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How do I find a research gap for my thesis?

If you are just starting your bachelor’s or master’s thesis, chances are you have heard about finding a “research gap.” In this blog, we will explain what a research gap is, the four most common types of research gaps, and how to identify a suitable research gap.

What is a research gap?

A research gap refers to an unanswered question or unresolved problem in a field of study, indicating a lack of existing research in that area. A research gap can also exist when a substantial amount of existing research has been conducted, but the findings of the studies point in different directions. For example, suppose your research focuses on identifying the cause (or causes) of a specific disease. Upon reviewing the literature, you find that certain studies conclude that cigarette smoking is a significant factor. However, you also come across numerous studies that find no association between smoking and the disease. In such a case, you may be dealing with a research gap.

The different types of research gaps We distinguish four most common types of research gaps:

• The classical research gap
• The disagreement research gap
• The contextual research gap (most popular among thesis writers!)

The methodological research gap

1. the classical research gap.

This research gap occurs when there is a new concept or phenomenon that has not been extensively studied or not at all. For example, when a new social media platform is launched, there is an opportunity to explore its impact on users, how it can be used for marketing, its influence on society, and so on. The same applies to new technologies, new communication tools, new therapies, etc. Always try to delimit your research well. For a thesis, investigating an entirely new therapy, for example, is often too broad and extensive. Also, keep in mind that you will need to rely on adjacent literature to build your literature review. You won’t find many existing studies directly related to your topic.

2. The disagreement research gap

As the name suggests, the disagreement research gap arises when there are conflicting or contradictory findings in the existing research regarding a specific research question. The example we described above about the causes of a disease is an example of this type of research gap. Importantly, for this type of research gap, there must be different conflicting findings. In other words, a situation where 95% of the articles find one result and 5% find the opposite result would not really constitute a disagreement in the literature.

3. The contextual research gap

The third type of research gap is the contextual gap. Simply put, a contextual research gap exists when you find a considerable amount of existing research on a specific topic, but there is a lack of research in specific contexts. This could include:

• A specific population – perhaps a certain age group, gender, or ethnicity.
• A geographic area – for example, a city, country, or region.
• A particular time period – maybe most studies were conducted many years or even decades ago, and the landscape has changed.

Many thesis students choose this type of research gap because it allows them to base their research on existing literature and possibly even use existing questionnaires. It is important to clearly justify in your thesis why you expect differences in the specific context you choose. Make sure you can explain clearly why your chosen context is “different” from existing studies and why it could reasonably lead to different findings.

As the name suggests, this type of research gap arises due to the research methodology or design of existing studies. You may conclude that the methodology of existing studies is somehow inadequate or that they lack a certain perspective. For example, you may describe that the majority of existing research has adopted a quantitative approach and that there is, therefore, a lack of insight that a qualitative study could provide. Alternatively, you could describe that existing studies have mainly provided a snapshot of the situation, while a longitudinal approach could help uncover how variables have changed over time.

How to find a research gap?

Now that you have a clearer understanding of the different types of research gaps, the next question is, of course, “how do you find these research gaps?” Here, we describe a basic two-step strategy to help you find the research gap.

As a starting point, you need to gather as much recent literature reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analysis articles as possible that relate to your topic. It is also a good idea to look at recent dissertations. There are several databases that share dissertations (such as OATD – Open Access Theses and Dissertations). Make sure to review the most recent sources possible; otherwise, the research gaps you find may have already been filled by other researchers. Once you have collected a substantial number of articles, focus on reading the discussion section and pay attention to anything they mention about “future research.” In the discussion, researchers will explicitly indicate areas where further studies are needed – in other words, your potential research gap. You can also look for the “limitations” they describe, as this often provides ideas for the methodological research gap. By following this process, you familiarize yourself with the current state of research, which will lay the foundation for identifying the research gap.

Tip: Go on a “FRIN hunt.” FRIN stands for “further research is needed.” Once you have found several relevant articles, search for specific keywords:

• Future research
• Further research
• Research opportunities
• Research directions

These terms are often found in what we call the “FRIN” section. Some articles have a dedicated FRIN section or paragraph, or they are mentioned in the discussion.

We wish you success in finding the research gap! If you need any assistance or have other questions, feel free to ask.

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How To Find A Research Gap, Quickly

A step-by-step guide for new researchers

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | Reviewer: Eunice Rautenbach (DTech) | April 2023

If you’ve got a dissertation, thesis or research project coming up, one of the first (and most important) things you’ll need to do is find a suitable research gap . In this post, we’ll share a straightforward process to help you uncover high-quality, original research gaps in a very time-efficient manner.

Overview: Finding Research Gaps

• What exactly is a research gap?
• Research gap vs research topic
• How to find potential research gaps
• How to evaluate research gaps (and topics)
• Key takeaways

What is a research gap?

As a starting point, it’s useful to first define what we mean by research gap, to ensure we’re all on the same page. The term “research gap” gets thrown around quite loosely by students and academics alike, so let’s clear that up.

Simply put, a research gap is any space where there’s a lack of solid, agreed-upon research regarding a specific topic, issue or phenomenon. In other words, there’s a lack of established knowledge and, consequently, a need for further research.

Let’s look at a hypothetical example to illustrate a research gap.

Within the existing research regarding factors affect job satisfaction , there may be a wealth of established and agreed-upon empirical work within a US and UK context , but very little research within Eastern nations such as Japan or Korea . Given that these nations have distinctly different national cultures and workforce compositions compared to the West, it’s plausible that the factors that contribute toward job satisfaction may also be different. Therefore, a research gap emerges for studies that explore this matter.

This example is purely hypothetical (and there’s probably plenty of research covering this already), but it illustrates the core point that a research gap reflects a lack of firmly established knowledge regarding a specific matter . Given this lack, an opportunity exists for researchers (like you) to go on and fill the gap.

So, it’s the same as a research topic?

Not quite – but they are connected. A research gap refers to an area where there’s a lack of settled research , whereas a research topic outlines the focus of a specific study . Despite being different things, these two are related because research gaps are the birthplace of research topics. In other words, by identifying a clear research gap, you have a foundation from which you can build a research topic for your specific study. Your study is unlikely to resolve the entire research gap on it’s own, but it will contribute towards it .

If you’d like to learn more, we’ve got a comprehensive post that covers research gaps (including the different types of research gaps), as well as an explainer video below.

How to find a research gap

Now that we’ve defined what a research gap is, it’s time to get down to the process of finding potential research gaps that you can use as a basis for potential research topics. Importantly, it’s worth noting that this is just one way (of many) to find a research gap (and consequently a topic). We’re not proposing that it’s the only way or best way, but it’s certainly a relatively quick way to identify opportunities.

Step 1: Identify your broad area of interest

The very first step to finding a research gap is to decide on your general area of interest . For example, if you were undertaking a dissertation as part of an MBA degree, you may decide that you’re interested in corporate reputation, HR strategy, or leadership styles. As you can see, these are broad categories – there’s no need to get super specific just yet. Of course, if there is something very specific that you’re interested in, that’s great – but don’t feel pressured to narrow it down too much right now.

Equally important is to make sure that this area of interest is allowed by your university or whichever institution you’ll be proposing your research to. This might sound dead obvious, but you’ll be surprised how many times we’ve seen students run down a path with great excitement, only to later learn that their university wants a very specific area of focus in terms of topic (and their area of interest doesn’t qualify).

Step 2: Do an initial literature scan

Once you’ve pinned down your broad area (or areas) of interest, the next step is to head over to Google Scholar to undertake an initial literature scan . If you’re not familiar with this tool, Google Scholar is a great starting point for finding academic literature on pretty much any topic, as it uses Google’s powerful search capabilities to hunt down relevant academic literature. It’s certainly not the be-all and end-all of literature search tools, but it’s a useful starting point .

Within Google Scholar, you’ll want to do a few searches using keywords that are relevant to your area of interest. Sticking with our earlier example, we could use the key phrase “job satisfaction”, or we may want to get a little more specific – perhaps “job satisfaction for millennials” or “job satisfaction in Japan”.

It’s always a good idea to play around with as many keywords/phrases as you can think up.  Take an iterative approach here and see which keywords yield the most relevant results for you. Keep each search open in a new tab, as this will help keep things organised for the next steps.

Once you’ve searched for a few different keywords/phrases, you’ll need to do some refining for each of the searches you undertook. Specifically, you’ll need to filter the results down to the most recent papers . You can do this by selecting the time period in the top left corner (see the example below).

Filtering to the current year is typically a good choice (especially for fast-moving research areas), but in some cases, you may need to filter to the last two years . If you’re undertaking this task in January or February, for example, you’ll likely need to select a two-year period.

Need a helping hand?

Step 3: Review and shortlist articles that interest you

Once you’ve run a few searches using different keywords and phrases, you’ll need to scan through the results to see what looks most relevant and interesting to you. At this stage, you can just look at the titles and abstracts (the description provided by Google Scholar) – don’t worry about reading the actual article just yet.

Next, select 5 – 10 articles that interest you and open them up. Here, we’re making the assumption that your university has provided you with access to a decent range of academic databases. In some cases, Google Scholar will link you directly to a PDF of the article, but in most cases, you’ll need paid access. If you don’t have this (for example, if you’re still applying to a university), you can look at two options:

Open-access articles – these are free articles which you can access without any journal subscription. A quick Google search (the regular Google) will help you find open-access journals in your area of interest, but you can also have a look at DOAJ and Elsevier Open Access.

DeepDyve – this is a monthly subscription service that allows you to get access to a broad range of journals. At the time of shooting this video, their monthly subscription is around $50 and they do offer a free trial, which may be sufficient for your project.

Step 4: Skim-read your article shortlist

Now, it’s time to dig into your article shortlist and do some reading. But don’t worry, you don’t need to read the articles from start to finish – you just need to focus on a few key sections.

Specifically, you’ll need to pay attention to the following:

• The abstract (which you’ve probably already read a portion of in Google Scholar)
• The introduction – this will give you a bit more detail about the context and background of the study, as well as what the researchers were trying to achieve (their research aims)
• The discussion or conclusion – this will tell you what the researchers found

By skimming through these three sections for each journal article on your shortlist, you’ll gain a reasonable idea of what each study was about, without having to dig into the painful details. Generally, these sections are usually quite short, so it shouldn’t take you too long.

Step 5: Go “FRIN hunting”

This is where the magic happens. Within each of the articles on your shortlist, you’ll want to search for a few very specific phrases , namely:

• Future research
• Further research
• Research opportunities
• Research directions

All of these terms are commonly found in what we call the “FRIN” section . FRIN stands for “further research is needed”. The FRIN is where the researchers explain what other researchers could do to build on their study, or just on the research area in general. In other words, the FRIN section is where you can find fresh opportunities for novel research . Most empirical studies will either have a dedicated FRIN section or paragraph, or they’ll allude to the FRIN toward the very end of the article. You’ll need to do a little scanning, but it’s usually pretty easy to spot.

It’s worth mentioning that naturally, the FRIN doesn’t hand you a list of research gaps on a platter. It’s not a silver bullet for finding research gaps – but it’s the closest thing to it. Realistically, the FRIN section helps you shortcut the gap-hunting process  by highlighting novel research avenues that are worth exploring.

This probably sounds a little conceptual, so let’s have a look at a few examples:

The impact of overeducation on job outcomes: Evidence from Saudi Arabia (Alzubaidi, 2020)

If you scroll down to the bottom of this article, you’ll see there’s a dedicated section called “Limitations and directions for future research”. Here they talk about the limitations of the study and provide suggestions about how future researchers could improve upon their work and overcome the limitations.

Perceived organizational support and job satisfaction: a moderated mediation model of proactive personality and psychological empowerment (Maan et al, 2020)

In this article, within the limitations section, they provide a wonderfully systematic structure where they discuss each limitation, followed by a proposal as to how future studies can overcome the respective limitation. In doing so, they are providing very specific research opportunities for other researchers.

