This article aims to develop a framework for the characterisation of problem-posing activities. The framework links three theoretical constructs from research on problem posing, problem solving, and psychology: (1) problem posing as an activity of generating new or reformulating given problems, (2) emerging tasks on the spectrum between routine and non-routine problems, and (3) metacognitive behaviour in problem-posing processes. These dimensions are first conceptualised theoretically. Afterward, the application of these conceptualised dimensions is demonstrated qualitatively using empirical studies on problem posing. Finally, the framework is applied to characterise problem-posing activities within systematically gathered articles from high-ranked journals on mathematics education to identify focal points and under-represented activities in research on problem posing.