Evidence Synthesis, Systematic Review Services : Risk of Bias Assessment

Your research team will conduct its risk of bias assessment, also referred to as "critical appraisal" or "quality assessment", on each research study that the team selects for its review. This is a process for recognizing the likelihood for bias and discussing the limitations of the evidence and how that may manifest in a study's methodology, missing data, or how outcomes are measured or selectively reported, among other variables.

Several checklist tools have been developed to guide this process. These should be determined in advance (a priori) and disclosed in the team's protocol. Again, and similarly to the initial screening process, two to three team members will conduct the risk-of-bias assessment. The level of this assessment and its reporting is determined by review methodology (a hallmark of systematic reviews, for instance, but not necessarily other evidence synthesis review types).

When reported in the team's review manuscript, the risk of bias assessment may be depicted by a table or graph, showing how well each included study satisfies selected, predetermined criteria. For an example, see the introductory content to the robvis application.