Quality assessment of reviewers' reports using a simple instrument.

Objective: To validate and test a simple instrument for assessing the quality of a review.

Methods: In this prospective observational study, the quality of 247 reviews of 119 original articles submitted to the Dutch Journal of Medicine was assessed using a 5-point scale that has been used for years by Obstetrics & Gynecology. Each review was assessed by three editors of the journal.