The objective is the rationale behind why this review should be conducted. What are you trying to understand about the topic you’re reviewing?
Example Objective from Kelmendi and Hamby (2022)
“...there is a need to understand positive adaption and resilience in cultures outside North America and Western Europe, where much resilience and trauma research has been conducted [rationale]. Therefore, this scoping review examines the existing empirical evidence on trauma and resilience in southeastern European countries, with a particular focus on Kosovo [aim].”
PICO is likely the most well-used and widely known framework. PICO Stands for:
Example: Do midsize midwestern cities (population) that build bicycle lanes (intervention) have more bicycle commuters (outcome) when compared to midsize midwestern cities without bike lanes (comparison)?
Forming a research question takes time and may take several iterations. There are many frameworks that you can use to transpose your initial research interest or knowledge gap into a specific research question. For a comprehensive, but brief overview of many frameworks, see the below attached rapid review that was part of a British Medical Journal article about question frameworks, and the University of Maryland Library Guide on research question frameworks.
It is recommended that your team explore question frameworks to find the ones that work for you.