How to Read a Paper: The Basics of Evidence Based Medicine

Reviewer: Terrence T. Shaneyfelt, MD (University of Alabama at Birmingham)Description: The book sequentially outlines the steps in finding, reading, and using a research paper.Purpose: To help the reader find, read, and interpret medical research papers is the purpose of the book.Audience: Clinicians, nurses, medical educators, healthcare researchers are the audience.Features: A chapter is devoted to understanding the basics of searching the Medline and Cochrane databases. Other chapters are devoted to understanding different types of research reports, from randomized trials to meta-analyses to cost-effectiveness analyses.Assessment: The strength of this book lies in its sensible description of each topic. Persons with no prior knowledge will easily develop a sound understanding of evidence-based practice techniques. The chapters on statistics and searching the literature are particularly well written and present the concepts in an easy-to-understand format. The book is also well referenced.