Medical professionals’ job satisfaction and telemedicine readiness during the COVID-19 pandemic: solutions to improve medical practice in Egypt (El-Mazahy et al, 2023)

In this article, they don’t have a dedicated section discussing the FRIN, but we can deduct it based on the limitations section. For example, they state that an evaluation of the knowledge about telemedicine and technology-related skills would have enabled studying their independent effect on the perception of telemedicine.

Follow this FRIN-seeking process for the articles you shortlisted and map out any potentially interesting research gaps . You may find that you need to look at a larger number of articles to find something interesting, or you might find that your area of interest shifts as you engage in the reading – this is perfectly natural. Take as much time as you need to develop a shortlist of potential research gaps that interest you.

Importantly, once you’ve developed a shortlist of potential research gaps, you need to return to Google Scholar to double-check that there aren’t fresh studies that have already addressed the gap. Remember, if you’re looking at papers from two years ago in a fast-moving field, someone else may have jumped on it . Nevertheless, there could still very well be a unique angle you could take – perhaps a contextual gap (e.g. a specific country, industry, etc.).

Ultimately, the need for originality will depend on your specific university’s requirements and the level of study. For example, if you’re doing an undergraduate research project, the originality requirements likely won’t be as gruelling as say a Masters or PhD project. So, make sure you have a clear understanding of what your university’s expectations are. A good way to do this is to look at past dissertations and theses for your specific programme. You can usually find these in the university library or by asking the faculty.

How to evaluate potential research gaps

Once you’ve developed a shortlist of potential research gaps (and resultant potential research topics) that interest you, you’ll need to systematically evaluate  them  to choose a winner. There are many factors to consider here, but some important ones include the following:

• Originality and value – is the topic sufficiently novel and will addressing it create value?
• Data access – will you be able to get access to the sample of interest?
• Costs – will there be additional costs involved for data collection and/or analysis?
• Timeframes – will you be able to collect and analyse the data within the timeframe required by your university?
• Supervisor support – is there a suitable supervisor available to support your project from start to finish?

To help you evaluate your options systematically, we’ve got a topic evaluation worksheet that allows you to score each potential topic against a comprehensive set of criteria. You can access the worksheet completely free of charge here .

Recap: Key Takeaways

We’ve covered quite a lot of ground in this post. Here are the key takeaways:

• A research gap is any space where there’s a lack of solid, agreed-upon research regarding a specific topic/issue/phenomenon.
• Unique research topics emerge from research gaps , so it’s essential to first identify high-quality research gaps before you attempt to define a topic.
• To find potential research gaps, start by seeking out recent journal articles on Google Scholar and pay particular attention to the FRIN section to identify novel opportunities.
• Once you have a shortlist of prospective research gaps and resultant topic ideas, evaluate them systematically using a comprehensive set of criteria.

If you’d like to get hands-on help finding a research gap and research topic, be sure to check out our private coaching service , where we hold your hand through the research journey, step by step.

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

Very useful for me, but i am still confusing review of literature review, how to find out topic related previous research.

Powerful notes! Thanks a lot.

This is helpful. Thanks a lot.

Thank you very much for this. It is really a great opportunity for me to learn the research journey.

Very Useful

It nice job

You have sharpened my articulations of these components to the core. Thanks so much.

It’s educative and an inspiring way of impacting research knowledge…

Thanks to the writer

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Home » Research Gap – Types, Examples and How to Identify

Research Gap – Types, Examples and How to Identify

Table of Contents

Research Gap

Definition:

Research gap refers to an area or topic within a field of study that has not yet been extensively researched or is yet to be explored. It is a question, problem or issue that has not been addressed or resolved by previous research.

How to Identify Research Gap

Identifying a research gap is an essential step in conducting research that adds value and contributes to the existing body of knowledge. Research gap requires critical thinking, creativity, and a thorough understanding of the existing literature . It is an iterative process that may require revisiting and refining your research questions and ideas multiple times.

Here are some steps that can help you identify a research gap:

• Review existing literature: Conduct a thorough review of the existing literature in your research area. This will help you identify what has already been studied and what gaps still exist.
• Identify a research problem: Identify a specific research problem or question that you want to address.
• Analyze existing research: Analyze the existing research related to your research problem. This will help you identify areas that have not been studied, inconsistencies in the findings, or limitations of the previous research.
• Brainstorm potential research ideas : Based on your analysis, brainstorm potential research ideas that address the identified gaps.
• Consult with experts: Consult with experts in your research area to get their opinions on potential research ideas and to identify any additional gaps that you may have missed.
• Refine research questions: Refine your research questions and hypotheses based on the identified gaps and potential research ideas.
• Develop a research proposal: Develop a research proposal that outlines your research questions, objectives, and methods to address the identified research gap.

Types of Research Gap

There are different types of research gaps that can be identified, and each type is associated with a specific situation or problem. Here are the main types of research gaps and their explanations:

Theoretical Gap

This type of research gap refers to a lack of theoretical understanding or knowledge in a particular area. It can occur when there is a discrepancy between existing theories and empirical evidence or when there is no theory that can explain a particular phenomenon. Identifying theoretical gaps can lead to the development of new theories or the refinement of existing ones.

Empirical Gap

An empirical gap occurs when there is a lack of empirical evidence or data in a particular area. It can happen when there is a lack of research on a specific topic or when existing research is inadequate or inconclusive. Identifying empirical gaps can lead to the development of new research studies to collect data or the refinement of existing research methods to improve the quality of data collected.

Methodological Gap

This type of research gap refers to a lack of appropriate research methods or techniques to answer a research question. It can occur when existing methods are inadequate, outdated, or inappropriate for the research question. Identifying methodological gaps can lead to the development of new research methods or the modification of existing ones to better address the research question.

Practical Gap

A practical gap occurs when there is a lack of practical applications or implementation of research findings. It can occur when research findings are not implemented due to financial, political, or social constraints. Identifying practical gaps can lead to the development of strategies for the effective implementation of research findings in practice.

Knowledge Gap

This type of research gap occurs when there is a lack of knowledge or information on a particular topic. It can happen when a new area of research is emerging, or when research is conducted in a different context or population. Identifying knowledge gaps can lead to the development of new research studies or the extension of existing research to fill the gap.

Examples of Research Gap

Here are some examples of research gaps that researchers might identify:

• Theoretical Gap Example : In the field of psychology, there might be a theoretical gap related to the lack of understanding of the relationship between social media use and mental health. Although there is existing research on the topic, there might be a lack of consensus on the mechanisms that link social media use to mental health outcomes.
• Empirical Gap Example : In the field of environmental science, there might be an empirical gap related to the lack of data on the long-term effects of climate change on biodiversity in specific regions. Although there might be some studies on the topic, there might be a lack of data on the long-term effects of climate change on specific species or ecosystems.
• Methodological Gap Example : In the field of education, there might be a methodological gap related to the lack of appropriate research methods to assess the impact of online learning on student outcomes. Although there might be some studies on the topic, existing research methods might not be appropriate to assess the complex relationships between online learning and student outcomes.
• Practical Gap Example: In the field of healthcare, there might be a practical gap related to the lack of effective strategies to implement evidence-based practices in clinical settings. Although there might be existing research on the effectiveness of certain practices, they might not be implemented in practice due to various barriers, such as financial constraints or lack of resources.
• Knowledge Gap Example: In the field of anthropology, there might be a knowledge gap related to the lack of understanding of the cultural practices of indigenous communities in certain regions. Although there might be some research on the topic, there might be a lack of knowledge about specific cultural practices or beliefs that are unique to those communities.

Examples of Research Gap In Literature Review, Thesis, and Research Paper might be:

• Literature review : A literature review on the topic of machine learning and healthcare might identify a research gap in the lack of studies that investigate the use of machine learning for early detection of rare diseases.
• Thesis : A thesis on the topic of cybersecurity might identify a research gap in the lack of studies that investigate the effectiveness of artificial intelligence in detecting and preventing cyber attacks.
• Research paper : A research paper on the topic of natural language processing might identify a research gap in the lack of studies that investigate the use of natural language processing techniques for sentiment analysis in non-English languages.

How to Write Research Gap

By following these steps, you can effectively write about research gaps in your paper and clearly articulate the contribution that your study will make to the existing body of knowledge.

Here are some steps to follow when writing about research gaps in your paper:

• Identify the research question : Before writing about research gaps, you need to identify your research question or problem. This will help you to understand the scope of your research and identify areas where additional research is needed.
• Review the literature: Conduct a thorough review of the literature related to your research question. This will help you to identify the current state of knowledge in the field and the gaps that exist.
• Identify the research gap: Based on your review of the literature, identify the specific research gap that your study will address. This could be a theoretical, empirical, methodological, practical, or knowledge gap.
• Provide evidence: Provide evidence to support your claim that the research gap exists. This could include a summary of the existing literature, a discussion of the limitations of previous studies, or an analysis of the current state of knowledge in the field.
• Explain the importance: Explain why it is important to fill the research gap. This could include a discussion of the potential implications of filling the gap, the significance of the research for the field, or the potential benefits to society.
• State your research objectives: State your research objectives, which should be aligned with the research gap you have identified. This will help you to clearly articulate the purpose of your study and how it will address the research gap.

Importance of Research Gap

The importance of research gaps can be summarized as follows:

• Advancing knowledge: Identifying research gaps is crucial for advancing knowledge in a particular field. By identifying areas where additional research is needed, researchers can fill gaps in the existing body of knowledge and contribute to the development of new theories and practices.
• Guiding research: Research gaps can guide researchers in designing studies that fill those gaps. By identifying research gaps, researchers can develop research questions and objectives that are aligned with the needs of the field and contribute to the development of new knowledge.
• Enhancing research quality: By identifying research gaps, researchers can avoid duplicating previous research and instead focus on developing innovative research that fills gaps in the existing body of knowledge. This can lead to more impactful research and higher-quality research outputs.
• Informing policy and practice: Research gaps can inform policy and practice by highlighting areas where additional research is needed to inform decision-making. By filling research gaps, researchers can provide evidence-based recommendations that have the potential to improve policy and practice in a particular field.

Applications of Research Gap

Here are some potential applications of research gap:

• Informing research priorities: Research gaps can help guide research funding agencies and researchers to prioritize research areas that require more attention and resources.
• Identifying practical implications: Identifying gaps in knowledge can help identify practical applications of research that are still unexplored or underdeveloped.
• Stimulating innovation: Research gaps can encourage innovation and the development of new approaches or methodologies to address unexplored areas.
• Improving policy-making: Research gaps can inform policy-making decisions by highlighting areas where more research is needed to make informed policy decisions.
• Enhancing academic discourse: Research gaps can lead to new and constructive debates and discussions within academic communities, leading to more robust and comprehensive research.

Advantages of Research Gap

Here are some of the advantages of research gap:

• Identifies new research opportunities: Identifying research gaps can help researchers identify areas that require further exploration, which can lead to new research opportunities.
• Improves the quality of research: By identifying gaps in current research, researchers can focus their efforts on addressing unanswered questions, which can improve the overall quality of research.
• Enhances the relevance of research: Research that addresses existing gaps can have significant implications for the development of theories, policies, and practices, and can therefore increase the relevance and impact of research.
• Helps avoid duplication of effort: Identifying existing research can help researchers avoid duplicating efforts, saving time and resources.
• Helps to refine research questions: Research gaps can help researchers refine their research questions, making them more focused and relevant to the needs of the field.
• Promotes collaboration: By identifying areas of research that require further investigation, researchers can collaborate with others to conduct research that addresses these gaps, which can lead to more comprehensive and impactful research outcomes.

