research gap how to find

The Research Gap (Literature Gap)

Everything you need to know to find a quality research gap

By: Ethar Al-Saraf (PhD) | Expert Reviewed By: Eunice Rautenbach (DTech) | November 2022

If you’re just starting out in research, chances are you’ve heard about the elusive research gap (also called a literature gap). In this post, we’ll explore the tricky topic of research gaps. We’ll explain what a research gap is, look at the four most common types of research gaps, and unpack how you can go about finding a suitable research gap for your dissertation, thesis or research project.

Overview: Research Gap 101

• What is a research gap
• Four common types of research gaps
• Practical examples
• How to find research gaps
• Recap & key takeaways

What (exactly) is a research gap?

Well, at the simplest level, a research gap is essentially an unanswered question or unresolved problem in a field, which reflects a lack of existing research in that space. Alternatively, a research gap can also exist when there’s already a fair deal of existing research, but where the findings of the studies pull in different directions , making it difficult to draw firm conclusions.

For example, let’s say your research aims to identify the cause (or causes) of a particular disease. Upon reviewing the literature, you may find that there’s a body of research that points toward cigarette smoking as a key factor – but at the same time, a large body of research that finds no link between smoking and the disease. In that case, you may have something of a research gap that warrants further investigation.

Now that we’ve defined what a research gap is – an unanswered question or unresolved problem – let’s look at a few different types of research gaps.

Types of research gaps

While there are many different types of research gaps, the four most common ones we encounter when helping students at Grad Coach are as follows:

• The classic literature gap
• The disagreement gap
• The contextual gap, and
• The methodological gap

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1. The Classic Literature Gap

First up is the classic literature gap. This type of research gap emerges when there’s a new concept or phenomenon that hasn’t been studied much, or at all. For example, when a social media platform is launched, there’s an opportunity to explore its impacts on users, how it could be leveraged for marketing, its impact on society, and so on. The same applies for new technologies, new modes of communication, transportation, etc.

Classic literature gaps can present exciting research opportunities , but a drawback you need to be aware of is that with this type of research gap, you’ll be exploring completely new territory . This means you’ll have to draw on adjacent literature (that is, research in adjacent fields) to build your literature review, as there naturally won’t be very many existing studies that directly relate to the topic. While this is manageable, it can be challenging for first-time researchers, so be careful not to bite off more than you can chew.

2. The Disagreement Gap

As the name suggests, the disagreement gap emerges when there are contrasting or contradictory findings in the existing research regarding a specific research question (or set of questions). The hypothetical example we looked at earlier regarding the causes of a disease reflects a disagreement gap.

Importantly, for this type of research gap, there needs to be a relatively balanced set of opposing findings . In other words, a situation where 95% of studies find one result and 5% find the opposite result wouldn’t quite constitute a disagreement in the literature. Of course, it’s hard to quantify exactly how much weight to give to each study, but you’ll need to at least show that the opposing findings aren’t simply a corner-case anomaly .

3. The Contextual Gap

The third type of research gap is the contextual gap. Simply put, a contextual gap exists when there’s already a decent body of existing research on a particular topic, but an absence of research in specific contexts .

For example, there could be a lack of research on:

• A specific population – perhaps a certain age group, gender or ethnicity
• A geographic area – for example, a city, country or region
• A certain time period – perhaps the bulk of the studies took place many years or even decades ago and the landscape has changed.

The contextual gap is a popular option for dissertations and theses, especially for first-time researchers, as it allows you to develop your research on a solid foundation of existing literature and potentially even use existing survey measures.

Importantly, if you’re gonna go this route, you need to ensure that there’s a plausible reason why you’d expect potential differences in the specific context you choose. If there’s no reason to expect different results between existing and new contexts, the research gap wouldn’t be well justified. So, make sure that you can clearly articulate why your chosen context is “different” from existing studies and why that might reasonably result in different findings.

4. The Methodological Gap

Last but not least, we have the methodological gap. As the name suggests, this type of research gap emerges as a result of the research methodology or design of existing studies. With this approach, you’d argue that the methodology of existing studies is lacking in some way , or that they’re missing a certain perspective.

