Who will appraise the appraisers?—The paper, the instrument and the user

Abstract

How confident can we be aboutthe reliability and robustness of the process ofcritical appraisal? The misconception persists thatcritical appraisal yields some universal truth—inshort, that the outcome is all (i.e. is this a good orbad paper?; how can I apply these results?). In factmany who encounter critical appraisal for the firsttime feel slightly cheated in that they expect todiscover answers—42, life, the universe and every-thing.