…the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The practice of evidence based medicine means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research.
Sackett, D. L., Rosenberg, W. M., Gray, J. A., Haynes, R. B., & Richardson, W. S. (1996). Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn't. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 312(7023), 71–72. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.312.7023.71.
What is Evidence?
In the context of a literature review, class paper, thesis, or dissertation, "evidence" can refer to a wide array of sources. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines evidence as:
David Sackett, widely considered one of the fathers of evidence-based medicine, called on the clinical community to use the best available evidence in decision-making. Different types of studies or trials may answer different types of questions. See more about evidence hierarchies and levels of evidence in the Evidence Appraisal section.
This excellent overview from VCU Libraries runs 13:21 and covers many aspects of evidence-based practice, including what it is, why it's important, where to look for evidence, and how to evaluate and appraise study design.
This video, from Sketchy EBM, runs 3:58 and gives a thorough overview of evidence-based medicine and its benefits and challenges.
Where to Look and What to Look For
Searching for Evidence
Searching for evidence in a bibliographic literature database is a balance of trial and error, intuition, and practice. If you take the time to start off right, keep an open mind, and follow the appropriate steps, you’re bound to find success. Use the ABCDE Research Inquiry Framework (Price, et al., 2020) to approach literature searching in an effective and reproducible manner.
Price, C., Kudchadkar, S. R., Basyal, P. S., Nelliot, A., Smith, M., Friedman, M., & Needham, D. M. (2020). Librarian integration into health care conferences: a case report. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 108(2), 278. https://dx.doi.org/10.5195%2Fjmla.2020.803.
Looking for quality research evidence can be different than a typical literature search. This short video walks you through where to look and what to look for.