Disadvantages of Research Gap

While research gaps can be advantageous, there are also some potential disadvantages that should be considered:

• Difficulty in identifying gaps: Identifying gaps in existing research can be challenging, particularly in fields where there is a large volume of research or where research findings are scattered across different disciplines.
• Lack of funding: Addressing research gaps may require significant resources, and researchers may struggle to secure funding for their work if it is perceived as too risky or uncertain.
• Time-consuming: Conducting research to address gaps can be time-consuming, particularly if the research involves collecting new data or developing new methods.
• Risk of oversimplification: Addressing research gaps may require researchers to simplify complex problems, which can lead to oversimplification and a failure to capture the complexity of the issues.
• Bias : Identifying research gaps can be influenced by researchers’ personal biases or perspectives, which can lead to a skewed understanding of the field.
• Potential for disagreement: Identifying research gaps can be subjective, and different researchers may have different views on what constitutes a gap in the field, leading to disagreements and debate.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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From research discovery to gap finding

ResGap is an application that helps you identify research gaps quickly and easily, specifically it:

• Provides a quick and comprehensive overview of your research topic.
• Finds the most cited publications, authors, journals and refereed outlets in your research area.
• Visualises how topics in your area have evolved over time, showing topics that have increased or decreased in appearance.
• Identifies research gaps by comparing different sets of literature (i.e. academic vs practitioner publications).

ResGap showcases research where the application was used:

ResGap showcases research conducted in a variety of research areas with diverse collaborators across the globe. This research applies the ResGap tool and associated methodologies, e.g. entity-linking, machine learning, text mining, natural language processing, etc.

Browse examples below:

• environmental accounting
• interdisciplinary research maps
• digital disruption and digital transformation
• trending topics in the top Information System journals from 1996 to 2017

Follow the ResGap blog for current updates.

Researchers

Whether you are a senior researcher or are just embarking on an academic career, ResGap can speed up your data analysis for literature reviews.

ResGap can help you to identify, for example:

• which are the most important topics within an area of study
• how research trends evolve over time
• which topics are being explored extensively, and which are possibly being overlooked
• which are the “hot” topics for top journals

Institutions

ResGap helps organisations determine where new research should be focused. The tool helps identify gaps and helps build a case for the development or expansion of research centres or departments.

Curricula are continuously evolving and must reflect the most up to date research. ResGap can highlight trends in the relevant literature, helping to identify learning objectives which may be overlooked or inadequately covered in course materials. As a ResGap user, you will have access to a bank of data covering 6,000+ published articles (from 1999 to 2017), enabling you to track the progression & popularity of published topics, which should inform curriculum development.

Empower your academic work and research with an automated, intelligent and efficient assistant which can help you identify relevant research gaps.

With ResGap you can simply, efficiently and reliably identify research trends, finding which topics in your area of interest are salient, emergent or waning. Efficiently comparing literature at scale while drawing reliable conclusions which assist you in your academic research, ResGap can help you uncover unmet research needs and more.

Our portal shows research trends of topics appearing in Information Systems journals (basket of 8). ResGap consolidates and groups data on over 6,000 actual publications (from 1996 until 2017). This data is then be used to generate a range of accessible graphics and models, allowing you to track the most important topics within your area of study over time.

Once signed into ResGap, you will also have access to a literature-comparison tool which was developed to identify gaps in different sets of literature and offers a wide variety of applications and features.

Dr. Mauricio Marrone – Founder

An Associate Professor at Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia) with interests in Information Systems, Research Methods, Innovation Diffusion and Text Analytics, Mauricio originally developed ResGap as a means to identify gaps in the research in his field. It soon became apparent that the portal had broader applications.

Tim Chard – Developer

Assoc. prof. mark dras – advisor, yvonne black – outreach manager.

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• Writing Tips

How to Identify a Research Gap

5-minute read

• 10th January 2024

If you’ve been tasked with producing a thesis or dissertation, one of your first steps will be identifying a research gap. Although finding a research gap may sound daunting, don’t fret! In this post, we will define a research gap, discuss its importance, and offer a step-by-step guide that will provide you with the essential know-how to complete this critical step and move on to the rest of your research project.

What Is a Research Gap?

Simply put, a research gap is an area that hasn’t been explored in the existing literature. This could be an unexplored population, an untested method, or a condition that hasn’t been investigated yet. 

Why Is Identifying a Research Gap Important?

Identifying a research gap is a foundational step in the research process. It ensures that your research is significant and has the ability to advance knowledge within a specific area. It also helps you align your work with the current needs and challenges of your field. Identifying a research gap has many potential benefits.

1. Avoid Redundancy in Your Research

Understanding the existing literature helps researchers avoid duplication. This means you can steer clear of topics that have already been extensively studied. This ensures your work is novel and contributes something new to the field.

2. Guide the Research Design

Identifying a research gap helps shape your research design and questions. You can tailor your studies to specifically address the identified gap. This ensures that your work directly contributes to filling the void in knowledge.

3. Practical Applications

Research that addresses a gap is more likely to have practical applications and contributions. Whether in academia, industry, or policymaking, research that fills a gap in knowledge is often more applicable and can inform decision-making and practices in real-world contexts.

4. Field Advancements

Addressing a research gap can lead to advancements in the field . It may result in the development of new theories, methodologies, or technologies that push the boundaries of current understanding.

5. Strategic Research Planning

Identifying a research gap is crucial for strategic planning . It helps researchers and institutions prioritize areas that need attention so they can allocate resources effectively. This ensures that efforts are directed toward the most critical gaps in knowledge.

6. Academic and Professional Recognition

Researchers who successfully address significant research gaps often receive peer recognition within their academic and professional communities. This recognition can lead to opportunities for collaboration, funding, and career advancement.

How Do I Identify a Research Gap?

1. clearly define your research topic .

Begin by clearly defining your research topic. A well-scoped topic serves as the foundation for your studies. Make sure it’s not too broad or too narrow; striking the right balance will make it easier to identify gaps in existing literature.

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2. Conduct a Thorough Literature Review

A comprehensive literature review is a vital step in any research. Dive deep into the existing research related to your topic. Look for patterns, recurring themes, and consensus among scholars. Pay attention to areas where conflicting opinions or gaps in understanding emerge.

3. Evaluate Existing Studies

Critically evaluate the studies you encounter during your literature review. Assess the paradigms , methodologies, findings, and limitations of each. Note any discrepancies, unanswered questions, or areas where further investigation is warranted. These are potential indicators of research gaps.

4. Identify Unexplored Perspectives

Consider the perspectives presented in the existing literature. Are there alternative viewpoints or marginalized voices that haven’t been adequately explored? Identifying and incorporating diverse perspectives can often lead to uncharted territory and help you pinpoint a unique research gap.

Additional Tips

Stay up to date with emerging trends.

The field of research is dynamic, with new developments and emerging trends constantly shaping the landscape. Stay up to date with the latest publications, conferences, and discussions in your field and make sure to regularly check relevant academic search engines . Often, identifying a research gap involves being at the forefront of current debates and discussions.

Seek Guidance From Experts

Don’t hesitate to reach out to experts in your field for guidance. Attend conferences, workshops, or seminars where you can interact with seasoned researchers. Their insights and experience can provide valuable perspectives on potential research gaps that you may have overlooked. You can also seek advice from your academic advisor .

Use Research Tools and Analytics

Leverage tech tools to analyze patterns and trends in the existing literature. Tools like citation analysis, keyword mapping, and data visualization can help you identify gaps and areas with limited exploration.

Identifying a research gap is a skill that evolves with experience and dedication. By defining your research topic, meticulously navigating the existing literature, critically evaluating studies, and recognizing unexplored perspectives, you’ll be on your way to identifying a research gap that will serve as the foundation for your paper, thesis, or dissertation topic .

If you need any help with proofreading your research paper , we can help with our research paper editing services . You can even try a sample of our services for free . Good luck with all your research!

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Here's how to discover potential research gaps using Litmaps.

Finding research gaps is an essential part of novel research. Identifying gaps can connect disparate fields of research and advance knowledge, as well as enable opportunities for academic growth and success.

Understanding and reviewing scientific literature is essential to spotting these gaps. In this guide, we'll go over how to use Litmaps to find research gaps faster. You'll learn how to:

Comprehensively review existing literature

See where research does (and doesn't!) connect

Find inconsistencies and missing references

What is a research gap?

A research gap refers to any unexplored or unresolved area of research. It can also refer to a disconnections within the research, such as when researchers in different fields don't realize they work is connected, or a paper fails to reference important, related literature.

In the case of the former, research gaps are akin to open questions. Researchers are often eager to find unexplored areas which they can't make a novel contribution to by enhancing our understanding of that unknown topic.

In the case of the latter, many gaps happen simply because there is a huge amount of scientific literature, and even scientists themselves aren't aware of how it is all connected. One example is in how different scientific domains use different terminologies for the same concept. This results in unintentional research gaps. These gaps continue even today, because many researchers rely on keyword search, thus missing out on connections that don't match those "keywords". For example, in religious studies, scholar use the term "moral injury", which in medicine is referred to as "moral distress". Focusing on keywords alone means researchers from one field may miss important discoveries in the other.

Using Litmaps to find research gaps

Litmaps analyzes scientific literature and how it connects by using the citation network. By seeing the actual connections among articles, Litmaps let you observe how fields interact and find research gaps you'd otherwise miss.

How to find Research Gaps with Litmaps

Here's how to use Litmaps to find research gaps, by seeing where articles are and aren't connected.

1. Prepare your literature library

First, identify your topic and relevant articles. Save these articles to a Tag in Litmaps. Here's how to import papers you have into a Tag in Litmaps. If you have different subjects, save them as different Tags to stay organized.

Want to use papers you have already saved in Zotero, EndNote, Mendeley, etc? Here's how.

2 . Create a Map

Now that you have your articles in Litmaps, we'll create a Map to visualize how your articles connect. See the image below, or click here to read step-by-step instructions on how to create a Map from your Tag.

Your Litmap shows how your articles are connected via citations and references. At this point, you may already spot some inconsistencies or missing references. If you want toe expand your Map and find even more articles and potential research gaps, continue to the next step.

3 . Expand your Map

Now that you've made your Map, you can use Litmaps to discover even more related literature. Litmaps will use all the articles on your Map as an input to the search algorithm, and find other related articles.

By going through your Map, and adding additional articles, you can find related literature on your topic. For each suggested article, you can see how it connects to the existing papers you already know, so you can keep track of what parts of your field are more or less connected.

4 . Find disconnected literature

At this point, you've explored your topic and created a collection of connected articles. You may have already discovered new connections and sub-topics you didn't yet know about. However, this search has been largely limited based on connected papers. If you want to find articles you may have missed because they aren't connected at all to your existing literature, you'll need to change your search strategy.

You'll see a very different Litmap, one that likely shows many entirely disconnected articles. This is a great way to spot papers that fail to cite or reference any you already know.

5 . Future-proof your process

Now you've curated a comprehensive set of papers on your topic and spotted any potential gaps in your field. The last step is to ensure your work doesn't go out-of-date.

You can re-run this search process manually at regular intervals, to see what new literature has come out. Or, automate this process by enabling " Monitor " for your Litmap. Litmaps will automatically run your search for you as new papers are published, and let you know about any new articles on your topic.

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What is a Research Gap

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Table of Contents

If you are a young researcher, or even still finishing your studies, you’ll probably notice that your academic environment revolves around certain research topics, probably linked to your department or to the interest of your mentor and direct colleagues. For example, if your department is currently doing research in nanotechnology applied to medicine, it is only natural that you feel compelled to follow this line of research. Hopefully, it’s something you feel familiar with and interested in – although you might take your own twists and turns along your career.

Many scientists end up continuing their academic legacy during their professional careers, writing about their own practical experiences in the field and adapting classic methodologies to a present context. However, each and every researcher dreams about being a pioneer in a subject one day, by discovering a topic that hasn’t been approached before by any other scientist. This is a research gap.

Research gaps are particularly useful for the advance of science, in general. Finding a research gap and having the means to develop a complete and sustained study on it can be very rewarding for the scientist (or team of scientists), not to mention how its new findings can positively impact our whole society.

How to Find a Gap in Research

How many times have you felt that you have finally formulated THAT new and exciting question, only to find out later that it had been addressed before? Probably more times than you can count.

