The first step in performing a Systematic Review is to develop your research question. The guidance provided on how to develop your research question for literature reviews will still apply here. The difference with a systematic review research question is that you must have a clearly defined question and consider what problem are you trying to address by conducting the review. The most important point is that you focus your question and design the question so that it is answerable by the research that you will be systematically examining.
Once you have developed your research question, it should not be changed once the review process has begun, as the review protocol needs to be formed around the question.
| Literature Review Question | Systematic Review Question |
|---|---|
| Can be broad; highlight only particular pieces of literature, or support a particular viewpoint. | Requires the question to be well-defined and focused so it is possible to answer. |
To help develop and focus your research question you may use one of the question frameworks below.
PICO questions can be useful in the health or social sciences. PICO stands for:
Additionally, the following are variations to the PICO framework:
PPAARE is a useful question framework for patient care:
Problem - Description of the problem related to the disease or condition
Patient - Description of the patient related to their demographics and risk factors
Action - Description of the action related to the patient’s diagnosis, diagnostic test, etiology, prognosis, treatment or therapy, harm, prevention, patient ed.
Alternative - Description of the alternative to the action when there is one. (Not required)
Results - Identify the patient’s result of the action to produce, improve, or reduce the outcome for the patient
Evidence - Identify the level of evidence available after searching
SPIDER is a useful question framework for qualitative evidence synthesis:
Sample - The group of participants, population, or patients being investigated. Qualitative research is not easy to generalize, which is why sample is preferred over patient.
Phenomenon of Interest - The reasons for behavior and decisions, rather than an intervention.
Design - The research method and study design used for the research, such as interview or survey.
Evaluation - The end result of the research or outcome measures.
Research type - The research type; Qualitative, quantitative and/or mixed methods.
SPICE is a particularly useful method in the social sciences. It stands for
CIMO is useful method in the social sciences or organisational context. It stands for
Once you have a reasonably well defined research question, it is important to check if your question has already been asked, or if there are other systematic reviews that are similar to that which you're preparing to do.
In the context of conducting a review, even if you do find one on your topic, it may be sufficiently out of date or you may find other defendable reasons to undertake a new or updated one. In addition, locating an existing systematic reviews may also provide a starting point for selecting a review topic, it may help you refocus your question, or redirect your research toward other gaps in the literature.
You may locate existing systematic reviews or protocols on the following resources:
