Ranking Articles by Strength of Evidence

Evaluating Evidence Strength of a Nutrition News Article

Directions for the exercise:

1. Skim this Politico article:  Biden asks food makers to crack down on salt

2. Find the link in the Politico article about the guidance that sets voluntary sodium limits

3. Find the first reference in the Government Guidance

3. Find the full text PDF of the study by searching the Cornell Library Website "Articles & Full Text" search, or by searching PubMed via the Cornell Library Website. 

4. Read the article, and consider the following discussion questions: 

  • Is this an empirical study or a review article? How can you tell? 
  • How credible is this article? Consider honesty (disclosure of funding, transparency of methods, and scan for potential biases) and expertise (author credentials, reputability of the source, and number of citations).