Obviously, it is not enough to simply find an article. We must understand what the article can and cannot
tell us, and whether it is indeed relevant to our question. This process is called
Critical Appraisal of
the Medical Literature (CAMeL). Every appraisal contains the following steps:
- CAMeL General Steps
- Formulate and write down a specific question as described above.
- Find the best evidence. (See Section III)
- State the research objective of the articles or evidence that you find.
- Characterize the article itself by identifying the:
- Source: *Primary (Original Research) or *Secondary (Review, *Structured Review, *Metaanalysis)
- Research Design: Descriptive, *Case-Control, *Cohort, *Randomized Controlled Trial, Review
- Journal type
- Authors
- Sites
- Patients
- Specific Description of the Methods, Protocol, and Statistics of the Study
- End points
- Results
- Authors' conclusions
- Critically appraise the article by using the specific protocols defined below.
- Find editorials and letters related to the article.
- Define for yourself what the work tells you and how it can be applied.
- Think about how to design the "ideal" study to answer this question.
