The researchers for this paper reviewed published literature that outline disagreement or dissensus on the guidance note in the IPCC assessment process, structured as three distinct topics. First, whether the procedure is reliable and leads to robust results. Second, whether the broad scope of diverse problems, epistemic approaches, and user perspectives allow for consistent and appropriate application. Third, whether the guidance note is adequate for the purpose of communicating clear and relevant information to users. Overall, the researchers found greater emphasis placed on problems arising from the procedure and purpose of the assessment, rather than the scope of application. The paper argues that, since a procedure needs to be appropriate for its purpose and scope, a way forward entails not only making deliberative processes more transparent to control biases.