This document discusses identifying research gaps in academic literature. It defines a research gap as a question or problem that existing studies have not answered in a research area. Research gaps are significant because they provide direction for novel contributions and establish credibility. The document outlines different types of research gaps, such as knowledge gaps, evidence gaps, and methodological gaps. It provides guidance on identifying gaps through exhaustive literature reviews and noting unexplored issues or limitations in previous works. Challenges in identifying gaps include the large amount of information and hesitation to challenge established ideas. The document recommends using a framework like a concept matrix to systematically characterize and verify gaps. It emphasizes highlighting previous relevant research and clearly justifying the need to address particular gaps.

1. Research Gap: Situating Your
Inquiry within the Study of the Topic
Dr. Richa Srishti
GD Goenka University

2. Contents
What is Research Gap?
Significance of Research Gaps
Types of Research Gaps
Identifying Research Gaps
Challenges and Limitations
Framework to Identify Research Gaps
Presenting Research Gaps
Common Mistakes in Presenting Research Gaps

4. Research Gap
A question or a problem not been answered by
any of the existing studies or research within your
research area
An area that is unexplored or under-explored
A concept or idea not studied

5. Research Gap
Research gap arises “when the ability of the systematic
reviewer to draw conclusions is limited.” Robinson et al.
(2011)
According to Müller-Bloch and Kranz (2014) a research
gap functions as a starting point for research.
While Robinson et al. (2011) emphasise that research gaps
represent an output (of literature reviews), Müller-Bloch and
Kranz (2014) consider them as an input as they can
motivate further research.

6. Significance of Research Gap
Provides a direction for significant and novel contribution
to to your field (need of your proposed research)
Removes any chance of redundancy
Establishes credibility (by situating your line of inquiry
within a broader area in your field)
Primary basis in the investigation of any problem,
phenomenon or scientific question

7. Research Gap: Types
Robinson, Saldanha, and McKoy(2011) - research gaps types:
(a)Population (b)Intervention (c)Comparison (d)Outcomes and
(e)Setting (PICOS)
Müller-Bloch and Kranz (2014) - consisted of six gaps:
(a)Contradictory Evidence Gap (b)Knowledge Void Gap (c) Action-
Knowledge Conflict Gap (d) Methodological Gap (e) Evaluation Void
Gap; and (f)Theory Application Void Gap
Miles (2017) - seven core research gaps:(a) Evidence Gap
(b)Knowledge Gap (c)Practical-Knowledge Conflict Gap
(d) Methodological Gap (e) Empirical Gap and (f)Theoretical Gap (g)
Population Gap

8. Research Gap: Types
Evidence
Gap
Population
Gap
Theoretical
Gap
Empirical
Gap
Methodology
Gap
Practical-Knowledge
Gap
Knowledge
Gap

9. Research Gap: Types
Evidence Gap: little or no evidence/
inadequately addresses the question
Knowledge Gap: 1. knowledge may not exist in
the actual field 2. it might be the case that results
of a study differs from what was expected

10. Research Gap: Types
Practical-Knowledge Gap: when professional
behaviour or practices deviate from research
findings or are not covered by research
Methodological Gap: A variation in research
methods is needed to have new insights or to avoid
misleading findings

11. Research Gap: Types
Empirical Gap: research findings need to be evaluated or
empirically verified
Theoretical Gap: theory should be applied to certain
research issues to generate new insights; theory is lacking, so
a gap exists
Population Gap: is the type of research regarding the
population that is not adequately represented or under-
researched in the prior research (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity,
age etc.)

12. Some Pre-requisites
Figure out a viable research area
Focus and narrow down your research area
Provide a clear theoretical framework
Read articles related to your research questions and hypothesis
Plan the details of literature (make a chart)
Conduct and exhaustive literature review (critically read)

13. Identifying Research Gaps
Insufficient studies (geographical gap, population
gap etc.)
Lack of understanding
Problems/limitations in previous studies
Question everything

14. Identifying Research Gaps
Read specifics sections - Introduction, Aim &
Justification,Conclusion, and Future
Research/Limitations
Read Systematic Review articles
Read State of the Art papers
Read Meta-analyses

