Systematic reviews: importance of assessing quality of studies in the review process and tools to be used

Systematic Reviews (SRs) are considered as a useful tool to be adopted in the approaches of Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) in Social Sciences & Humanities, and more widely in Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) in Healthcare. In these processes of EBM and EBP, where ‘informed decision making’ based on the ‘best evidence’ is the key factor, Systematic Reviews are found to be an important source of information. The methodology of conducting a systematic review, involves several steps where Assessing Quality of the studies that are selected to include in the review is one of the most important steps, as it is the vital element which determines the validity and the creditability of the end product or the conclusion of a systematic review. Therefore, in SRs where assessing quality is not included in the procedure, the validity of the findings of the SR will be questionable. The quality of a research study can be evaluated through various facts and measures. This paper attempts to emphasize on the importance of quality appraisal of the studies in a systematic review and identifies the tools /standards that could be used for the purpose in the SR process.