At a time when we not only need to base our practice on best evidence but also to carry out research to strengthen the evidence base of practice and policy, the ability to evaluate the originality, relevance, trustworthiness, and importance of published research is more important than ever. With this issue of the BJGP we are pleased to announce the launch of Critical Reading for Primary Care, a resource available online, that provides advice and guidance on reading, appraising, and evaluating the quality of research articles. Critical reading is, I beLieve, a very important skill in primary care, and an ability required by many readers. Clinicians, in training and in practice, must be able to evaluate the quality of new research and its relevance to their clinical practice, including primary research articles and also systematic reviews and meta-analyses aimed at distilling the evidence for changing practice. Evidence of appropriate reading and the implementation of published research may become more important as revalidation approaches. For researchers, the skills of critical appraisal are essential to understand the significance of research in their field, support their own article writing, and to evaluate the quality of published articles in peer-reviewed journals.
展开▼
