This paper provides an operational framework developed to assist biodiversity researcher s in the design and implementation of focused invertebrate biodiversity assessments appropriate to particular questions or hypotheses. It draws together established protocols, issues of quality control, recent developments and proposes a set of critical questions for each of eight sequential framework components. Use of the framework will help ensure that invertebrate data and the recommendations that result from the analysis of those data are useful for conservation planning and resource management. The paper is intended to help biodiversity researchers generate valid and robust data. It will also be a valuable resource for managers, policy advisers and politicians who must assess the quality and therefore the usefulness of these invertebrate biodiversity data and the management recommendations that follow. Our primary motivation is that invertebrate biodiversity researchers place themselves in a stronger position in which to advise on policy and management decisions that affect invertebrate conservation.