Biomaterial Database

Making sense of research: A guide for critiquing a paper. 2002

Lynette Stockhausen, and Moya Conrick

School of Nursing, Griffith University, Meadowbrook, Queensland.

Learning how to critique research articles is one of the fundamental skills of scholarship in any discipline. The range, quantity and quality of publications available today via print, electronic and Internet databases means it has become essential to equip students and practitioners with the prerequisites to judge the integrity and usefulness of published research. Finding, understanding and critiquing quality articles can be a difficult process. This article sets out some helpful indicators to assist the novice to make sense of research.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007600	Judgment	The process of discovering or asserting an objective or intrinsic relation between two objects or concepts; a faculty or power that enables a person to make judgments; the process of bringing to light and asserting the implicit meaning of a concept; a critical evaluation of a person or situation.	Judgement,Judgements,Judgments
D009729	Nursing	The field of nursing care concerned with the promotion, maintenance, and restoration of health.	Nursings
D012106	Research	Critical and exhaustive investigation or experimentation, having for its aim the discovery of new facts and their correct interpretation, the revision of accepted conclusions, theories, or laws in the light of newly discovered facts, or the practical application of such new or revised conclusions, theories, or laws. (Webster, 3d ed)	Research Priorities,Laboratory Research,Research Activities,Research and Development,Activities, Research,Activity, Research,Development and Research,Priorities, Research,Priority, Research,Research Activity,Research Priority,Research, Laboratory
D012107	Research Design	A plan for collecting and utilizing data so that desired information can be obtained with sufficient precision or so that an hypothesis can be tested properly.	Experimental Design,Data Adjustment,Data Reporting,Design, Experimental,Designs, Experimental,Error Sources,Experimental Designs,Matched Groups,Methodology, Research,Problem Formulation,Research Methodology,Research Proposal,Research Strategy,Research Technics,Research Techniques,Scoring Methods,Adjustment, Data,Adjustments, Data,Data Adjustments,Design, Research,Designs, Research,Error Source,Formulation, Problem,Formulations, Problem,Group, Matched,Groups, Matched,Matched Group,Method, Scoring,Methods, Scoring,Problem Formulations,Proposal, Research,Proposals, Research,Reporting, Data,Research Designs,Research Proposals,Research Strategies,Research Technic,Research Technique,Scoring Method,Source, Error,Sources, Error,Strategies, Research,Strategy, Research,Technic, Research,Technics, Research,Technique, Research,Techniques, Research
D003627	Data Interpretation, Statistical	Application of statistical procedures to analyze specific observed or assumed facts from a particular study.	Data Analysis, Statistical,Data Interpretations, Statistical,Interpretation, Statistical Data,Statistical Data Analysis,Statistical Data Interpretation,Analyses, Statistical Data,Analysis, Statistical Data,Data Analyses, Statistical,Interpretations, Statistical Data,Statistical Data Analyses,Statistical Data Interpretations
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012196	Review Literature as Topic	Works about published materials which provide an examination of recent or current literature. These articles can cover a wide range of subject matter at various levels of completeness and comprehensiveness based on analyses of literature that may include research findings. The review may reflect the state of the art and may also include reviews as a literary form.	State-of-the-Art Review,State-of-the-Art Reviews,Review, State-of-the-Art,Reviews, State-of-the-Art,State of the Art Review,State of the Art Reviews