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The general purpose of Evidence-Based Nursing is to select from the health-related literature those articles reporting studies and reviews that warrant immediate attention by nurses attempting to keep pace with important advances in their profession. These articles are summarised in “value added” abstracts and commented on by nurses. The specific purposes of Evidence-Based Nursing are
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to identify, using predefined criteria, the best quantitative and qualitative original and review articles on the meaning, cause, course, assessment, prevention, treatment, or economics of health problems managed by nurses and on quality improvement
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to summarise this literature in the form of “structured abstracts” that describe the question, methods, results, and evidence-based conclusions of studies in a reproducible and accurate fashion
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to provide brief, highly expert comment on the context of each article, its methods, and the clinical applications that its findings warrant
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to disseminate the summaries in a timely fashion to nurses
The RCN Publishing Company Limited and the BMJ Publishing Group publish Evidence-Based Nursing under the editorship of Dr Donna Ciliska at McMaster University in Canada, Dr Andrew Jull at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and Dr Carl Thompson at the University of York in the UK. The Health Information Research Unit (HIRU) of the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University hosts the editorial office for the production of the abstracts and commissioning of commentaries. Dr Brian Haynes acts as coordinating editor to ensure that methods and procedures are consistent with other evidence-based journals prepared by HIRU.
Criteria for selection and review of articles for abstracting
All articles in a journal issue are considered for abstracting if they meet the following basic and category-specific criteria:
Basic criteria
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original or review articles
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in English
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quantitative and qualitative studies
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about topics that are important to the clinical practice of nurses in any setting
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analysis of data consistent with the study question
Category-specific criteria (quantitative studies)
Studies of prevention or treatment must also include:
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random allocation of participants to comparison groups
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follow-up (end-point assessment) of ⩾80% of those entering the investigation
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outcome measures of known or probable clinical importance
Studies of assessment (screening or diagnosis) must also include:
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a spectrum of participants, some (but not all) of whom have the condition of interest
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an objective diagnostic (gold) standard (eg, central venous pressure) or current clinical standard for diagnosis (eg, sphygmomanometer reading for hypertension), preferably with documentation of reproducible criteria for subjectively interpreted diagnostic standard (ie, report of statistically significant measure of agreement beyond chance among observers)
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interpretation of the diagnostic standard without knowledge of test result
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interpretation of the test without knowledge of diagnostic standard result
Studies of prognosis must also include:
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an inception cohort (first onset or assembled at a uniform point in the development of a condition or disease) of individuals, all initially free of the outcome of interest
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follow-up of ⩾80% of participants until a major study endpoint occurs or the study ends
Studies of causation must also include:
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observations of the relation between modifiable exposures and putative clinical outcomes
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prospective data collection with clearly identified comparison group(s) for those at risk of, or having, the outcome of interest (ie, randomised controlled trials, quasi-randomised controlled trials, non-randomised controlled trials, cohort studies with case by case matching or statistical adjustment to create comparable groups, or nested case–control studies)
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blinding (masking) of observers of outcome to exposure; criterion assumed to be met if outcome is objective (eg, all-cause mortality)
Studies of quality improvement or continuing education must also include:
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random allocation of participants or units to comparison groups
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follow-up of ⩾80% of participants
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outcome measures of known or probable clinical importance
Studies of the economics of healthcare interventions must include:
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an economic question comparing alternative courses of action
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comparison of alternative diagnostic or therapeutic services or quality improvement activities on the basis of both the outcomes produced (effectiveness) and resources consumed (costs)
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evidence of effectiveness from a study (or studies) of real (not hypothetical) patients, which meet(s) the criteria for treatment, assessment, quality improvement, or a systematic review article
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results presented in terms of the incremental or additional costs and outcomes of one intervention over another
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a sensitivity analysis if there is uncertainty in the estimates or imprecision in the measurement
Clinical prediction guides must also include:
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generation of the guide in ⩾1 set of patients (training or derivation set)
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validation of the guide in an independent set of patients (test or validation set)
Systematic review articles must also include:
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a clear statement of the clinical topic being reviewed
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a clear description of the sources and methods for identifying articles
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specification of the inclusion and exclusion criteria for selecting articles for detailed review
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⩾1 article in the review that meets the above noted criteria for treatment, assessment, prognosis, causation, quality improvement, economics, or clinical prediction guides
Qualitative studies
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content reflects the phenomenon of interest from the perspective of people experiencing it
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data collection methods are appropriate for qualitative data
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analyses are appropriate for qualitative data
These criteria are subject to modification if, for example, it becomes feasible to apply higher standards that increase the validity and applicability of studies for clinical practice. The objective of Evidence-Based Nursing is to abstract only the very best literature, consistent with a reasonable number of articles “making it through the filter.”
