Limitations
MINOR
A Hawthorne effect may have influenced the participants’ search behavior in both groups, prompting them to look for the very best evidence in the trial setting. Because of the web-based format, they were, however, not directly observed, and therefore this effect probably plays a minor role.Raters and participants were not blinded. Because the type of information sources the users were allowed to use was predefined, blinding was not possible. To minimize subjective evaluation, a quantitative approach for the quality evaluation with objective criteria was chosen to ascertain a robust rating performance.Only 2 OTC-relevant indications were chosen for the search task (Table S1 in The exclusion of tertiary print literature was due to technical difficulties when conducting the web-based survey. However, electronic information sources are frequently used among pharmacists nowadays, especially for the verification of health-related claims.The rating scheme was not validated before the survey was conducted; hence extensive pretests and pilot tests were performed.