Start with a Plan

Beginning a literature search can sometimes feel overwhelming. One of the best things you can do to build an effective search is to spend some time developing a clear and concise research question. This practice will help you focus on the most important parts of your question and to provide the database with search terms it can understand.

Depending on a researcher's goals, there are several models or frameworks available to help in structuring a research question. There are at least 25 of these different tools, which are typically expressed in mnemonics. Not any one is superior to another or mandatory to use. It is all dependent on the nature of the research question, if qualitative or quantitative data is needed, and what works best for a project as a whole.

Developing a Clinical Question with PICO

When looking at topics that surround clinical interventions, PICO is a mnemonic that helps organize a case scenario or research topic into a focused clinical research question. PICO stands for: Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome.

Developing a Non-Clinical Question

Not every question will be clinical in nature. Some questions focus on patient or provider experiences, exploring phenomenon, or exposures.

PICo

Often articulated as PIC-little o, PICo allows for a researcher to be as broad or specific as necessary. It examines a particular population or problem, interest within the population or problem, and the context surrounding the population or problem.