For example, you might argue that the bulk of the existing research has taken a quantitative approach, and therefore there is a lack of rich insight and texture that a qualitative study could provide. Similarly, you might argue that existing studies have primarily taken a cross-sectional approach , and as a result, have only provided a snapshot view of the situation – whereas a longitudinal approach could help uncover how constructs or variables have evolved over time.

Practical Examples

Let’s take a look at some practical examples so that you can see how research gaps are typically expressed in written form. Keep in mind that these are just examples – not actual current gaps (we’ll show you how to find these a little later!).

Context: Healthcare

Despite extensive research on diabetes management, there’s a research gap in terms of understanding the effectiveness of digital health interventions in rural populations (compared to urban ones) within Eastern Europe.

Context: Environmental Science

While a wealth of research exists regarding plastic pollution in oceans, there is significantly less understanding of microplastic accumulation in freshwater ecosystems like rivers and lakes, particularly within Southern Africa.

Context: Education

While empirical research surrounding online learning has grown over the past five years, there remains a lack of comprehensive studies regarding the effectiveness of online learning for students with special educational needs.

As you can see in each of these examples, the author begins by clearly acknowledging the existing research and then proceeds to explain where the current area of lack (i.e., the research gap) exists.

How To Find A Research Gap

Now that you’ve got a clearer picture of the different types of research gaps, the next question is of course, “how do you find these research gaps?” .

Well, we cover the process of how to find original, high-value research gaps in a separate post . But, for now, I’ll share a basic two-step strategy here to help you find potential research gaps.

As a starting point, you should find as many literature reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analyses as you can, covering your area of interest. Additionally, you should dig into the most recent journal articles to wrap your head around the current state of knowledge. It’s also a good idea to look at recent dissertations and theses (especially doctoral-level ones). Dissertation databases such as ProQuest, EBSCO and Open Access are a goldmine for this sort of thing. Importantly, make sure that you’re looking at recent resources (ideally those published in the last year or two), or the gaps you find might have already been plugged by other researchers.

Once you’ve gathered a meaty collection of resources, the section that you really want to focus on is the one titled “ further research opportunities ” or “further research is needed”. In this section, the researchers will explicitly state where more studies are required – in other words, where potential research gaps may exist. You can also look at the “ limitations ” section of the studies, as this will often spur ideas for methodology-based research gaps.

By following this process, you’ll orient yourself with the current state of research , which will lay the foundation for you to identify potential research gaps. You can then start drawing up a shortlist of ideas and evaluating them as candidate topics . But remember, make sure you’re looking at recent articles – there’s no use going down a rabbit hole only to find that someone’s already filled the gap 🙂

Let’s Recap

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

• A research gap is an unanswered question or unresolved problem in a field, which reflects a lack of existing research in that space.
• The four most common types of research gaps are the classic literature gap, the disagreement gap, the contextual gap and the methodological gap. 
• To find potential research gaps, start by reviewing recent journal articles in your area of interest, paying particular attention to the FRIN section .

If you’re keen to learn more about research gaps and research topic ideation in general, be sure to check out the rest of the Grad Coach Blog . Alternatively, if you’re looking for 1-on-1 support with your dissertation, thesis or research project, be sure to check out our private coaching service .

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 ...

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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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How to Find a Research Gap

Last Updated: February 16, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Danielle Blinka, MA, MPA . Danielle Blinka is a Writer, Editor, Podcaster, Improv Performer, and Artist currently living in Houston, TX. She also has experience teaching English and writing to others. Danielle holds a Bachelor of Arts in English, Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Master of Arts in English with a concentration in writing, and Master of Public Administration from Lamar University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 33,607 times. Learn more...

Do you want to contribute original research and make an impact in your field? If so, it's important to look for research gaps, or areas of study that are either under-researched or currently unexplored. In this article, we'll explain in detail the best way to identify a research gap—by performing a comprehensive literature review—so you can dive deep into your research topic and analyze articles critically and effectively. For more tips and tricks on identifying potential research gaps and how to proceed when you find one, read on.

Researching Your Topic

• If you start with a narrow topic, you may struggle to find a gap in research, since you’ll be focused on fewer avenues of study.
• For instance, a broad topic for social sciences research might be "organizational development" or "human motivation." For urban planning, a broad topic might be "walkable cities" or "traffic management."