There are some steps you can take to help identify research gaps, since it is impossible to go through all the information and research available nowadays:

• Select a topic or question that motivates you: Research can take a long time and surely a large amount of physical, intellectual and emotional effort, therefore choose a topic that can keep you motivated throughout the process.
• Find keywords and related terms to your selected topic: Besides synthesizing the topic to its essential core, this will help you in the next step.
• Use the identified keywords to search literature: From your findings in the above step, identify relevant publications and cited literature in those publications.
• Look for topics or issues that are missing or not addressed within (or related to) your main topic.
• Read systematic reviews: These documents plunge deeply into scholarly literature and identify trends and paradigm shifts in fields of study. Sometimes they reveal areas or topics that need more attention from researchers and scientists.

Keeping track of all the new literature being published every day is an impossible mission. Remember that there is technology to make your daily tasks easier, and reviewing literature can be one of them. Some online databases offer up-to-date publication lists with quite effective search features:

• Elsevier’s Scope
• Google Scholar

Of course, these tools may be more or less effective depending on knowledge fields. There might be even better ones for your specific topic of research; you can learn about them from more experienced colleagues or mentors.

Find out how FINER research framework can help you formulate your research question.

Literature Gap

The expression “literature gap” is used with the same intention as “research gap.” When there is a gap in the research itself, there will also naturally be a gap in the literature. Nevertheless, it is important to stress out the importance of language or text formulations that can help identify a research/literature gap or, on the other hand, making clear that a research gap is being addressed.

When looking for research gaps across publications you may have noticed sentences like:

…has/have not been… (studied/reported/elucidated) …is required/needed… …the key question is/remains… …it is important to address…

These expressions often indicate gaps; issues or topics related to the main question that still hasn’t been subject to a scientific study. Therefore, it is important to take notice of them: who knows if one of these sentences is hiding your way to fame.

Language Editing Services by Elsevier Author Services:

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Literature Review in Research Writing

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Identifying Research Gaps to Pursue Innovative Research

This article is an excerpt from a lecture given by my Ph.D. guide, a researcher in public health. She advised us on how to identify research gaps to pursue innovative research in our fields.

What is a Research Gap?

Today we are talking about the research gap: what is it, how to identify it, and how to make use of it so that you can pursue innovative research. Now, how many of you have ever felt you had discovered a new and exciting research question , only to find that it had already been written about? I have experienced this more times than I can count. Graduate studies come with pressure to add new knowledge to the field. We can contribute to the progress and knowledge of humanity. To do this, we need to first learn to identify research gaps in the existing literature.

A research gap is, simply, a topic or area for which missing or insufficient information limits the ability to reach a conclusion for a question. It should not be confused with a research question, however. For example, if we ask the research question of what the healthiest diet for humans is, we would find many studies and possible answers to this question. On the other hand, if we were to ask the research question of what are the effects of antidepressants on pregnant women, we would not find much-existing data. This is a research gap. When we identify a research gap, we identify a direction for potentially new and exciting research.

How to Identify Research Gap?

Considering the volume of existing research, identifying research gaps can seem overwhelming or even impossible. I don’t have time to read every paper published on public health. Similarly, you guys don’t have time to read every paper. So how can you identify a research gap?

There are different techniques in various disciplines, but we can reduce most of them down to a few steps, which are:

• Identify your key motivating issue/question
• Identify key terms associated with this issue
• Review the literature, searching for these key terms and identifying relevant publications
• Review the literature cited by the key publications which you located in the above step
• Identify issues not addressed by  the literature relating to your critical  motivating issue

It is the last step which we all find the most challenging. It can be difficult to figure out what an article is  not  saying. I like to keep a list of notes of biased or inconsistent information. You could also track what authors write as “directions for future research,” which often can point us towards the existing gaps.

Different Types of Research Gaps

Identifying research gaps is an essential step in conducting research, as it helps researchers to refine their research questions and to focus their research efforts on areas where there is a need for more knowledge or understanding.

1. Knowledge gaps

These are gaps in knowledge or understanding of a subject, where more research is needed to fill the gaps. For example, there may be a lack of understanding of the mechanisms behind a particular disease or how a specific technology works.

2. Conceptual gaps

These are gaps in the conceptual framework or theoretical understanding of a subject. For example, there may be a need for more research to understand the relationship between two concepts or to refine a theoretical framework.

3. Methodological gaps

These are gaps in the methods used to study a particular subject. For example, there may be a need for more research to develop new research methods or to refine existing methods to address specific research questions.

4. Data gaps

These are gaps in the data available on a particular subject. For example, there may be a need for more research to collect data on a specific population or to develop new measures to collect data on a particular construct.

5. Practical gaps

These are gaps in the application of research findings to practical situations. For example, there may be a need for more research to understand how to implement evidence-based practices in real-world settings or to identify barriers to implementing such practices.

Examples of Research Gap

Limited understanding of the underlying mechanisms of a disease:.

Despite significant research on a particular disease, there may be a lack of understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the disease. For example, although much research has been done on Alzheimer’s disease, the exact mechanisms that lead to the disease are not yet fully understood.

Inconsistencies in the findings of previous research:

When previous research on a particular topic has inconsistent findings, there may be a need for further research to clarify or resolve these inconsistencies. For example, previous research on the effectiveness of a particular treatment for a medical condition may have produced inconsistent findings, indicating a need for further research to determine the true effectiveness of the treatment.

Limited research on emerging technologies:

As new technologies emerge, there may be limited research on their applications, benefits, and potential drawbacks. For example, with the increasing use of artificial intelligence in various industries, there is a need for further research on the ethical, legal, and social implications of AI.

How to Deal with Literature Gap?

Once you have identified the literature gaps, it is critical to prioritize. You may find many questions which remain to be answered in the literature. Often one question must be answered before the next can be addressed. In prioritizing the gaps, you have identified, you should consider your funding agency or stakeholders, the needs of the field, and the relevance of your questions to what is currently being studied. Also, consider your own resources and ability to conduct the research you’re considering. Once you have done this, you can narrow your search down to an appropriate question.

Tools to Help Your Search

There are thousands of new articles published every day, and staying up to date on the literature can be overwhelming. You should take advantage of the technology that is available. Some services include  PubCrawler ,  Feedly ,  Google Scholar , and PubMed updates. Stay up to date on social media forums where scholars share new discoveries, such as Twitter. Reference managers such as  Mendeley  can help you keep your references well-organized. I personally have had success using Google Scholar and PubMed to stay current on new developments and track which gaps remain in my personal areas of interest.

The most important thing I want to impress upon you today is that you will struggle to  choose a research topic  that is innovative and exciting if you don’t know the existing literature well. This is why identifying research gaps starts with an extensive and thorough  literature review . But give yourself some boundaries.  You don’t need to read every paper that has ever been written on a topic. You may find yourself thinking you’re on the right track and then suddenly coming across a paper that you had intended to write! It happens to everyone- it happens to me quite often. Don’t give up- keep reading and you’ll find what you’re looking for.

Class dismissed!

How do you identify research gaps? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Frequently Asked Questions

A research gap can be identified by looking for a topic or area with missing or insufficient information that limits the ability to reach a conclusion for a question.

Identifying a research gap is important as it provides a direction for potentially new research or helps bridge the gap in existing literature.

Gap in research is a topic or area with missing or insufficient information. A research gap limits the ability to reach a conclusion for a question.

Thank u for your suggestion.

Very useful tips specially for a beginner

Thank you. This is helpful. I find that I’m overwhelmed with literatures. As I read on a particular topic, and in a particular direction I find that other conflicting issues, topic a and ideas keep popping up, making me more confused.

I am very grateful for your advice. It’s just on point.

The clearest, exhaustive, and brief explanation I have ever read.

Thanks for sharing

Thank you very much.The work is brief and understandable

Thank you it is very informative

Thanks for sharing this educative article

Thank you for such informative explanation.

Great job smart guy! Really outdid yourself!

Nice one! I thank you for this as it is just what I was looking for!😃🤟

Thank you so much for this. Much appreciated

Thank you so much.

Thankyou for ur briefing…its so helpful

Thank you so much .I’ved learn a lot from this.❤️

Very exciting and useful piece for researchers.

Your are awesome, it’s a great article.

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What Is A Research Gap? (With Tips + Examples)

A research gap is a specific area within a field of study that remains unexplored or under-explored. Identifying a research gap involves recognizing where existing research is lacking or where there are unanswered questions that could provide opportunities for further investigation. Understanding research gaps is crucial for advancing knowledge, as it helps scholars and researchers focus their efforts on areas that can contribute significantly to their field.

What Is A Research Gap?

It is actually a question or any issue that needs to be solved by any pre-existing work or research in your area of study. A research gap can also exist where some new idea still needs to be studied.

Tips on Identifying Research Gap

Research always plays an essential role in acquiring more knowledge and addressing the gaps in different fields. When you are identifying a research gap, you are taking a very important step in the whole research process. This aids the researchers in contributing meaningful insights and triggers the knowledge boundaries.

Understanding the Literature You Are Studying: In order to identify any research gap, it is essential to have an excellent advertising of the preexisting literature in your study field.

Here, you need to conduct a review of many books, scholarly articles, conferences, and other relevant sources. In this way, you can get a good foundation as well as insights into any present state of in-depth knowledge in your own study area.

Defining Your Own Research Question: After getting a good knowledge of the pre-existing literature, you need to define a concise and clear idea of the research question. This research question needs to be very specific, attainable, measurable, time-bound and relevant. An acronym for this entire thing is known as SMART. This also needs to address any significant issue that still needs to be fully solved or adequately answered.

Identifying Your Study Objectives: Here, you need to identify the major objectives of your research paper. All these objectives need to be aligned with the identified research gap. These objectives always guide the researcher and aid you in determining the direction and scope of your research study.

Analyze the Existing Studies: Here, you need to analyze very carefully all the existing studies that are related to your research question. Here, it would help if you looked at the most common recurring findings, themes, and patterns of the discussed literature. Here, you also need to pay a lot of attention to the conflicted areas with the results, unanswered questions, and contradictory theories. These areas show the research gaps that can be explored later.

Consider The Practical Relevance: You always need to evaluate the very practical relevance of the research question as well as its potential impact on society. Here, it would help if you always considered the importance of addressing your own research gap as you identified it.

Here, you also need to assess whether your findings can contribute to the original theoretical framework and offer all the practical solutions for leading to the policy recommendations. These practical ads are relevant to the research paper and trigger its impact.

Consulting With the Experts and Peers: You always need to engage you’re discussing with your mentors, peers, and experts in your own field of study. Here, you always need to seek their opinions and perspectives on the research question to identify potential research gaps.

These can provide valuable insights into assumption challenges, and this helps you refine your research work. Your peers and experts can give you a new idea and help you identify the errors in your thinking.

Conducting Your Pilot Study: You need to conduct it to test the viability and feasibility of the research question. This pilot study provides you with feedback and data on the research design, approach and methodology.

This also helps you identify the potential limitations or challenges that need to be solved before conducting the full research studies.

Reflecting and Refining: You need to vividly reflect on the research progress to refine your research preferences. You need to add the objectives. As you go deeper into your research process, additional research gaps may be uncovered to refine your own research needs.

If you follow this process, you can adapt your own approach to ensure the research gaps.

As per the example of the research gap, identifying your research gap allows your research to contribute to gaining more knowledge to address the pre-existing limitations.

This way, you will understand the existing literature to define a crystal clear research statement. You can identify the research gaps by analyzing the existing studies to consider their relevance. According to the research gap finder, if you consult with your peers, doing all the pilot studies reflects on your research process progress.

If you follow the guide mentioned above, you can always embark on meaningful research studies to trigger your knowledge in your subject area and make a prominent contribution to your field.

Also Read: Struggling with Research Paper Writing?

Different Types of Research Gaps

Identifying research gaps is essential for advancing knowledge in any field. Research gaps are areas where more information is available or existing research needs to be more consistent or conclusive. Here are different types of research gaps:

• Evidence Gap

This gap occurs when no empirical evidence supports certain theories, practices, or interventions. It can also refer to areas where existing studies need to sufficiently cover the topic or lack rigorous methodological approaches.

Example: A need for randomized controlled trials on the effectiveness of a new drug.

