{"id":2305,"date":"2019-02-25T13:40:40","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T13:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/dont-know-where-to-start-6-tips-on-identifying-research-gaps\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T08:33:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T03:03:09","slug":"dont-know-where-to-start-6-tips-on-identifying-research-gaps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/dont-know-where-to-start-6-tips-on-identifying-research-gaps","title":{"rendered":"Don’t know where to start? 6 Tips on identifying research gaps"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first step of conducting a study is identifying a previously unexplored area of research. Choosing an untapped area in your research field will improve your chances of getting published. But the big question is: how to decide which research problem should you study? Some researchers have clear ideas about the research problem they want to pursue. However, researchers, particularly those who are at an early stage of their career, find themselves in a fix when they have to zero down on a research topic that is original and innovative. The best way to do this is to identify a gap in existing research in the field, i.e., finding a research gap!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This article presents some tips to help you identify a knowledge gap or an unexplored area on which you can base your research.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What is a research gap?<\/a><\/p>\n

Why is it important to identify a unique research gap?<\/a><\/p>\n

Challenges faced when identifying research gaps<\/a><\/p>\n

How to identify gaps in literature<\/a><\/p>\n

What is a research gap?<\/h2>\n

Let us begin with understanding what a research gap means. When you read papers or books on topics of your interest, you may realize there are some areas that have significant scope for more research but they have not been tapped by other researchers. In other words, no one has picked up or worked on these ideas. A research gap or a literature gap refers to such unexplored or underexplored areas that have scope for further research.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Why is it important to identify a unique research gap?<\/h2>\n

Assume that you have completed your research work and published the findings only to find out that another researcher has already published something similar. How devastating would that be! Therefore, it is necessary to find out those problems in your research field which have not been addressed before. Not only would you be investing your funds and resources in the right project but also increasing the chances of your research findings getting published.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Challenges faced when identifying research gaps<\/h2>\n

Finding gaps and coming up with original and innovative topics can be tricky for more than one reason. Here\u2019s a list of challenges that you might face while identifying research gaps in your chosen area of study:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1. Effort of dealing with an enormous amount of information:<\/span><\/b> There could be a lot of unanswered questions in an area of your interest. So you might get overwhelmed with the number of research gaps you stumble upon and feel confused about which one you should focus on.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2. Difficulty of searching in an organized manner:<\/span><\/b> Some researchers may find it difficult to organize the information they have gathered. One can easily lose ideas if they are not noted properly.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

3. Hesitation in questioning established norms:<\/span><\/b> Some researchers are not confident enough to challenge the existing knowledge in their field and may hesitate to question what others have claimed in their work.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

How to identify gaps in literature<\/h2>\n

You may wonder what would be the best way to come up with some innovative research questions. Though there is no well-defined process to find a gap in existing knowledge, your curiosity, creativity, imagination, and judgment can help you identify it.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Here are 6 tips to identify research gaps:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1. Look for inspiration in published literature<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n