15. Identifying Research Gaps
While you go through the research papers, look for
sentences like:
- has/have not been…(studied/reported)
- is required/needed…
- the key question remains/is…
-it is important to address…

16. Identifying Research Gaps
What is the significance of that research to your work or the broader field?
How can this article help you in formulating your research questions?
Does the author’s argument need more clarification?
What issues or questions has the author not addressed?
Is there a different perspective that you can consider?
What other factors could have influenced the results?
Are the methods or procedures used outdated or no longer considered valid in your field?
Is there scope for you to test the findings using more a current approach?
Note: Prioritise the gaps (e.g. population, scope, methods, analysis etc.)

17. Identifying Research Gaps
Research papers, Review Papers, Journal Websites (usekey
words) etc.
Keeping track of new literature:
Essential Science Indicator developed by Thomson Reuters
Google Trends - regional index, related searches
Social Mention, Springer, Google Ads, Elsevier’s Scope,
PubCrawler, Feedly, and BroadReader

18. Challenges
An enormous amount of information:
Leads to unanswered questions and confusion
Setting the boundaries: Include or exclude
Challenging the established ideas: Leads to
hesitation

19. Framework to Identify Research Gaps
Localisation: To classify sets of information as gaps
after using chart method/concept matrix for
synthesising literature
Characterisation: To classify research gaps owing to
the reasons of their existence
Verification: To ensure the existence of research gaps

20. Framework to Identify Research Gaps
Chart Method/Concept Matrix (Based on
Webster & Watson 2002) - “according to
predetermined categories” (Imel 2011)
!

21. Presenting Research Gaps
!
Müller-Bloch, C. & Kranz, J. (2014)

22. Presenting Research Gaps
Highlight some of the prior research
Identify gaps
Previous research has addressed several aspects of ____________________: (1)
______________ (cite two to three relevant articles), (2)_____________ (cite two to three
relevant articles), and (3) _____________ (cite two to three relevant articles) [Summers, 2001]
However, in addition, _____________ encompasses several unexplored dimensions that lately
have attracted research attention in other disciplines (cite two to three relevant articles)
[Summers, 2001]
Some of these unexplored________ appear to be important and worthy of investigation in the
context of ___________________________.An investigation of these issues is important
because ____________________________.Furthermore, previous empirical research has
focused primarily on _________________ .Very little research has been done on
______________ [Summers, 2001]

23. Common Mistakes in Presenting Research Gaps
Lack of Detailed Reading
Directly Jumping to Conclusion
Lack of Justification for Addressing the Gap
Not Giving Credit to the Earlier Research
Lack of Academic Writing Style

24. References
Clark, I. L. (2007). Writing the successful thesis and dissertation: Entering the conversation. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Imel, S. 2011. "Writing a Literature Review," in The Handbook of Scholarly Writing and Publishing, T. S. Rocco and T. Hatcher
(eds.), San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 145–160
Miles, D.A. (2017). “A Taxonomy of Research Gaps: Identifying and Defining the Seven Research Gaps.” Doctoral Student
Workshop: Finding Research Gaps - Research Methods and Strategies, Dallas, Texas, 2017.
Moeini. S. (2014). “Approaches to identify research gaps and generate research questions.” Retrieved from https://
www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140912150946-275561203-6-very-useful-approaches-to-identify-research-gaps-and-generate-
research-questions
Müller-Bloch, C. & Kranz, J., (2014). “A Framework for Rigorously Identifying Research Gaps in Qualitative Literature
Reviews.” The Thirty Sixth International Conference on Information Systems, Fort Worth 2015, pp. 1 – 19.
Robinson, K., Saldanha, I. & McKoy, N.A. (2011). “Development of A Framework for to Identify Research Gaps Systematic
Reviews.” Journal of Epidemiology, 64(1), pp. 1325-1330.
Summers, J. (2011). “Guidelines for Conducting Research and Publishing in Marketing: From Conceptualisation Through the
Review Process.” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science,29(4), pp. 405-415.
Webster, J. & Watson, Richard T. (2002). “Analysing the Past to Prepare for the Future.” MIS Quarterly, Vol. 26(2), pp. 13-23.

25. Thanks