• Knowledge Gap

This gap refers to areas where there is a deficiency in understanding or awareness about a particular topic. It can be due to outdated information, incomplete research, or the absence of research on emerging issues.

Example: Limited knowledge about the long-term effects of exposure to new environmental pollutants.

• Theoretical Gap

Theoretical gaps arise when existing theories do not fully explain certain phenomena or when there is a lack of theoretical frameworks to guide research in a particular area.

Example: More theoretical models need to be developed to explain the psychological impacts of social media usage on teenagers.

• Methodological Gap

Methodological gaps exist when current research methods are inadequate for addressing certain research questions or when there is a need for new or improved methodologies.

Example: More robust qualitative methods are needed to study the experiences of marginalized communities.

• Population Gap

This type of gap occurs when certain populations are underrepresented in research. It can involve demographics like age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or geographic location.

Example: Lack of research on the mental health of older adults living in rural areas.

Geographical Gap

Geographical gaps refer to areas or regions that are under-researched. These gaps highlight the need for studies in different geographic contexts to understand local issues better.

Example: Limited studies on the effects of climate change in the Arctic regions.

Strategies to Identify Research Gaps:

• Literature Reviews: Comprehensive reviews can help identify where current research is lacking or inconsistent.
• Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: These methods provide a structured approach to synthesize existing research and identify gaps.
• Expert Consultations: Discussions with experts in the field can uncover areas that require further investigation.
• Research Databases: Utilizing databases and citation analysis tools to track research trends and identify under-researched areas.
• Interdisciplinary Approaches: Engaging with multiple disciplines can reveal gaps that are not apparent within a single field.

Understanding and addressing these gaps is crucial for advancing research and knowledge across various domains.

Read More: How To Get A+ Grade In Research Paper?

What is a Research Gap Example?

A Research Paper Example gives you a very clear idea of how to find your research gaps and examples in textual forms. A few examples are given below:

• Context Healthcare: Although there have been enough researchers on the management of diabetes, there has been a research gap in understanding the impact of digital health interventions in the rural areas of Europe.
• Content environmental science: In a wealth of research regarding the huge environmental pollution caused by the use of plastics, there are fewer findings of how the plastic material really accumulates in certain areas like lakes, rivers, etc. and why these materials are never biodegradable.
• Context Education: The empirical research surrounding the online mode has become tremendously popular over the past few years. However, there needs to be more solid studies regarding the impact of the online learning process on the students who need special education. In each of these examples, you can see that the writer begins by acknowledging the preexisting reach results and then explains thoroughly the present area where the research gap really exists.

Also Read: Why Research Is Essential For Students? 20 Common Reasons!

How to Find a Research Gap?

After getting a very clear idea of various types of research gaps, the vet’s next question comes to mind is how to find a research gap. There is a basic 2 step strategy to find the research gap.

In the beginning, you need to find a lot of literature reviews, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews covering your research area of interest. Moreover, it would help if you dug into the very recent journals for wrapping your head in your own knowledge area.

Here, you can also study the current theses and dissertations, especially those in the doctoral degree courses. A number of dissertation databases, such as Open Access, EBSCO, Pro-Quest, etc., are very useful in this regard. Here. You also need to ensure that you are always looking for the most recent sources.

After gathering a good collection of these resources, you need to focus on further research opportunities. In this section, you need to state explicitly where more studies are needed. It would help if you also looked at the present research study’s limitation areas and where the research gaps might exist.

Following this procedure will help you become oriented to the present research area. This can serve as a foundation for finding the potential research gaps. Then, you need to shortlist the main ideas and evaluate them as per the given topic. It would help if you also looked only for the recent articles here.

Also Read:  Expert Literature Review Writing Services

How to Deal with Literature Gap?

In any project, a literature review is always very important. It helps you in identifying your excusing knowledge, methods and theories in your own field. However, conducting a literature review has its own challenges.

• Defiling your research question: The very first step is to define your own research question very clearly and briefly. It will help you narrow your scope and focus on the crucial sources. It would help if you used less information here. Your research must always be very specific, answerable, and original. The research project always needs to have real objectives and a purpose.
• Searching and selecting the sources: Your next step is to search and select the sources. That is very much reliable and relevant to your research field. There are a number of databases, like keywords, search engines, etc., related to your study field. However, there are also a lot of limitations to these tools, like currency, coverage, and quality of the sources. Here, certain criteria have to be applied to filter the sources, such as relevance, authority, timeline, and accuracy of the information.
• Analyzing and synthesizing the literature: This is the third step, where you need to analyze and synthesize the literature you selected. Here, you need to summarize the sources and compare, contrast and critique them. In this section, you also need to look for the similarities and differences, the strengths and weaknesses, and the gaps and inconsistencies of the literature review paper. The writers can also identify the major trends, themes, and debates in the discussed field. These should also be related to your research question.
• Fill in the gaps after identifying them: This is the 4th step to filling the literature review research paper. This gap needs to be addressed or is under the researched area and is to be addressed by you with the help of your knowledge. These gaps can be filled by looking for the limitations, contradictions or controversies in the review. You can also do this by asking new questions or proposing new ideas. The gaps can also be filled by providing the newest evidence, arguments or even insights related to your field of study.
• Organizing and structuring the literature review: This is the 5th step of your review, where you need to organize and structure the whole paper in a compact and logical manner. Here, you always need to follow certain guidelines as given by your institute and use the best style and font. Proper headings, subheading citations, and traditions should also be used here. This will help your readers follow your arguments and understand what you want to say. A very clear introduction should also be written, along with a good conclusion and summary to highlight your writing.
• Refining and Revising: The literature review is the final step of writing your literature review. Here, you need to ensure that your review is quite accurate, concise and clear. You must check your literature review thoroughly to make it free from errors, gaps, or inconsistencies in language, content, or presentation. Here, you can also seek feedback from your peers, experts or supervisors in your own field. Their suggestions will help you in performing well. The whore literature review should be thoroughly proofread and edited before the final submission.

Last but not least, never copy from any source; it will be considered plagiarism, and your paper will be cancelled then and there. Thus, write only from your own creativity and not from the writing and articles of other writers.

Read More: Dissertation Literature Review For Masters & PhD

Final Words

Writing a research paper is a challenging task. It would help if you had a lot of Research Skills to accomplish it. You will be given a Research topic on which you have to write. Your ultimate aim in writing the research paper is to get the top grade. This can be done by availing of the best online Case Study Help Service from a reliable provider. The Casestudyhelp is the best choice for you in this respect.

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A Comprehensive Guide to Finding Research Gaps

 Identifying Research Gaps to Pursue Innovative Research

When scientists and researchers look for new things to study , they need to find out what’s missing in current knowledge. This missing piece is called a research gap. Finding a research gap is crucial because it helps researchers focus their efforts on areas that need more investigation. This can lead to new findings, better solutions, or even groundbreaking discoveries.

 How to Identify a Research Gap?

Identifying a research gap can be a bit like solving a mystery. here’s how you can go about it:.

• Read Lots of Studies: Start by reading existing research papers on your topic . Look for patterns, questions that haven’t been answered, or any areas where the research seems incomplete.
• Ask Questions: Think about questions that come to mind when you read these studies. What do you wonder about? What’s missing?
• Look at Recent Developments: Science and technology are always changing. Check out the latest studies to see if there are any new discoveries that haven’t been fully explored yet.
• Talk to Experts: Sometimes, talking to people who are already experts in your field can give you clues about where research is needed.
• Analyze Trends: Use tools like Google Scholar or research databases to find out which areas of research are being talked about the most and where there might be gaps.

 Different Types of Research Gaps

Research gaps can come in different forms. here’s a breakdown of some common types:.

• Knowledge Gaps: These are areas where there’s not enough information or understanding. For example, if scientists know a lot about how a disease works but don’t fully understand why it behaves in a certain way, that’s a knowledge gap.
• Conceptual Gaps: These occur when existing theories or models are not adequate. For instance, if current theories about a concept don’t fully explain recent observations, it indicates a conceptual gap.
• Methodological Gaps: These gaps arise when there’s a need for better methods or techniques. Maybe existing methods are outdated or not suitable for new types of research.
• Data Gaps: Sometimes, there isn’t enough data available on a topic. This could be due to a lack of studies, poor data collection methods, or incomplete datasets.
• Practical Gaps: These involve problems that are not addressed by existing research but are important in real-world situations. For example, research might be done in a lab setting but not in everyday conditions.

 Examples of Research Gaps

Here are some real-world examples to help you understand research gaps better:.

• Limited Understanding of the Underlying Mechanisms of a Disease: Researchers might know that a disease affects people in certain ways but don’t fully understand the underlying biological processes. This is a knowledge gap.
• Inconsistencies in the Findings of Previous Research: Sometimes, different studies on the same topic give conflicting results . This inconsistency points to a need for more research to clarify these differences.
• Limited Research on Emerging Technologies: New technologies often don’t have enough research behind them. For instance, while we might have a lot of information on traditional medical treatments , there may be fewer studies on new, experimental treatments.

 How to Deal with Literature Gap?

A literature gap is when there’s not enough research on a topic. here’s how you can deal with it:.

• Conduct Your Own Research: If you notice a literature gap, you might want to fill it by conducting your own research. This could mean doing experiments, surveys, or other studies to gather new data.
• Collaborate with Others: Work with other researchers to combine your knowledge and resources. Collaboration can help cover more ground and address gaps more effectively.
• Review and Update Existing Studies: Sometimes, updating and reviewing existing studies can help fill in gaps. This might involve synthesizing information from different sources to get a clearer picture.

 Tools to Help Your Search

Several tools can help you find and analyze research gaps:.

• Google Scholar: A free search engine for scholarly articles . It helps you find relevant research papers and track citations.
• PubMed: A database for medical and life sciences research. It’s useful for finding studies and reviews in these fields.
• ResearchGate: A network where researchers share their work. You can ask questions and get feedback from other experts.
• Bibliographic Software: Tools like EndNote or Zotero help manage your research references and organize your sources.

 Frequently Asked Questions

What if i can’t find a research gap.

Sometimes, gaps can be subtle or not immediately obvious. Keep exploring different topics, and consider discussing with mentors or colleagues who might offer new perspectives.

Can research gaps change over time?

Yes, as new research is conducted and technology advances, new gaps can appear, and existing gaps can be filled. It’s important to stay updated with the latest developments in your field.

How do I know if my research gap is important?

An important research gap is one that has significant implications for your field or has the potential to lead to new discoveries. Assess the impact of addressing the gap and consider its relevance to current issues.

Finding research gaps is an essential step in conducting meaningful and innovative research. By understanding and identifying these gaps, you can contribute to the advancement of knowledge and make a real difference in your field. So, start your adventure today and explore the exciting possibilities that lie in the unexplored areas of research!

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The Best Method In Identifying Research Gap: An In-depth Analysis

What is research gap.

A research gap refers to an area or topic that has not been sufficiently explored or studied, leaving unanswered questions or unresolved issues. This article will provide an overview of the research gaps concept and their significance in the research process. It will also discuss the importance of identifying research gaps and how they can be used to formulate research objectives and problem statements. Additionally, this section will explore various techniques and strategies for conducting research gap analysis and bridging the gap between existing knowledge and future research endeavors.

Background of Research Gap

In the world of research, identifying and addressing research gaps is a crucial step towards advancing knowledge and understanding in a particular field. A research gap refers to an area in the existing body of knowledge where there is a lack of research or unanswered questions. In other words, it is a gap in the literature that needs to be addressed through further research.

Research gaps can occur for various reasons, such as a lack of studies on a specific topic, contradictory findings in existing research, or the emergence of new ideas or concepts that have not been explored. Identifying research gaps is crucial for the advancement of knowledge and the development of new research questions. By filling these gaps, researchers can contribute to the existing body of knowledge and address unanswered questions.

Furthermore, research gaps provide opportunities for researchers to make significant contributions to their field by conducting innovative and impactful studies. Understanding the background of research gaps is essential for researchers to identify areas where their research can make a meaningful impact.

Significance of Research Gap

The research gap plays a crucial role in the field of academia and scientific research. It holds significant importance for researchers, scholars, and the overall advancement of knowledge.

