Part of the Cochrane Interactive Learning course on Conducting an Intervention Review, this module explains what bias is, and why and how to assess risk of bias. In this module you will learn about the difference between study quality and risk of bias, and how to assess the range of sources of bias in randomized trials.
The next step in the process is to assess the quality of the included studies. There are a number of checklists available to assist you with this. A checklist should be chosen to assess sources of bias that are likely to affect results in relation to the research question . If your review is for publication or submission to a particular organisation, make sure you check if they have any requirements regarding checklist selection.
There are several different checklists or tools available to you:
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At a minimum, your systematic review should state what types of studies should be included and the threshold for inclusion to reduce the likelihood of including studies with poor quality evidence. A risk of bias assessment also helps to inform the interpretation of the review's results.
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