This guidance note is intended as a practical guide to designing a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework for policy research projects or programmes. Its primary audience is M&E designers and managers but it can be useful for anyone involved with M&E activities. The guidance note aims to support the first steps in designing and structuring the M&E framework (that is, what aspects or areas of policy research projects to monitor and evaluate, why, when and how). It does not include guidance on how to build a whole M&E system, which would require more detailed guidance on M&E data collection, storing, management, analysis and use.