Articles meeting the criteria set out above are abstracted according to the procedure for more informative abstracts,1 with the following modifications: abstracts are approximately 400 words in length; and each abstract is reviewed by an expert in the content area covered by the article. This expert writes a commentary in which she or he compares the study findings to previous research findings, identifies any important methodological problems that affect interpretation of the study results, and offers recommendations for clinical application. The author of the original article is given an opportunity to review the abstract and commentary before publication.
On an quarterly basis, we will publish to the Evidence-Based Nursing website (www.evidencebasednursing.com) a selected list of articles that passed all criteria but were not abstracted because, in the judgment of the editors, their findings were less applicable to general nursing practice, the topic was of interest to only a select group of nurse specialists, or the topic was recently addressed in another abstract.
Journals currently reviewed*
Acad Emerg Med
Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand
Acta Orthop
Age Ageing
Aliment Pharmacol Ther
Am J Cardiol
Am J Clin Nutr
Am J Epidemiol
Am J Gastroenterol
Am J Kidney Dis
Am J Med
Am J Obstet Gynecol
Am J Occup Ther
Am J Psychiatry
Am J Public Health
Am J Respir Crit Care Med
Am J Sports Med
Anesth Analg
Anesthesiology
Ann Allerg Asthma Immunol
Ann Emerg Med
Ann Fam Med
Ann Intern Med
Ann Neurol
Ann Rheum Dis
Ann Surg
ANS Adv Nurs Sci
Appl Nurs Res
Arch Dermatol
Arch Dis Child
Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed
Arch Gen Psychiatry
Arch Intern Med
Arch Neurol
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med
Arch Phys Med Rehabil
Arch Surg
Arthritis Rheum
Arthritis Rheum: Arthritis Care Res
Arthroscopy
Aust J Physiother
Birth
BJOG
BMJ
Br J Gen Pract
Br J Psychiatry
Br J Surg
Can J Anaesth
Can J Gastroenterol
Can J Nurs Res
Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH)
Cancer Nurs
Cephalalgia
Chest
Circulation
Clin Chem
Clin J Am Soc Nephrol
Clin J Pain
Clin Orthop Rel Res
Clin Rehab
CMAJ
Cochrane Database Syst Rev
Crit Care Med
Diabet Med
Diabetes Care
Diabetes Obes Metab
Eur Heart J
Evid Rep Technol Assess (Summ)
Fam Pract
Foot Ankle Int
Gastroenterology
Gut
Headache
Health Educ Behav
Health Psychol
Health Technol Assess
Heart
Heart Lung
Int J Clin Pract
Int J Nurs Stud
Int J Obes (Lond)
J Adv Nurs
J Allerg Clin Immunol
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
J Am Acad Dermatol
J Am Coll Cardiol
J Am Coll Surg
J Am Diet Assoc
J Am Geriatr Soc
J Am Soc Nephrol
J Arthroplasty
J Bone Joint Surg Am
J Bone Joint Surg Br
J Child Psychol Psychiatry
J Clin Epidemiol
J Clin Nurs
J Clin Oncol
J Clin Psychopharmacol
J Consult Clin Psychol
J Fam Pract
J Gen Intern Med
J Hand Surg [Am]
J Hand Surg Eur Vol
J Infect Dis
J Manipulative Physiol Ther
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry
J Neurosurg
J Nurs Scholarsh
J Orthop Trauma
J Pediatr
J Pediatr Oncol Nurs
J Pediatric Orthop
J Rheumatol
J Shoulder Elbow Surg
J Trauma
J Vasc Surg
JAMA
Kidney Int
Lancet
Lancet Neurol
Lancet Oncology
Mayo Clin Proc
Med Care
Med J Aust
Midwifery
N Engl J Med
Neurology
Nurs Res
Nutr J
Obesity (Silver Spring)
Obesity Surgery
Obstet Gynecol
Oncol Nurs Forum
Pain
Patient Educ Couns
Pediatrics
Pharmacotherapy
Phys Ther
Prev Med
Psychosom Med
Qual Health Res
Radiology
Res Nurs Health
Rheumatology (Oxford)
Soc Sci Med
Spine
Spine J
Stroke
Thorax
West J Nurs Res