INTRODUCING LEVELS OF EVIDENCE TO THE JOURNAL

Orthopaedic surgeons have always based their clinical care on evidence. Surgeons use evidence to make decisions tailored to an individual patient's needs and circumstances. The primary sources of evidence for clinicians are studies published in the medical and surgical literature, such as The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. In June 2000, The Journal introduced the quarterly Evidence-Based Orthopaedics section 1. This section introduces orthopaedic surgeons to recent randomized trials relevant to the practice of orthopaedic surgery published in forty-two journals other than The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Structured abstracts of these studies are published along with solicited commentaries to place…