Contributing to Knowledge and Developing New Theories

One of the primary reasons why the research gap is significant is that it identifies areas where there is a lack of knowledge or understanding. It highlights the gaps in existing research, indicating the need for further investigation and exploration. By identifying research gaps, researchers can contribute to the existing body of knowledge by filling in the missing pieces. This leads to the development of new theories, concepts, and insights that can enhance our understanding of a particular subject or field.

Fostering Innovation and Progress through Unexplored Areas

Furthermore, the significance of research gaps lies in their potential to drive innovation and progress. When researchers identify areas that have not been extensively studied, they have the opportunity to explore new ideas, methodologies, and approaches. This can lead to groundbreaking discoveries and advancements in various disciplines.

Efficient Utilization of Resources to Avoid Duplication

Moreover, research gaps also help in avoiding duplication of efforts. By identifying what has already been studied and what areas are yet to be explored, researchers can focus their efforts on addressing the gaps rather than repeating existing research. This ensures that resources are utilized effectively and efficiently.

Impacting Practical Applications and Real-World Solutions

Additionally, the significance of research gaps extends to the practical application of research findings. By addressing the gaps in existing knowledge, researchers can provide valuable insights and solutions to real-world problems. This can have a direct impact on industries, policy-making, and decision-making processes. In conclusion, the significance of research gaps cannot be overstated. They serve as catalysts for knowledge advancement, innovation, and practical application. By identifying and addressing these gaps, researchers contribute to the growth and development of their respective fields, ultimately benefiting society as a whole.

Research Gap Examples

Identifying research gaps is crucial for pursuing innovative research. There are various types of research gaps that can be found in existing literature.

Knowledge gaps

Sometimes, a research gap exists when there is a concept or new idea that hasn’t been studied at all. For example, in the field of psychology, there might be a lack of research on the effects of social media on mental health in adolescents.

Conceptual gaps

Conceptual gaps occur when there is a lack of understanding or clarity about a particular concept or theory. For instance, in the field of economics, there might be a research gap in understanding the relationship between income inequality and economic growth.

Methodological gaps

Methodological gaps refer to the absence of appropriate research methods or techniques to study a specific phenomenon. For example, in the field of biology, there might be a research gap in developing a reliable method to detect a certain type of genetic mutation.

Data gaps occur when there is a lack of available data or insufficient data to address a research question. For instance, in the field of climate science, there might be a research gap in obtaining long-term temperature data for a specific region.

Practical gaps

Practical gaps exist when there is a discrepancy between theoretical knowledge and practical application. For example, in the field of education, there might be a research gap in implementing effective teaching strategies for students with learning disabilities.

Research Gap Analysis Techniques

Carry out a comprehensive literature review.

There are several techniques that can be used to identify research gaps. One common technique is conducting a comprehensive literature review, where researchers examine existing research papers, articles, books, and other relevant sources. By analyzing these materials, researchers can pinpoint what has already been explored and identify areas that require further investigation.

Examining Limitations and Contradictions in Existing Studies

During the literature review, researchers should pay attention to the limitations and gaps in the existing studies. These limitations can include unanswered research questions, contradictory findings, methodological issues, or areas that have not been explored in depth. Researchers can also gain insights by comparing and contrasting the findings, methodologies, and conclusions of different studies within their field, which helps in building a more complete understanding of the topic.

Exploring Interdisciplinary Insights to Identify Gaps

Additionally, researchers can seek inspiration from interdisciplinary fields or related disciplines to identify research gaps. Sometimes, a research gap in one field may have been addressed in another field, and researchers can draw upon these insights to identify areas that have not been explored within their own field. It is important to note that identifying research gaps is not a one-time process. As new studies are published and the field evolves, new gaps may emerge. Therefore, researchers should continuously update their knowledge and review the literature to stay informed about the latest developments and identify new research gaps.

Utilizing Surveys and Interviews for Direct Insights

Another technique is conducting surveys or interviews . This allows researchers to gather information directly from individuals who are knowledgeable in the field. Surveys can be distributed to a large number of participants, while interviews provide more in-depth insights from a smaller group of experts. By collecting data through surveys or interviews, researchers can identify gaps in knowledge or areas where more research is needed. Focus groups are another effective technique for conducting a research gap analysis. In a focus group, a small group of individuals with relevant expertise or experience is brought together to discuss a specific topic. Through group discussions and interactions, researchers can gain valuable insights and identify gaps in knowledge or areas that require further investigation.

Employing Quantitative Analysis to Discover Data Gaps

Quantitative analysis techniques, such as statistical analysis, can also be used to identify research gaps. By analyzing existing data sets, researchers can identify patterns, trends, or gaps in the data that may indicate areas where further research is needed. This type of analysis can provide valuable insights into the gaps in existing knowledge and guide future research directions.

Applying Gap Analysis Frameworks for Structured Assessment

In addition to these techniques, researchers can also use gap analysis frameworks or models to systematically identify and analyze research gaps. These frameworks provide a structured approach to assess the current state of knowledge, determine the desired future state, and identify the gaps that need to be addressed. By using a framework, researchers can ensure a comprehensive analysis of research gaps and develop strategies to bridge those gaps.

Research Gap and Problem Statement

A research problem is a specific issue or question that a researcher wants to investigate. It is the foundation of a research study and provides a clear direction for the research process. The identification of a research gap often leads to the formulation of a research problem.

The problem statement is a constructed sentence that defines the research problem and guides the research question. It helps to clarify the purpose of the study and provides a framework for the research design and research methodology. By addressing the research gap through the problem statement, researchers can contribute to the existing body of knowledge and fill the void in the literature. The research problem becomes the focal point of the study, and the research gap serves as the motivation for conducting the research.

Identifying a research gap and formulating a problem statement are crucial steps in the research process. They ensure that the research study is relevant, meaningful, and contributes to the advancement of knowledge in the field. As a key component of the research framework , the problem statement integrates directly into the overall structure that guides the entire research process, ensuring that all aspects of the investigation are aligned with the identified gaps and research questions.

Bridging the Research Gap

Bridging the research gap is crucial for the advancement of knowledge and the improvement of various fields. It involves closing the divide between research findings and their practical application in real-world settings. By bridging this gap, researchers can ensure that their work has a meaningful impact on society and that it is effectively utilized by practitioners and policymakers.

Effective Collaboration between Researchers and Practitioners

There are several strategies and approaches that can be employed to bridge the research gap. One practical way is to establish collaborations and partnerships between researchers and practitioners. By working together, researchers can gain valuable insights from practitioners’ experiences and expertise, while practitioners can benefit from the latest research findings and evidence-based practices. This collaboration can lead to the development of more relevant and effective solutions to real-world problems.

For facilitating such connections and collaborations, platforms like Researchmate.net are invaluable resources, providing the tools and community needed to bring together researchers and practitioners from diverse fields.

Intermediary Organizations in Facilitating Research Application

Another approach to bridging the research gap is through the use of intermediary organizations. These organizations act as a bridge between researchers and practitioners, facilitating the translation and dissemination of research findings into practical applications. They can provide training, resources, and support to practitioners, helping them to implement evidence-based practices in their work. Intermediary organizations also play a crucial role in promoting knowledge exchange and collaboration between researchers and practitioners.

Enhancing Communication and Knowledge Transfer in Research

Furthermore, bridging the research gap requires effective communication and knowledge transfer. Researchers need to communicate their findings in a clear and accessible manner, using language that is understandable to practitioners and policymakers. This can be achieved through the use of plain language summaries, policy briefs, and other forms of knowledge translation.

Engaging with Practitioners and Policymakers

Additionally, researchers should actively engage with practitioners and policymakers, seeking their input and feedback to ensure that research findings are relevant and applicable to real-world contexts.

In conclusion, exploring the research gap is a critical step in the research process. It helps researchers identify areas where further investigation is needed, contributes to the advancement of knowledge, and drives innovation. By understanding the research gap, researchers can make meaningful contributions to their field and address unanswered questions. Bridging the research gap requires collaboration and commitment from all stakeholders, but the potential benefits are immense.

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Research integrity: online training tool mind the gap.

What and how

'Mind the GAP' is an English-language online training tool for all researchers and all those involved in research, from PhD students to more experienced researchers, to trainers/teachers and policy makers. The focus is on research integrity and the promotion of good research practices in all disciplines.

The tool is part of the Ufora learning platform and can be accessed by anyone with an Ufora account via the following link: https://ufora.ugent.be/d2l/le/discovery/view/course/451494

If you do not have a Ufora account, you can create one through 'Registration for non-UGent users' (‘Registratie voor niet-UGent gebruikers’) on the Ufora homepage ( https://ufora.ugent.be ). After logging in, you can register in the course site via 'Registration in course' (‘Inschrijven in cursus’ - right menu) by searching for ‘Mind the GAP’.

PhD students who wish to valorize this course as a transferable skill seminar (cluster: research & valorization) in their doctoral training program, can do so by submitting the course certificate of successful completion to the Doctoral Schools through their recognition procedure.

Mind the GAP focuses on different topics within the concept of research integrity. It offers support for good research practices in all phases of research; from research design, over data management to reporting of research results with attention to preregistration, FAIR data, authorship, peer review, and many other topics.

A separate module is dedicated to the relationship between PhD students and their mentors. But also themes such as dealing with conflicts of interest, science communication, gender and diversity and the evaluation of research(ers) are discussed.

Although all themes are approached from their link with research integrity, such a tool can only be complete if related themes are also dealt with, such as the use of personal data (GDPR), privacy legislation and ethics.

The basis is the European Code of Conduct for Scientific Integrity, or the ALLEA Code .

After successful participation in the tool (compulsory completion of modules 1 to 4), you can take a test (10 ad random questions). With a result of 80% or more, you will receive a certificate as proof of your efforts and knowledge.

The tool is not just a sequence of texts but combines many forms of learning and is based on the experience that universities have with online learning, blended learning and lifelong learning. Exercises and a detailed test ensure self-reflection and a greater awareness of all aspects of integrity.

Origin context

The tool was developed jointly by VLIR and the five Flemish universities and was financed by the Flemish government.

Mind the GAP already received an honourable mention as one of the best 10 submissions (out of 43) for a call of the European Council for Best Practices in Promoting Academic Integrity during COVID-19 .

If you have any questions regarding the tool or its use, please contact [email protected] .

• Authorship: authorship roles (contribution disclosure – author(ship) contribution statements) (Write)
• Authorship: conditions to be included as an author (Write)
• Authorship: what is the Ghent University policy? (Write)
• Research integrity: a suspicion of violation– what to do? (Research integrity & ethics)
• Research integrity: ALLEA code – European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (Research integrity & ethics)
• Research integrity: Commission for Research Integrity (Research integrity & ethics)
• Research integrity: reasons to care (Research integrity & ethics)
• Research integrity: the 'slippery slope' from good to bad (Research integrity & ethics)
• Research integrity: what is it about? (Research integrity & ethics)

Translated tip

• Wetenschappelijke integriteit: online trainingstool Mind the GAP
• integriteit
• kwaliteitsbeoordeling
• quality assessment
• Research integrity & ethics

Last modified Oct. 2, 2023, 2:59 p.m.

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Academic Research and the Expert-Novice Gap: Helping Students Understand the Purpose of Research (Virtual Event)

October 3, 2024 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Save to Calendar

Experienced researchers tend to think about research as an ongoing and iterative process in which individual researchers contribute their findings to an ongoing conversation within or across disciplines. However, as novice researchers, students may have a very different understanding of the purpose of research. The lack of a shared understanding of the goals and process of research may contribute to the frustration that students and instructors often have related to student performance on research or inquiry-based assignments.

This free virtual workshop will explore the expert-novice gap in relation to the purpose and process of academic research. Participants will learn strategies and activities that they can use to help students develop their understanding of the purpose and process of research.

For those affiliated with Ohio State, this workshop counts as credit toward the  Teaching Information Literacy endorsement  from the Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning.