• While you can't include sources like Wikipedia and news websites on your literature review, it's okay to read them to get an overview of your topic and recent developments in your field.
• It’s okay to narrow your topic as you learn more about it. However, keep your options open until you’re sure you’ve found an area with gaps in research.
• Let's say you were researching human motivation. You might use search terms like "motivating workers," "goal setting," and "improving worker productivity."

• Your research needs to be very thorough to ensure that you’re actually finding a gap. If you only read a handful of articles, you may be missing other existing research that answers your proposed research question.

Tip: Look for both quantitative and qualitative research, if applicable to your field. This will give you a broader overview of the current research.

• Ask them questions like, “Which areas of research are hot right now?” “What kinds of changes are happening within the field?” “What possible avenues of research do you see?” or “Do you think this topic is a good fit for me?”

Analyzing the Literature

• If you decide an article is unhelpful, it’s okay to skip the second reading.

Tip: Conducting a literature review is often a very time-consuming task. However, it’s also an essential part of identifying a research gap. Additionally, you can use the notes you take during your literature review when it comes time to write your article, thesis, or dissertation.

• As an example, an author might identify their gap in research with a statement like: “This subject has not been previously studied,” or “This question remains unanswered.”

• If you keep your notes in a separate document, make sure you label them with the title of the article and the author’s name. This way you won’t accidentally get your notes mixed up.

• Save any questions that you can’t answer because they may be a starting point for writing a research question.

• For instance, you might make a research gap table in a spreadsheet. Create 3 columns and label them “Author,” “Year,” and "Summary." For each article, list the authors, year of publication, and a bullet point summary of the article contents.
• Similarly, you may make a Venn diagram to compare 1 or more articles. Look for overlapping themes and methods, as well as differences between the articles.

Using Current Research, Key Concepts, or Trends

• Keep in mind that other researchers may have addressed the gaps identified in a particular article since that article was written. However, this can give you a starting point for finding a potential gap.

• Don’t rely solely on these types of papers when conducting your research. However, they can make a great supplement.

• Some journals will even tell you how many articles are pertaining to that key concept. If you see a key concept that has fewer articles than the others, that might be a good avenue for further research because it’s been studied less.

• You can access Google trends here: https://trends.google.com/trends/?geo=US
• For instance, if you look up "organizational development" on Google trends, you'll see that people are looking for information on management development, mission statements, and software framework.

Expert Q&A

• Reading Wikipedia articles related to your topic of study may help you identify a gap in research, though you can’t use those articles as sources. Look for areas where more citations are needed, unanswered questions, or sections that are underdeveloped.

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• ↑ https://libanswers.snhu.edu/faq/264001
• ↑ https://resources.nu.edu/researchprocess/literaturegap
• ↑ https://guides.umd.umich.edu/c.php?g=529423&p=3621573
• ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK62480/

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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

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Thankyou for ur briefing…its so helpful

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

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How to identify research gaps

Anthony Newman

About this video

Researching is an ongoing task, as it requires you to think of something nobody else has thought of before. This is where the research gap comes into play.

We will explain what a research gap is, provide you with steps on how to identify these research gaps, as well as provide you several tools that can help you identify them.

About the presenter

Senior Publisher, Life Sciences, Elsevier

Anthony Newman is a Senior Publisher with Elsevier and is based in Amsterdam. Each year he presents numerous Author Workshops and other similar trainings worldwide. He is currently responsible for fifteen biochemistry and laboratory medicine journals, he joined Elsevier over thirty years ago and has been Publisher for more than twenty of those years. Before then he was the marketing communications manager for the biochemistry journals of Elsevier.  By training he is a polymer chemist and was active in the surface coating industry before leaving London and moving to Amsterdam in 1987 to join Elsevier.

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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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Last Updated: Jun 27, 2023 Views: 472968

What is a research gap.

