Evaluating Sources - SOAR - Student Opportunities for Academic Achievement Through Research Program - SOM Library at University of South Carolina School of Medicine

Critical Appraisal

How to Read a Paper
Trisha Greenhalgh's series of articles published in BMJ.
Evidence Based Medicine Tool Kit
A collection of critical appraisal tools from the Evidence Based Medicine Working Group.
Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Tools
Checklists for a variety of study types, including qualitative studies, case series, and many more.
Evidence-Based Medicine Worksheets
From Dartmouth Library. A wide range of worksheets, from asking the clinical question, appraising the evidence, and applying the evidence to the patient.
Critical Appraisals Skills Programme (CASP) Appraisal Checklists
Downloadable checklists for a variety of study types. CASP is an Oxford-based company that delivers critical appraisal workshops.

SAGE Research Methods This link opens in a new window
Provides a variety of material types, including books, reference works, case studies, videos, and journal articles, related to research methodology.

Study Designs
A brief guide to the different study types and a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages. From the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine.

Identifying Highly Cited Articles

Web of Science

Run a search in Web of Science.
Sort results by Citations - highest first.

Google Scholar

Run a search in Google Scholar.
You can't sort by times cited, but you can see "Cited By" totals by each citation.

Follow these steps to link to UofSC full text articles:
- Go to Google Scholar.
- Select the Menu icon (3 horizontal bars) in the upper left corner.
- Select Settings.
- Select Library links.
- Search for UofSC then select the checkbox for UofSC University Libraries - ViewIt@UofSC.
- Click Save.

After you run a search in Google Scholar, look for links on the right sidebar for ViewIt@UofSC.

Evaluating Journals

Journal Citation Reports

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
A directory of open access journals that meet quality control standards, including peer-review.