A research problem is connected to state-of-the-art “check” in a given field of study A researcher needs to find gaps in the knowledge and to fill them (by doing this research) It must be demonstrated that at least some aspects of the problem have not been solved yet in a given context, e.g. country, sector of the economy etc. State of the art is a required tool in evaluating the existing body of knowledge and verifying the gap.

1. A review of the State of
the Art in X (SOTAX)
Togar M. Simatupang
Bandung Institute of Technology
21 September 2021

2. Overview
1. Introduction
2. What is the state of the art?
3. Why SOTA?
4. How to do SOTA?
5. Conclusion
State of the Art 2

3. Introduction
• A research problem is connected to state-of-the-art “check” in a given field of study
• A researcher needs to find gaps in the knowledge and to fill them (by doing this research)
• It must be demonstrated that at least some aspects of the problem have not been solved
yet in a given context, e.g. country, sector of the economy etc.
• State of the art is a required tool in evaluating the existing body of knowledge and
verifying the gap.
• The most common remarks from the reviewers is regarding the "state-of-the-art“ such as
“the authors have not discussed the state-of-the-art methods properly” and the
experiment/results should be compared with the state-of-the-art methods”.
• The common question is about “what exactly does "state-of-the-art" mean in applied
research?” and “how to properly write or represent state of the art in research”.
• The purpose of this presentation is to provide a review of the state‐of‐the‐art research in
x.
State of the Art 3

4. Noun
• Something high-tech and
that the most advanced level
of technology
• It means the highest point of
technological achievement
to date.
Adjective
• Cutting-edge
• Modern, new, and usually very
expensive
• It describes the newest
technological achievement in a
given field.
Is it state of the art or state-of-the-art?
State of the Art 4

5. Research PhD Thesis
1. Choose a cause (X) or consequences (Y)
2. Find the state of the art in the academic
literature on the topic
3. Formulate the research problem
4. Formulate the research questions
5. Formulate a set of hypotheses
6. Collect or get data
7. Design the analysis
8. Conduct the data analysis
9. Interpret the results and report them
A research project is to advance scholarship
that makes an original contribution to
knowledge:
• New knowledge = the existing knowledge
+ the contribution of the current research
State of the Art 5

6. State of the Art 6

7. How to write a problem statement
State of the Art 7

8. State of the Art 8
Research
question
Literature:
SOTA
Experiences:
real world
Framework Hypotheses Proof Conclusion
Reasoning,
logics
Empirical
Data
Deductive
Process
Inductive
Process
Assumptions
Scientific Method
Tentative
answer

9. State of the Art 9
Descartes’ Method: Experimental Design

10. Never admit supposed evidences, always doubt:
Descartes proposes a method of inquiry
1. EVIDENCE
Accept as true only what is
indubitable.
2. ANALYSIS
Divide every question into
manageable parts.
3. SYNTHESIS
Begin with the simplest
issues and ascend to the
more complex.
4. ENUMERATION
Review frequently enough to
retain the whole argument at
once.
State of the Art 10
Diagram of the four rules

11. Never admit supposed evidences, always doubt
• A key behavior:
• criticism (cf. methodical doubt by Descartes)
• A first obvious step: analyze what is written
• is the proposal scientifically sound?
• are the performances good?
• is the problem really important?
• is the state of the art exhaustive?
• etc.
• A second step : analyze what is not written
State of the Art 11

12. How do you write state of art in research?
• Identify the theoretical foundation for your
discussion.
• Define the relevance of the question you are going
to analyze.
• Clarify and define your focus, problems and/or
hypotheses.
• Justify the relevance or importance of the problem
you have chosen to focus on.
State of the Art 12

13. What does state of the art mean?
• The level of development (as of a device, procedure, process, technique, or
science) reached at any particular time usually as a result of modern
methods.
• The state of the art (sometimes cutting edge or leading edge) refers to the
highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or
scientific field achieved at a particular time.
• A state-of-the-art review considers mainly the most current research in a
given area or concerning a given topic.
• It often summarizes current and emerging educational trends, research priorities,
and standardizations in a particular field of interest.
State of the Art 13

14. State-of the-art of the research topic
• Description of the research proposal including aim, methodology and
timing, and bibliography of the cited literature – max. 15 pages (excluding
the bibliography)
• Description of the state-of the-art of the research topic. The contributions
of the Methusalem candidate to this research must be clearly described.
• Give a concise scholarly/scientific explanation with a description of the
objective of the research proposal and the progress it would represent in
relation to the current state of research in the field. If other research
groups from other departments or faculties contribute to this research
proposal, describe this. The work plan should include a scholarly/scientific
and technical description of the planned activities aimed at achieving the
established objective and, if possible, the planning and time schedule.
Source: State-of the-art of the research topic, https://www.ugent.be/en/research/funding/bof/methusalem/project.htm
In Part IV, 14 of the application, you are asked to give a description of the project
State of the Art 14

