Dr Hidayathulla Shaikh

Objectives At the end of the lecture student should be able to – Define journal club Mention types Discuss critical evaluation

Introduction The medical literature is continually expanding and concepts, ideas, beliefs in the field of medical and dental sciences are undergoing rapid transformation. Its necessary for academicians, practitioners, students and researchers to keep up with vast amount of information available. The journal club provides a platform to update with literature and also offers an opportunity to learn methods of critically evaluating journal articles.

What is a journal ? It is a periodical, aimed at a particular subject. It differs from a magazine in several ways The journals are for specialists and are Witten by academicians/clinicians/researchers and not by journalists Journals are more prestigious than magazines.

Why do we read journals To get updated with professional news To understand patho biology To understand how to clinically handle a particular problem To find whether to use a new or existing diagnostic test on patient To determine etiology and is cause To find out the needs of health care, use of health care and quality of clinical intervention in community.

Different types of scientific writing 1) Original article – a new piece of knowledge 2) Case report – a single event that could lead to a new piece of event. 3) Review article – knowledge other have laid claim to (collection and compilation of others work) 4) Editorial – what I think of a piece of knowledge that someone else is claiming.

Classification of scientific papers 1) data driven paper 2) tutorial paper 3) method mongering papers 4) conscious raising paper 5) theoretical papers 6) review papers 1) Data driven Papers  These papers concentrate on describing and discussing the data reported in the paper.  Ex – papers reporting the results of survey or formal experiments.

2) Tutorial papers  These papers describe a method and explain how to use it. 3) Method mongering papers  These papers describe a method, usually with the aim of suggesting that it should be widely used. 4) Consciousness raising papers  They are intended to raise awareness of issues which have not previously received sufficient attention in the field of research.

5) Theoretical papers  They discuss theoretical issues and are highly influential. These papers are typically written by the authorities in the field. 6) Review papers  It is surveying of all main papers and many minor papers written on specific topic or issues.  The author picks up all such articles by detailed survey for assessment and summarization.

Definition A journal club is a group of individuals, who meet regularly to critically read, understand and evaluate recent articles published in medical or dental literature.

Types of journal club 1) Journal clubs aimed at updating knowledge related to a field of interest 2) Journal club aimed at updating clinical practice 3) Journal clubs which aim at teaching and learning critical appraisal techniques with evidence based medicine and dentistry. 4) Problem based journal club.

The art and science of critical evaluation The word “Critical” in research science is used in different meaning. In research critical reading, thinking and assessment refers to a considered and justified examination of what others have written or said regarding a topic. Critical evaluation involves two components 1) Critical appraisal 2) Critical reflection

Critical appraisal involves the assessment of the science and the quality of study under scrutiny, its design, methods and analysis. Critical reflection deals with the implication of study for the world outside on a larger scale.

How to Critical evaluation of a scientific paper 1) Prologue 2) About the article 3) About the journal 4) Peer review 5) About the authors 6) Title of the articles 7) Abstract 8) Key words 9) Introduction 10) Methodology 11) Results 12) Discussion 13) Summary and conclusion 14) References