O&G · Professional practice — Scholar role, research literacy and evidence-based practice
Research literacy and the Scholar role
Also known as The Scholar role · Research and the FRANZCOG · Evidence-based practice in O&G · Critical appraisal · Biostatistics for FRANZCOG · Research ethics
FRANZCOG reference on research literacy: the definition of evidence based medicine, appraisal tools by design (RoB 2, ROBINS-I, AMSTAR 2), reporting guidelines (PRISMA 2020, CONSORT 2010), GRADE certainty, effect measures and the NNT with the WOMAN and ASPRE trials as worked examples, P values and confidence intervals, diagnostic accuracy, and the NHMRC ethics framework.
Checked against its sources on 23 Oct 2026
Practise this topic
On this page
Study tools
Your progress
Saved on this device.
Target exams
Red flags
- Reading an odds ratio as a risk ratio when events are common overestimates the intervention effect
- Treating P above 0.05 as proof of no effect; a large P value does not mean the test hypothesis is true
- Relying on a systematic review that AMSTAR 2 rates critically low; it should not be relied on to summarise the evidence
Scenario
Your supervisor hands you a trial abstract on a ward round and asks three things: is the result believable, how large is the effect for the woman in front of you, and how confident should the unit be in changing practice? This topic gives you a structured way to answer each question.
References18ShowHide
- [1]Sackett DL, Rosenberg WM, Gray JA, et al. Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn't. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 1996.PMID 8555924
- [2]Page MJ, McKenzie JE, Bossuyt PM, et al. The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2021.PMID 33782057
- [3]Sterne JA, Hernán MA, Reeves BC, et al. ROBINS-I: a tool for assessing risk of bias in non-randomised studies of interventions. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2016.PMID 27733354
- [4]Shea BJ, Reeves BC, Wells G, et al. AMSTAR 2: a critical appraisal tool for systematic reviews that include randomised or non-randomised studies of healthcare interventions, or both. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2017.PMID 28935701
- [5]Guyatt GH, Oxman AD, Vist GE, et al. GRADE: an emerging consensus on rating quality of evidence and strength of recommendations. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2008.PMID 18436948
- [6]Schulz KF, Altman DG, Moher D, et al. CONSORT 2010 statement: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2010.PMID 20332509
- [7]Ioannidis JP Why most published research findings are false. PLoS medicine, 2005.PMID 16060722
- [8]Cook RJ, Sackett DL The number needed to treat: a clinically useful measure of treatment effect. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 1995.PMID 7873954
- [9]Greenland S, Senn SJ, Rothman KJ, et al. Statistical tests, P values, confidence intervals, and power: a guide to misinterpretations. European journal of epidemiology, 2016.PMID 27209009
- [10]Trevethan R Sensitivity, Specificity, and Predictive Values: Foundations, Pliabilities, and Pitfalls in Research and Practice. Frontiers in public health, 2017.PMID 29209603
- [11]WOMAN Trial Collaborators Effect of early tranexamic acid administration on mortality, hysterectomy, and other morbidities in women with post-partum haemorrhage (WOMAN): an international, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet (London, England), 2017.PMID 28456509
- [12]Rolnik DL, Wright D, Poon LC, et al. Aspirin versus Placebo in Pregnancies at High Risk for Preterm Preeclampsia. The New England journal of medicine, 2017.PMID 28657417
- [13]Higgins JP, Savović J, Page MJ, Elbers RG, Sterne JAC Chapter 8: Assessing risk of bias in a randomized trial. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions version 6.5 Cochrane, 2024.Source
- [14]Schünemann HJ, Higgins JP, Vist GE, Glasziou P, Akl EA, Skoetz N, Guyatt GH Chapter 14: Completing 'Summary of findings' tables and grading the certainty of the evidence. Cochrane Handbook version 6.5 Cochrane, 2024.Source
- [15]Higgins JP, Li T, Deeks JJ (editors) Chapter 6: Choosing effect measures and computing estimates of effect. Cochrane Handbook version 6.5 Cochrane, 2024.Source
- [16]Schünemann HJ, Vist GE, Higgins JP, Santesso N, Deeks JJ, Glasziou P, Akl EA, Guyatt GH Chapter 15: Interpreting results and drawing conclusions. Cochrane Handbook version 6.5 Cochrane, 2024.Source
- [17]National Health and Medical Research Council National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research NHMRC, 2026.Source
- [18]National Health and Medical Research Council Ethical considerations in quality assurance and evaluation activities NHMRC, 2014.Source