Be mindful and don’t take things at face value

“Peer reviewed!”

“Peer-reviewed” and published studies may not be fair comparisons.

Even though a comparison of treatments – whether in a single study or in a summary of similar studies (a ‘review’) – has been published in a well-known journal, it may not be a fair comparison (or a systematic review), and the results may not be trustworthy.

“Peer review” (assessment of the quality of a study or a review of studies by others working in the same field) does not guarantee that published studies or reviews are trustworthy. Assessments vary and may not be systematic. Similarly, just because a study is widely publicised does not mean that it is trustworthy.

BEWARE of treatment claims based on where they are reported or how widely publicised they are alone.

REMEMBER: Just because single studies or summaries of similar studies are peer-reviewed and published, you cannot be sure that they are fair comparisons or systematic reviews.