This virtual program will include automated captioning. If you require an accommodation such as live captioning or interpretation to participate in this event, please email  [email protected]  as soon as possible. Requests made at least one week prior to the event will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the university will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.

Event Organizer

Medical research suffers from sex and gender bias. New standards hope to change that

ABC Health & Wellbeing

Topic: Women's Health

Considering sex and gender in health and medical research can improve health outcomes and reduce inequities. ( Getty Images: Tetra Images )

Evidence suggests there are clinically significant sex and gender differences across a broad range of diseases but these often aren't factored into research and treatment.

Australia's largest health and medical research funding body has recommended sex, gender, variations of sex characteristics and sexual orientation be routinely considered in health and medical research.

What's next?

Experts say the new recommendations need to be incorporated into research funding applications to ensure research is more inclusive and equitable.

When Cheryl Carcel was in medical school, little attention was paid to the role that sex and gender can play in the detection and treatment of many major diseases.

"We weren't taught that men and women might present differently or have different outcomes."

Associate Professor Cheryl Carcel is a neurologist and head of the Brain Health Program at The George Institute for Global Health. ( Supplied: The George Institute of Global Health )

But Dr Carcel, a neurologist and head of the Brain Health Program at The George Institute for Global Health, said in her own field — and many other areas of medicine — such differences were stark.

Last year, she co-authored a study investigating the medical care that people with stroke receive before arriving at hospital in NSW , and found women were less likely to have their stroke recognised compared to men.

"[Women] were thought to be having a migraine, high blood pressure, or some type of headache or nausea," she said.

"And we think one of the reasons is because some of the symptoms of women are not recognised as being stroke."

Stroke isn't unique in this regard: women are less likely to be diagnosed and appropriately treated if they suffer a serious heart attack , less likely to have chronic pain acknowledged and treated , and more likely to be misdiagnosed or discharged during a serious medical event .

Bronwyn Graham, director of the Centre for Sex and Gender Equity in Health and Medicine, said part of the reason was because women had been under-represented in medical research for decades.

"Our models of how diseases emerge in humans, the ways they look and the ways they can be treated, are based on the male body, and those findings don't always translate," said Professor Graham.

"The consequence is that we see poorer health outcomes and treatments that are not evidence-based for certain sex and gender groups."

Major funding body calls for attention on sex and gender

In early August, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) released a statement encouraging sex, gender, variations of sex characteristics and sexual orientation to be routinely considered in health and medical research.

The NHMRC is the largest public funder of health and medical research in Australia and distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in research grants every year, including through the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).

"What it means in practice is that researchers should consider these variables at all stages of the research process," said Professor Graham, who is also a professor of psychology at the University of New South Wales.

"So that's from the very start (what questions should we be asking?)  through to the conduct of the study (do we have equal representation of sexes and genders?) to how data are analysed and reported … and then how things get translated into healthcare practices."

Gender bias in medicine means conditions that primarily affect women and other under-represented groups have been understudied and are therefore less understood. ( Getty Images: dragana991 )

A growing body of evidence suggests there are clinically significant sex and gender differences across a broad range of diseases , from susceptibility and screening to risk factors, treatment and prognosis.

The aim of the statement, according to the NHMRC, is to improve health outcomes and ensure medical research produces evidence that is relevant to all people.

It encourages researchers to increase the representation and involvement of historically under-represented groups, including women, trans and non-binary people, people with variations of sex characteristics (intersex) and diverse sexual orientations.

A recent study showed while women were over-represented in research perceived to 'female-patient' dominated, they were they were significantly under-represented in other areas, such as cardiology.

Meanwhile, intersex and non-binary people were found to be severely under-represented across all areas of medical research.

"Women are often the people who are missing out here — women, intersex, trans and non-binary folk," Professor Graham said.

"We see in practice, for example, that women are 50 per cent more likely to have adverse reactions to drugs and vaccines than men; that pain medications don't work as effectively in women as they do in men; and that women are more likely to develop chronic pain conditions and addictions to pain medication."

Professor Bronwyn Graham is director of the Centre for Sex and Gender Equity in Health and Medicine, a collaboration of The George Institute, Deakin University and the Australian Human Rights Institute at UNSW. ( Supplied: The George Institute of Global Health )

In Australia, research shows women disproportionately experience delayed diagnosis, overprescribing, and a failure to have their symptoms properly investigated .

Professor Graham said that failing to consider biological and physical characteristics in research, as well as gender roles and behaviours, also meant that men miss out.

"If we're looking at things in a sex- and gender-blind fashion, we're also not thinking about what are the unique things about men that we need to pay attention to that might actually impact the prognosis of an illness … and also response to treatment."

Australia lags behind on sex and gender equity

Last year, a study co-authored by Dr Carcel found just 30 per cent of health and medical research publications in Australia analysed their findings by sex and/or gender.

"The NHMRC statement is groundbreaking for Australia," she said.

"It's not meant to increase the pool of researchers who focus on these variables, but is for all researchers applying for NHMRC and MRFF grants."

Historically, the tendency to conduct scientific research on men and generalise the findings, including to women, has been driven largely by concerns over potential harm to the female reproductive system.

Martha Hickey, a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Melbourne, said the exclusion of women was also a product of the misguided belief that female hormonal fluctuations may affect the reliability of study results.

"There were a number of false assumptions made at different levels," said Professor Hickey, an NHMRC Leadership Fellow.

"I think all of us have been surprised by how far down this goes. It wasn't just about [research on] people, it was also animals, and even cell-based research." 

Professor Hickey, who contributed to the development of the new NHMRC statement, said when it came to recognising sex and gender differences, Australia lagged behind Europe and North America.

"The Americans have been doing this for more than 20 years, by which I mean stating that there needs to be equal numbers of males and females and other important variable groups taken into consideration," she said.

"I think we've all learnt that research is better if it's inclusive, and it's more likely to be taken up."

Research grants should reflect new recommendations, experts say

While Professor Graham described the statement as "an incredibly positive step", she expressed concern that the new recommendations were not yet "written into policy".

"There is nowhere in the grant application process where researchers are required to indicate how they have taken sex, gender, variations of sex characteristics and sexual orientation into account."

Traditionally, researchers have worked with male lab animals and primarily used men in clinical trials. ( Getty Images: SolStock )

In some circumstances, having equal gender representation or analysing data by sex may not be necessary, but she said researchers should still have clear reasoning as to why.

"They should still need to justify the sample: how is it actually representative? Is the research being conducted in the population that stands to benefit from this research?"

Dr Carcel agreed, and said the statement should be followed up with an implementation and evaluation plan requiring sex and gender to be addressed in grant applications where appropriate.

A spokesperson for the NHMRC said researchers and their institutions were being "encouraged to reflect on the statement and start doing what they can now", but no formal requirement was in place.

"The next phase of work will include consideration of how to incorporate the statement in granting processes," the spokesperson said.

Improving knowledge and healthcare requires sector-wide change

In addition to funding bodies, Dr Carcel stressed that universities, medical research institutes, and health and medical journals had a significant role to play in improving sex and gender equity.

"[Journal editors] act as gatekeepers of bad science, and bad science is what we get if we don't include sex and gender into our research."

Professor Graham agreed: "The places in which we practise research have a huge amount of control over our code of conduct. If [universities and medical research institutes] implement their own policies, that is a further support to ensure things like the NHMRC statement can gain momentum."

In 2023, the NHMRC introduced measures to ensure an equal number of men and women were awarded senior investigator grants , which Professor Hickey said would also help to "change the nature of research".

She added that there had been a major "feminisation" of the medical workforce and that awareness of sex and gender differences was "much more apparent" than in the past, but that improvements in knowledge wouldn't solve the problem alone.

"The bias isn't only around clinicians not understanding how women may present, it also appears to be how doctors and other health personnel respond to them," she said.

In a recent survey of almost 3,000 Australian women, two in three reported health care-related bias and discrimination , with many women feeling dismissed and disbelieved.

"We've got a lot to learn," Professor Hickey said.

Health in your inbox

Global Yield Gap Atlas

The Global Yield Gap Atlas (GYGA) offers high-quality and locally relevant data on yield potentials and yield gaps, water productivity, nutrient requirements, and other agronomically relevant data such as weather, soil and crop management. GYGA has coverage of up to 13 food crops across 70+ countries. Over the past five years, the platform has achieved over 30,000 data downloads by users from private, public and non-profit sectors and many more website visitors.

Feeding a growing population within ecological planetary boundaries is one of the grand tasks of humankind in the 21st century and at the heart of multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While how this is done will vary across the world, as influenced by each country’s phase of economic development, culture, and endowments of climate, soil, and water resources, in all cases effective priority setting for research and development requires accurate data on crop yields and use of natural resources, achieved with both current production methods and improved ones. This insight reveals the scope to enhance production with sustainable use of finite natural resources and limited environmental impact. Effective priority setting also requires sufficient local and global rigour of the data to allow for well-informed and well-targeted interventions in terms of geographical regions, agricultural systems, and ex-ante assessment of potential impact. To fill this void, the Global Yield Gap Atlas ( GYGA ) was established in 2011 with the goal of providing public access to accurate estimates of actual and potential yields, yield gaps and the use of land, water and nutrients for all key production areas of major food crops worldwide.

Project description

To make this a feasible proposition, GYGA scientists developed a novel “bottom-up” spatial framework to organise soil, climate, and cropping system data, which in turn enabled focus on the key production areas of the most important food crops in each food-producing country. The framework thus minimises the number of locations from which data are required to obtain robust estimates of yield gaps and required water and nutrient inputs at regional and national scale. Preference for use of primary data and the need for local knowledge of agronomic practices used to produce the major food crops also drives the need for collaboration with leading agronomists in countries that are included in the Atlas. GYGA now provides a rigorous, publicly available global database that can simultaneously address questions that involve trade-offs among food production, finite resources and environmental impact.

GYGA is used for three overall purposes: a. a foundation for detailed on-the-ground studies to understand yield gaps and identify options for increasing food production while conserving natural resources; b. ex-ante and ex-post impact assessment of R&D investments and technology use; c. quantitative foresight studies on food security and natural resources.

In summary, the GYGA collaboration has developed a robust methodology for estimating yield gaps at local to global scale and the database as well as the methods and underpinning data are made available to the public for research and education. As such, it is now the world’s leading agronomic database on crop yield gaps and natural resource use supported by transparent and detailed protocols and expertise from national experts worldwide. It provides decision makers with robust data to develop pathways in sustainable agricultural development and resource use and conservation.

Since 2011, the platform has achieved almost 25,000 data downloads by private/public/non-profit sectors including agricultural input companies (e.g. seeds, agrochemicals, biostimulants), consultancy companies, financial agencies, governments, donors, research institutions, and NGOs as reference points for strategic decision making and research on yield optimisation. The project resulted in many, often highly-cited, publications (see below). Since 2020 it has a value creation programme with licenses and sponsors.

Publications

Daily bias-corrected weather data and daily simulated growth data of maize, millet, sorghum, and wheat in the changing climate of sub-saharan africa, intensifying rice production to reduce imports and land conversion in africa, climate change impact and adaptation of rainfed cereal crops in sub-saharan africa, grain legume production in europe for food, feed and meat-substitution.

More From Forbes

Amd narrows the gap with nvidia in new mlperf benchmarks.

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New benchmark results from AMD, Untether AI, Google, Intel, and Nvidia demonstrate the converging AI silicon performance competition. However, system design, networking, and software make AI sing and dance. And that’s where Nvidia excels.

Finally, I can stop whining about AMD’s lack of open AI benchmarks. AMD has published excellent MLPerf inference results for their MI300 GPU, which is competitive with the Nvidia H100, although only on a single benchmark. Canadian startup Untether.ai also published new inference benchmarks showing their power efficiency. Let’s take a look.

The MLPerf Inference 4.1 Benchmark Suite

The MLCommons industry consortium, which controls and publishes the MLPerf benchmarks, has extended the twice-annual inference benchmark suite with a new one for the increasingly popular mixture-of-experts (MoE) AI models. MoE models combine multiple models to improve accuracy and lower the training costs of huge LLM models, like OpenAI’s GPT-4. AMD did not publish an MoE benchmark, but now that they have broken the benchmarking ice, an AMD spokesperson indicated we could see more shortly.

