A computer program for ranking analytical methods according to their fitness for purpose

A program for conducting automatic searches for analytical methods, selecting the most suitable ones according to quality requirements, and ranking them based on quality indices calculated from various pre-selected quality parameters is proposed. The program uses an externally updated database (Analytical Abstracts CD-ROMs or other) and customised quality schemes based on accuracy, precision, sensitivity, applicability to real samples, determination range (ratio), throughput and impact factor (from the Citation Index). It can, therefore, be used for a variety of purposes in analytical chemistry.