Gustavo Faria Cerqueira¹*, Kelly R Micheletti-Cerqueira², and Sandrine Bittencourt Berger³

¹Clinical Assistant Professor at University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine Department of Restorative Dentistry, Buffalo, NY, USA
²Post-doctoral at Universidade Positivo, School of Health Sciences, Post-graduation program in Dentistry. Curitiba, PR, Brazil
³Adjunct Professor at Universidade Anhanguera-Uniderp (UNIDERP), Department of Restorative Dentistry. Campo Grande, MS, Brazil

*Corresponding Author: Gustavo Faria Cerqueira, Assistant Professor at University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine, Department of restorative Dentistry, Buffalo, NY, USA.

Received: July 28, 2025; Published: August 08, 2025

Abstract

Objective: Solving problems and addressing unanswered questions in the scientific community are the main motivators for the continuous development of research in the health sciences. Designing scientific research involves several phases in the development of the initial research proposal. Before a proposal begins, the researcher must determine the research question they aim to answer, addressing gaps in the literature, filling possibles bias in previous studies or confirming pre-existing results. Determining a relevant and scientifically impactful research question is the foundation for outlining a significant research proposal that can generate meaningful results for the scientific community. Despite the methodological advancements currently available and the importance of determining a research question, which is the foundation for any scientific study, the literature is scarce in studies that guide researchers to design a relevant research question that provides the fundamental information needed to initiate a research proposal with potential for publication and citation. This short communication aims to develop a guideline to assist in formulating a relevant, powerful, and systematic research question, and enable the scientific community to continue its development by focusing on more relevant research and unanswered questions, thus increasing the publication and citation potential of their studies.

Conclusion: Designing a relevant and objective question will help researchers optimize the start of their study. Formulating a well-structured question is the first step in building research aimed at answering important questions for the development of well-designed studies, which will consequently facilitate approval by ethics committees and, later, acceptance in high-impact scientific journals.

Keywords:Guideline; Health Science; Research design; Research and Development Projects

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Citation

Citation: Gustavo Faria Cerqueira., et al. “How to Design a Relevant Research Question: A Guideline Proposal for Researchers".Acta Scientific Dental Sciences 9.9 (2025): 07-12.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2025 Gustavo Faria Cerqueira., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.