MLCommons has added a mixture of Experts model to its suite of AI benchmarks.

Its is certainly encouraging to see submissions to MLPerf for new processors. Specifically in addition to the Nvidia Blackwell and the first AMD submissions, we now have selected benchmarks for Untether.ai, AMD’s next generation Turin CPU, Google’s Trillium TPUv6e accelerator, and Intel’s Granite Rapids Xeon CPU. We will focus here on Nvidia, AMD, and Untether.ai.

AMD is roughly on par with the Nvidia H100, while the H200 is 43% faster

While AMD has previously disclosed micro benchmarks that highlight raw theoretical performance, such as that of the math performance on the MI300, these do not reflect the complex world of AI stacks. The AMD marketing claims that the MI300 is the fastest AI GPU were not validated with this new benchmark, but it is in the ballpark of the H100 when running a real AI workload. The Nvidia H200, however, beat the MI300 by some 43% on the same benchmark.

New Password Hacking Warning For Gmail, Facebook And Amazon Users

Today’s nyt mini crossword clues and answers for wednesday, august 28th, microsoft update leak—good news revealed for 30% of windows users.

AMD is without a doubt, now competitive with the Nvidia H100

We note that the Llama 2 70B benchmark doesn’t really allow AMD to strut its stuff with respect to having a larger HBM to support larger models. Hopefully we will see them run the new Mixtral MoE in a future MLPerf release.

Nvidia published H200 benchmarks that top AMD, but only by a little.

Nvidia also published the first Blackwell benchmarks, demonstrating about four times the performance of the H100 on medium-sized models (Llama 2 70B). Nvidia recently shared more details on Blackwell NVL72 at HotChips, in which the NVSwitch interconnected infrastructure is supposed to deliver 30 times better inference performance than H200. Can’t wait to see actual (MLPerf) benchmarks for the flagship NVL72.

Nvidia showed that the Blackwell is indeed 30X faster than the H100 for extremely large models

Nvidia did publish results for the new MoE benchmark, which shows off the the H100 and H200. Nvidia also showed a 10% to 27% performance improvement for the H200 across the MLPerf benchmark suite, which should help users as they await Blackwell’s arrival in volume.

For those worried about the delay of Blackwell volume shipments, the H100 and H200 keep getting ... [+] faster with software improvements.

Untether.ai Demonstrates Power-efficient Inferencing

We have seen before that an ASIC can provide more efficient AI inference processing, as first demonstrated with the Qualcomm Cloud AI100. The challenge is that ASICs, unlike GPUSs, are one-trick-ponies. They can perhaps perform quite efficiently on, say, Resnet-50, but not so impressively on other models.

Untether.ai thinks they can break that mold, and have submitted exceptional power efficiency on Resnet-50 thats were on-par with the Nvidia H100-NV at a fraction of the power consumption.

Untether demonstrated excellent performance at low power

Ok, so how does the Untether platform perform on LLM’s? The engineers didn’t complete their optimization on the BERT benchmark in time for the MLPerf submission deadline, but they have since completed their work and shared the results with us. As you can see below, the company seems to have avoided the traps their predecessors fell into. They are showing comparable performance as an Nvidia H100-NVL, with over 3X advantage in energy efficiency.

Untether missed the submission deadline for BERT-Large, but the results indicate the platform has ... [+] exceptional energy efficiency for language models

Conclusions

Once again, as we have seen over the years, only Nvidia published results for every benchmark, and once again Nvidia demonstrated why they are the best AI infrastructure provider due to their full stack approach of custom CPU, GPU, software, system, and networking But at the chip level, there is now legitimate competition from AMD, at least on a single benchmark. While we may enter a period of leapfrogging, similar to what we saw decades ago with RISC CPUs, these differentiators for Nvidia will be durable, and should keep Team Green in the lead for at least the next 2-3 years.

Disclosures : This article expresses the opinions of the author and is not to be taken as advice to purchase from or invest in the companies mentioned. My firm, Cambrian-AI Research, is fortunate to have many semiconductor firms as our clients, including BrainChip, Cadence, Cerebras Systems, D-Matrix, Esperanto, Groq, IBM, Intel, Micron, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Graphcore, SImA,ai, Synopsys, Tenstorrent, Ventana Microsystems, and scores of investors. We have no investment positions in any of the companies mentioned in this article. For more information, please visit our website at https://cambrian-AI.com .

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Harris Energizes Democrats in Transformed Presidential Race

1. the presidential matchup: harris, trump, kennedy, table of contents.

• Other findings: Both Harris and Trump are viewed more favorably than a few months ago
• Voting preferences among demographic groups
• How have voters shifted their preferences since July?
• Harris’ supporters back her more strongly than Biden’s did last month
• Large gap in motivation to vote emerges between the candidates’ younger supporters
• Harris and Trump have gained ground with their own coalitions
• Share of ‘double negatives’ drops significantly with change in presidential candidates
• Views of Biden have changed little since his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race
• Acknowledgments
• The American Trends Panel survey methodology

Nationally, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are essentially tied among registered voters in the current snapshot of the presidential race: 46% prefer Harris, 45% prefer Trump and 7% prefer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Following Biden’s exit from the race, Trump’s support among voters has remained largely steady (44% backed him in July against Biden, while 45% back him against Harris today). However, Harris’ support is 6 percentage points higher than Biden’s was in July . In addition to holding on to the support of those who backed Biden in July, Harris’ bump has largely come from those who had previously said they supported or leaned toward Kennedy.

Harris performs best among the same demographic groups as Biden. But this coalition of voters is now much more likely to say they strongly support her: In July, 43% of Biden’s supporters characterized their support as strong – today, 62% of Harris’ do.

Overall, many of the same voting patterns that were evident in the Biden-Trump matchup from July continue to be seen today. Harris fares better than Trump among younger voters, Black voters, Asian voters and voters with college degrees. By comparison, the former president does better among older voters, White voters and voters without a college degree.

But Harris performs better than Biden across many of these groups – making the race tighter than it was just a few weeks ago.

• In July, women’s presidential preferences were split: 40% backed Biden, 40% preferred Trump and 17% favored Kennedy. With Harris at the top of the ticket, 49% of women voters now support her, while 42% favor Trump and 7% back Kennedy.
• Among men, Trump draws a similar level of support as he did in the race against Biden (49% today, compared with 48% in July). But the share of men who now say they support Harris has grown (to 44% today, up from 38% last month). As a result, Trump’s 10-point lead among men has narrowed to a 5-point lead today.

Race and ethnicity

Harris has gained substantial ground over Biden’s position in July among Black, Hispanic and Asian voters. Most of this movement is attributable to declining shares of support for Kennedy. Trump performs similarly among these groups as he did in July.

• 77% of Black voters support or lean toward Harris. This compares with 64% of Black voters who said they backed Biden a few weeks ago. Trump’s support is unchanged (13% then vs. 13% today). And while 21% of Black voters supported Kennedy in July, this has dropped to 7% in the latest survey.
• Hispanic voters now favor Harris over Trump by a 17-point margin (52% to 35%). In July, Biden and Trump were tied among Hispanic voters with 36% each.
• By about two-to-one, Asian voters support Harris (62%) over Trump (28%). Trump’s support among this group is essentially unchanged since July, but the share of Asian voters backing Harris is 15 points higher than the share who backed Biden in July.
• On balance, White voters continue to back Trump (52% Trump, 41% Harris), though that margin is somewhat narrower than it was in the July matchup against Biden (50% Trump, 36% Biden).

While the age patterns present in the Harris-Trump matchup remain broadly the same as those in the Biden-Trump matchup in July, Harris performs better across age groups than Biden did last month. That improvement is somewhat more pronounced among voters under 50 than among older voters.

• Today, 57% of voters under 30 say they support Harris, while 29% support Trump and 12% prefer Kennedy. In July, 48% of these voters said they backed Biden. Trump’s support among this group is essentially unchanged. And 12% now back Kennedy, down from 22% in July.
• Voters ages 30 to 49 are now about evenly split (45% Harris, 43% Trump). This is a shift from a narrow Trump lead among this group in July.
• Voters ages 50 and older continue to tilt toward Trump (50% Trump vs. 44% Harris).

With Harris now at the top of the Democratic ticket, the race has become tighter.

Much of this is the result of shifting preferences among registered voters who, in July, said they favored Kennedy over Trump or Biden.

Among the same group of voters surveyed in July and early August, 97% of those who backed Biden a few weeks ago say they support or lean toward Harris today. Similarly, Trump holds on to 95% of those who supported him a few weeks ago.

But there has been far more movement among voters who previously expressed support for Kennedy. While Kennedy holds on to 39% of those who backed him in July, the majority of these supporters now prefer one of the two major party candidates: By about two-to-one, those voters are more likely to have moved to Harris (39%) than Trump (20%). This pattern is evident across most voting subgroups.

In July, Trump’s voters were far more likely than Biden’s voters to characterize their support for their candidate as “strong” (63% vs. 43%). But that gap is no longer present in the Harris-Trump matchup.

Today, 62% of Harris voters say they strongly support her, while about a third (32%) say they moderately support her. Trump’s voters are just about as likely to say they strongly back him today as they were in July (64% today, 63% then).

Kennedy’s voters make up a smaller share of voters today than a month ago – and just 18% of his voters say they strongly support him, similar to the 15% who said the same in July.

Across demographic groups, strong support for Harris is higher than it was for Biden

Among women voters who supported Biden in July, 45% said they did so strongly. That has grown to 65% today among women voters who support Harris.

Increased intensity of support is similar among men voters who back the Democratic candidate: In July, 42% of men voters who supported Biden said they did so strongly. This has since grown to 59% of Harris’ voters who are men.

Across racial and ethnic groups, Harris’ supporters are more likely than Biden’s were to say they back their candidates strongly.

Among White voters, 43% who supported Biden in July did so strongly. Today, Harris’ strong support among White voters sits at 64%.

A near identical share of Harris’ Black supporters (65%) characterize their support for her as strong today. This is up from the 52% of Biden’s Black supporters who strongly backed him in July. Among Harris’ Hispanic supporters, 56% support her strongly, while 45% of Asian Harris voters feel the same. Strong support for Harris among these voters is also higher than it was for Biden in July.

Across all age groups, Harris’ strength of support is higher than Biden’s was. But the shift from Biden is less pronounced among older Democratic supporters than among younger groups.

Still, older Harris voters are more likely than younger Harris voters to describe their support as strong. For instance, 51% of Harris’ voters under 50 say they strongly support her, while 71% of Harris supporters ages 50 and older characterize their support as strong.

Today, about seven-in-ten of both Trump supporters (72%) and Harris supporters (70%) say they are extremely motivated to vote.

Motivation to vote is higher in both the Democratic and Republican coalitions than it was in July .

These shifts have occurred across groups but are more pronounced among younger voters.

Today, half of voters under 30 say they are extremely motivated to vote, up 16 points since July. Motivation is up 11 points among voters ages 30 to 49 and 50 to 64, and up 6 points among those ages 65 and older.

Among the youngest voters, the increased motivation to vote is nearly all driven by shifts among Democratic supporters.

• In July, 38% of 18- to 29-year-old Trump voters said they were extremely motivated to vote. Today, a similar share of his voters (42%) report that level of motivation.
• But 18- to 29-year-old Harris supporters are far more likely to say they are extremely motivated to vote than Biden’s supporters in this age group were about a month ago. Today, 61% of Harris’ voters under 30 say this. In July, 42% of voters under 30 who supported Biden said they were extremely motivated to vote.

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The Political Values of Harris and Trump Supporters

As robert f. kennedy jr. exits, a look at who supported him in the 2024 presidential race, many americans are confident the 2024 election will be conducted fairly, but wide partisan differences remain, joe biden, public opinion and his withdrawal from the 2024 race, amid doubts about biden’s mental sharpness, trump leads presidential race, most popular, report materials.

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