Dear ResearchGate Community,
We are currently facing a pivotal stage in revising our manuscript for submission to a prestigious journal in the fields of pharmaceutics and ophthalmology. Our article is a systematic review of observational studies, encompassing diverse study designs such as case-control, quasi-experimental studies, case series, and case reports. During the revise before peer review stage, the editor has requested that we provide a risk of bias assessment in our manuscript.
We have already conducted a qualitative assessment using JBI Checklists; however, we are unsure how to address the editor's request for a risk of bias assessment specifically tailored to the included article types. Are there specific risk-of-bias tools available for these diverse study designs? How should we approach integrating a risk of bias assessment into our systematic review effectively?
Any insights or guidance on how to respond to the editor's request and incorporate a robust risk of bias assessment into our manuscript would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your expertise and assistance.
Hello there are several tools for the Risk Of bias assessment, you can check this article: Article 10 Steps to Conduct a Systematic Review
There are specific Tools for each type of study.
I would see 'risk of bias' assessment and 'quality' assessment as largely synonymous, although there are potentially subtle differences by implication. Risk of bias assessments tend to focus more directly on the methods of the underlying research (and therefore the potential that results are biased), using the published paper as a source of data to inform that assessment. Quality assessment tends to also consider the quality of the publication itself, but there is no absolute distinction between the two. I can see no merit in doing both and recommend that you select the most rigorous tool for the job. In general, this is likely to be a 'risk of bias assessment' because there has been a movement towards recognizing more clearly that this is the core issue. You have already assessed using the JBI tool and that might be enough, but I would recommend the ROBINS-I tool if your review is of intervention studies (https://methods.cochrane.org/bias/risk-bias-non-randomized-studies-interventions)
'Risk of bias assessment' (RoB) and 'Quality assessment' may seem similar, but their aims differ. Most studies only conduct one assessment; in my experience, only one meta-analysis used both assessments simultaneously.
If there is no meta-analysis in your study, I see no need for the RoB. You have already conducted a quality assessment, which seems to be enough. ROBINS-I is designed for non-RCT studies and seems a reasonable tool for RoB of included studies in your review.
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