. Evidence-based medicine resource guide: Clinical questions, PICO, & study designs. http://guides.dml.georgetown.edu/ebm/ebmclinicalquestions. Updated 2016. Accessed June 24, 2016.
Meta-Analyses & Systematic Reviews
In addition Pubmed, Cinahl, and other journal citation databases, we recommend these resources when searching for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.
- Cochrane Library This link opens in a new window
Learn about mobile access The Cochrane Library is a collection of databases that contain different types of high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making, including the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), the leading resource for systematic reviews in health care. - PEDro This link opens in a new windowFree database of randomized trials, systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines in physiotherapy.
- TRIP This link opens in a new windowTRIP is a free clinical search engine designed to allow users to find high-quality research evidence to support their practice and/or care. TRIP includes links to systematic reviews, EBM synopses, professional guidelines, controlled clinical trials, and "key primary research."
Critically Appraised Topics
A Critically Appraised Topic (CAT) is short summary of a body of evidence on a topic. While more than one study is included in the creation of a CAT, a critically appraised topic is much less rigorous than a formal systematic review. UptoDate is an example of a resource that provides Critically Appraised topic.
A synopsis of an individual article is known as Critically Appraised Individual Topic (CAIT) or a Critically Appraised Paper (CAP).
Examples of where you can locate critically appraised papers include: the Evidence Based Journal series, the New England Journal of Medicine's Journal Watch service, OrthoEvidence, and the ACP Journal Club.
- OrthoEvidence This link opens in a new windowOrthoEvidence provides orthopedic-only evidence-based summaries, pre-appraised by orthopedic medical experts. It utilizes a multi-step process based on the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons to review, evaluate and summarize research studies while including critical implications in its Advanced Clinical Evidence (ACE) Report.
- ACP Journal Club "ACP Journal Club summarizes the best new evidence for internal medicine from over 120 clinical journals. Once a bimonthly stand-alone journal, ACP Journal Club is a monthly feature of Annals of Internal Medicine. Research staff and clinical editors rigorously assess the scientific merit of the medical literature as it is published and a worldwide panel of over 5000 physicians assesses the clinical relevance and newsworthiness of rigorous studies."
- BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine Evidence-Based Medicine systematically searches a wide range of international medical journals applying strict criteria for the validity of research. Experts critically appraise the validity of the most clinically relevant articles and summarize them including commentary on their clinical applicability. EBM also publishes articles relevant to the study and practice of evidence-based medicine.
- NEJM Journal Watch Editors of Journal Watch survey >250 core medical journals in 12 specialties in order to provide expert clinical summaries of key articles.
- Evidence-Based Mental Health (BMJ) Evidence-Based Mental Health aims to engage psychiatrists and psychologists, particularly younger professionals, in the challenge of basing their practice on evidence. Published by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the British Psychological Society and BMJ the journal surveys a wide range of international medical journals, applying strict criteria for the quality and validity of research
Federated Search Engines
When you want to search a broader category of literature than just the journals, but you want to make sure your results are "evidence based" try TRIP.
- TRIP This link opens in a new windowTRIP is a free clinical search engine designed to allow users to find high-quality research evidence to support their practice and/or care. TRIP includes links to systematic reviews, EBM synopses, professional guidelines, controlled clinical trials, and "key primary research."