15. Types of State of the Art (SOTA)
State-of-the-art Model
• the highest level of general
development, as of a device, technique,
or scientific field achieved at a particular
time
State-of-the-art Review
• the most current research in a given area
or concerning a given topic
• the existing level of scientific
development in a field
State of art in research proposal
• The State of the Art, also known as the
Literature Review (or Foundations),
serves a cluster of very important aims.
• The State of the Art is usually the more
extensive part of a research proposal, so
it will expectedly develop over various
paragraphs and sub-paragraphs.
State of the art in thesis
• the current knowledge about the
studied matter through the analysis of
similar or related published work
• Producing a good state of the art might
be considered the main initial step of a
PhD thesis.
State of the art in X
• the level of development (as of a device,
procedure, process, technique, or
science) reached at any particular time
usually as a result of modern methods
State of the Art 15

16. Why the state of the art?
• Ensure that there is no duplication, plagiarism of ideas, and research
redundancy.
• To see the development of science so that the flow of its
development process can be seen.
• Determine what novelty will be contributed by researcher
• State of the art  Research gaps  novelty
State of the Art 16

17. State of the art/Literature review
• What is the state of the art in the research in anonymous
communication systems (ACS)?
• M.A. Nia and A. Ruiz-Martnez, “Systematic literature review on the state of
the art and future research work in anonymous communications systems”,
Computers & Electrical Engineering, Vol. 69, July 2018, pp. 497-520.
• State of the art:
• the highest degree of development of an art or technique at a particular time
(WordNet)
State of the Art 17

18. Structure of the Literature Review
State of the Art 18

19. State of the art/Literature review
• “The ‘literature review’ is the part of the thesis where there is extensive
reference to related research and theory in your field; it is where
connections are made between the source texts that you draw on and you
position your research among these sources...”
• “The ‘literature review’ is where you identify the theories and previous
research which have includes in your choice of research topic ... you can
use the literature to support your identification of a problem to research
and to illustrate that there is a gap in previous research which needs to be
filled ...”
• D. Ridley. The Literature Review: A Step-by-step Guide for Students. Sage Study Skills,
2nd edition (2008).
State of the Art 19

20. State of the art/Literature review
Describes the knowledge
about the studied matter
through the analysis of
similar or related
published work
Provides a comprehensive
overview of what was
done, what has been
done in the field, and gaps
Recommends what needs
further investigation and
better understanding
Profil
e
Gaps
Furth
er
State of the Art 20

21. How to write the state-of-the-art
Literature review is important to see how far science has developed to the most recent.
The goals of the state of the art are:
• Describe the latest developments on a topic generated by research communities around the world
• Determine where the contribution of researchers in the research to be carried out
• Determine what novelty will be contributed by researcher
Research Topic
Literature Review Research Gaps
State-of-the-Art
Profile
Further Research
Doubt, controversy
No further
explanation
Incomplete
There is no solution
or policy
Test
Explore, build
Modify
Design, make
Survey
Qualitative
approach
Case study
Design Research
Research Method
(proposed)
State of the Art 21

22. A Framework for Identifying Research Agenda
Source: A Framework for Rigorously Identifying Research Gaps in Qualitative Literature Reviews by Christoph Mueller-Bloch and Johann Kranz,
December 2015, Conference: Proceedings of the 36th International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS).
State of the Art 22

23. What is a ‘gap in the literature’?
• A research gap is a question or a problem that has not been answered
by any of the existing studies or research within a field.
• A research gap is the lack of knowledge or a lack of insufficient
information that has not been yet explored within a field of research.
• The gap, also considered the missing piece or pieces in the research
literature, is the area that has not yet been explored or is under-
explored.
• This could be:
• theoretical gap
• conceptual gap
• empirical gap
• a population or sample (size, type, location, etc.),
• research method,
• data collection and/or analysis,
• practical knowledge,
• evidence gap, or
• other research variables or conditions.
State of the Art 23

24. How to write state-of-the-art profile or resume?
• A qualitative analysis may involve the development of a concept matrix or similar.
• Example of a concept matrix (adapted from Webster & Watson, 2002)
• Legend: O (organization), G (group), I (individual)
Source: Webster, J., & Watson, R. T. (2002). Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: Writing a literature review. MIS Quarterly, 26(2), 13-23
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25. How do you find a research gap?
Source: How do you find a research gap? by Yvonne Black And Mauricio Marrone (2018), https://www.resgap.com/2018/07/04/how-do-you-find-a-research-gap/
Several authors have sought to characterize research gaps, describing the various forms they can
take, whether considered from the perspective of objectively identifiable existing gaps in research
(gap finding) or as opportunities to construct new “gaps” (gap creation).
State of the Art 25

