What does the triangle mean?

Some users have noticed a little “triangle” to the right of each piece of evidence returned in a search and have wondered what these means. These are circled in red in the screenshot below:

 

In evidence-based practice it is common to represent the probable quality of the evidence using a pyramid, as shown in the picture below, where, the higher up the pyramid, the better the quality of information. So items 8 and 10 look like they will probably be systematic reviews, while item 9 is a primary study. It is important to think about the quality of any study design you use and consider whether the methods are valid so you can judge whetther the results are likely to be trustworthy or not.

Picture taken from Walden University, where you can learn more about the pyramid of evidence.

 

Author: bestevidence-editor

29 / 09 / 20