title: Formulating a researchable question: A critical step for facilitating good clinical research.
abstract: Developing a researchable question is one of the challenging tasks a researcher encounters when initiating a project. Both, unanswered issues in current clinical practice or when experiences dictate alternative therapies may provoke an investigator to formulate a clinical research question. This article will assist researchers by providing step-by-step guidance on the formulation of a research question. This paper also describes PICO (population, intervention, control, and outcomes) criteria in framing a research question. Finally, we also assess the characteristics of a research question in the context of initiating a research project.
authors.affiliation: Clinical and Translational Science Institute and Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Sadaf
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aslam
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Emmanuel