26. Demonstration of research gap localization
Source: A Framework for Rigorously Identifying Research Gaps in Qualitative Literature Reviews by Christoph Mueller-Bloch and Johann Kranz,
December 2015, Conference: Proceedings of the 36th International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS).
• Cooper, H. M. 1988. "Organizing knowledge syntheses - A taxonomy of literature reviews," Knowledge in
Society (1:1), pp. 104–126.
• Rowley, J. and Slack, F. 2004. “Conducting a Literature Review,” Management Research News (27:6), pp. 31-39.
• Zorn, T., and Campbell, N. 2006. "Improving the Writing of Literature Reviews Through a Literature Integration
Exercise," Business Communication Quarterly (69:2), pp. 172–183.
• Vom Brocke, J., Simons, A., Niehaves, B., Riemer, K., Plattfaut, R., and Cleven, A. 2009. "Reconstructing the
Giant: On the Importance of Rigour in Documenting the Literature Search Process," in Proceedings of the ECIS
2009, S. Newell, E. A. Whitley, N. Pouloudi, J. Wareham, & L. Mathiassen (eds.), Verona, Italy, pp. 2206–2217
• Webster, J., and Watson, R. T. 2002. "Analyzing the Past to Prepare for the Future: Writing a Literature Review,"
MIS Quarterly (26:2), pp. xiii–xxiii.
• Wolfswinkel, J. F., Furtmueller, E., and Wilderom, C. P. M. 2013. "Using grounded theory as a method for
rigorously reviewing literature," European Journal of Information Systems (22:1), pp. 45–55.
State of the Art 26

27. How to write gap statements?
Source: Gap Statements, https://sites.middlebury.edu/middsciwriting/overview/organization/gap-statements/
• Phrases that might help identify (or form!) a gap statement include:
• … has not yet been clarified …
• … has/have not been … (studied/reported/elucidated)
• … is required/needed …
• … the key question is/remains …
• … it is important to address …
An example gap from Hosaka, Itao, and Kuroda (1995):
“… The relationship between the four damping factors, i.e.
internal friction, support loss, airflow force in free space, and
squeeze force, has not yet been clarified, so it is not obvious
which one is dominant in actual microsystems.”
State of the Art 27

28. Gaps and Research Agenda
Source: The Effect of School Design on Users’ Responses: A Systematic Review (2008–2017), April 2020, Sustainability 12(8):3453
DOI: 10.3390/su12083453
State of the Art 28

29. Summary of strengths,
research gaps, and
next steps
Source: Surveying the Landscape: Use and Usability Assessment of Digital Libraries, January 2016,
Affiliation: Digital Library Federation Assessment Interest Group
State of the Art 29

30. Are you sure about your research agenda? Are you going
to carry it out?
State of the Art 30
What will happen if this
happens?
What will happen if this
doesn’t happens?
What won’t happen if this
happens?
What won’t happen if this
doesn’t happen?
Descartes Square is a decision-making technique that
helps us to understand the consequences of any choice.
Divide a sheet of paper into 4 squares with 1 question
in each and start answering them according to your
problem.

31. How to write a Statement about research contribution?
• Having 1 very good idea in a scientist’s life is very good; having two is
exceptional
• One paper:
• One problem and at most one (two) contribution(s) to defend
• A first key section: the statement of the problem
• Why is the problem important? Remark: notion of fashion (e.g., Big Data)
• Why is the problem difficult (→ link to the state of the art)?
• What are the hypotheses? What is/are the context/conditions?
• What are the objectives i.e., what are the performance/quality criterions
with respect to which the contribution should be evaluated?
• Then, add the outline of the contribution
Writing a Statement about research contribution should indicate the new findings with contrast to
the existing works. The significance of the research work done
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32. State of the Art 32

33. State of the Art 33

34. Different types of start-of-the-art report
1. Stand-alone paper (surveys)
2. Part of a conference or journal paper
3. Part of thesis/dissertation
State of the Art 34

35. State of the Art 35

36. State of the Art 36

37. Concluding Remarks
• State of the art is the first step to find out how far the development of a
particular topic is and whether the research questions asked are verified.
• Activities in SOTA consist of reading and reading, summarizing,
distinguishing, finding similarities, critiquing, and asking questions.
• Read something that captures the imagination or something that can
awaken the imagination.
• Read with questions in mind:
• “How can I use this”
• “Why was this paper written?”
• “What is the claim of this paper?”
• “Does this really do what the authors claim?”
• “Do I understand the results in the paper?”
• What are the weaknesses of this paper?
• Conduct discussions with supervisors and classmates, ask if it makes sense,
if something is missed, if there is a common thread.
State of the Art 37

38. Thank You
State of the Art 38