A comment-driven evidence appraisal approach to promoting research findings into practice when only uncertain evidence is available

Table 1 Categories of comment topics

First-level topics	Second-level topics
	Study design
	Population
	Data
	Intervention
	Models
Methodology	Outcomes
	Results
	Analysis
	Explanation
	Generalizability
	No specific illustration (i.e. a few methodological limitations existed)
Clinical themes
Biology	Biological mechanisms
Biology	Genetic issues
Diagnosis	Diagnostic inconsistency
Diagnosis	Diagnostic difficulty
Treatment and drug	Alternative treatment
	Dosage issues
	Drug interactions
	Safety concerns
Medical evidence	Evidence integration
	Clinical evidence integration
	Clinical evidence-related
	Clinical practice-related
	Future studies needed to verify results
Other clinical issues	Animal model
	Ethical issues
	Evidence-based medicine
	Ignored comment point
	Implications
	Just mentioned
Other	Misinterpretation by readers
	Propose a new hypothesis
	Reference being retracted
	Infusion of politics into science
	Updated version

ISSN: 1478-4505