Using PICO in Library Instruction for STEM Disciplines

Abstract

PICO is understood to support evidence based practice/medicine research, part of the medical and health sciences disciplines. However, very little use of the PICO methodology found outside of these disciplines. The idea to use PICO for research question and search strategy formulation in other disciplines has been explored in the recent past, but did not seem to generate wide use outside of traditional medical and health fields. However, the use of PICO to support research at the initial exploration phase for information literacy and basic science instruction may help students with the challenging step of formulating a research question.