The purpose of a systematic review is to answer a specific research question. Research question frameworks, such as PICO, can help you to focus and develop the research question as well as identify the primary search terms.
| PICO | Elements | Considerations |
| P | Patients/Populations/Problems | Demographics, Problem Type, Diagnosis |
| I | Intervention/Exposure | Therapeutic, Preventative, Diagnostic, Time, Exposure |
| C | Control/Comparison | Placebo, Standard of Care, Preventative Measures, Not Applicable |
| O | Outcome Measure | Mortality Rate, Measure of Test, Rate of Disease Progression, Resolution |
When formatting your question using the PICO format, consider:
Additional clinical question frameworks:
PEO = Population, Exposure, Outcome
PIE = Population, Intervention, Effect
FINER = Feasibility, Interesting, Novel, Ethical, Relevant
SPICE = Setting, Perspective, Intervention, Comparison, Evaluation
SPIDER = Sample, Phenomena of Interest, Design, Evaluation, Research Type
For assistance with question development, please contact the librarians: libmo@atsu.edu or libaz@atsu.edu
What are exemplar articles?
Exemplar articles provide a foundational example of the type of studies to be included within the systematic review. These articles meet the eligibility criteria and answer the research question.
Why are exemplar articles required?
These types of articles provide the guidance for the search strategy development and the screening process.
How do I acquire exemplar articles?
Exemplar articles can be acquired through literature review. Check out some of the tools listed in the next tab.
*Note: Alternate terms for "exemplar" articles are preliminary or example articles.
When you are first refining your research topic and looking at the literature, you will most likely come across articles of interest that you know should be included in your review. These are referred to as exemplar articles. Exemplar articles can be used to test your search strategy and ensure that your search strategy is retrieving the kinds of literature you want to include in the review. In addition, citation chasing from exemplar articles is a great way to identify additional relevant literature. See below for some tools that can take advantage of your exemplar articles.