A research gap is a question or a problem that has not been answered by any of the existing studies or research within your field. Sometimes, a research gap exists when there is a concept or new idea that hasn't been studied at all. Sometimes you'll find a research gap if all the existing research is outdated and in need of new/updated research (studies on Internet use in 2001, for example). Or, perhaps a specific population has not been well studied (perhaps there are plenty of studies on teenagers and video games, but not enough studies on toddlers and video games, for example). These are just a few examples, but any research gap you find is an area where more studies and more research need to be conducted. Please view this video clip from our Sage Research Methods database for more helpful information: How Do You Identify Gaps in Literature?

How do I find one?

It will take a lot of research and reading.  You'll need to be very familiar with all the studies that have already been done, and what those studies contributed to the overall body of knowledge about that topic. Make a list of any questions you have about your topic and then do some research to see if those questions have already been answered satisfactorily. If they haven't, perhaps you've discovered a gap!  Here are some strategies you can use to make the most of your time:

• One useful trick is to look at the “suggestions for future research” or conclusion section of existing studies on your topic. Many times, the authors will identify areas where they think a research gap exists, and what studies they think need to be done in the future.
• As you are researching, you will most likely come across citations for seminal works in your research field. These are the research studies that you see mentioned again and again in the literature.  In addition to finding those and reading them, you can use a database like Web of Science to follow the research trail and discover all the other articles that have cited these. See the FAQ: I found the perfect article for my paper. How do I find other articles and books that have cited it? on how to do this. One way to quickly track down these seminal works is to use a database like SAGE Navigator, a social sciences literature review tool. It is one of the products available via our SAGE Knowledge database.
• In the PsycINFO and PsycARTICLES databases, you can select literature review, systematic review, and meta analysis under the Methodology section in the advanced search to quickly locate these. See the FAQ: Where can I find a qualitative or quantitative study? for more information on how to find the Methodology section in these two databases.
• In CINAHL , you can select Systematic review under the Publication Type field in the advanced search. 
• In Web of Science , check the box beside Review under the Document Type heading in the “Refine Results” sidebar to the right of the list of search hits.
• If the database you are searching does not offer a way to filter your results by document type, publication type, or methodology in the advanced search, you can include these phrases (“literature reviews,” meta-analyses, or “systematic reviews”) in your search string.  For example, “video games” AND “literature reviews” could be a possible search that you could try.

Please give these suggestions a try and contact a librarian for additional assistance.

Content authored by: GS

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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:

• Manuscript Review

Systematic Review VS Meta-Analysis

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What is a Research Gap? How to Identify it?

“ Choosing a topic, research or subject that has not been answered or explored yet by any other scientists is referred to as a research gap.” 

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find one! 

When you start reading literature, initially you may notice that nothing is left to study! That everyone feels, even me too when I was in my initial days of PhD. But when you get enough research experience, you can find gaps in research easily. 

“Every research is incomplete.”

Indeed, a research work completes when it states a gap or unexplored area with the final conclusion, so that future research will get direction. 

The process of research or doctorate starts (immediately after you get admission) by initiating searching a research gap which leads to postulating a research question. 

 A research question is your title or statement of thesis using which you will find your thesis objectives and address a particular question. It can be stated only by finding a research or literature gap. 

And as I said, it’s quite difficult for PhD students.  

So in this blog post, I will explain to you what a research or literature gap is and how you can identify it. 

How to appear in the PhD Interview?

What is a research or literature gap? 

Firstly, a research/ knowledge gap or literature gap is though different terms but has a similar meaning. The reason is that a research problem can be addressed either by experimental research and literature review. 

Definition: 

A research or literature gap is a problem or unexplored/ underexplored area of the existing research. 

Choosing a topic, research or subject that has not been answered or explored yet by any other scientist is referred to as a research gap. 

Let us start with an example;

Take a look at the hypothetical closing sentence.

“3 common mutations IVS1-5, IVS1-1 and CD8/9 have been selected for the present to screen thalassemia patients. A common mutation IVS1-5 has been identified in 2 out of 70 unrelated thalassemia patients using the conventional PCR technique.” 

Let’s say you want to do research on the Genetics of Thalassemia. Suppose this one is the closing paragraph of some research article and is a final conclusion. How can you find a research gap here? 

I find many gaps, Let us find out some of them;

• The sample size is too small. 
• There are 12 common mutations in beta-thalassemia which are present in almost 80% of cases. Only three are selected in the present study. 
• The present study is geologically restricted. 
• The author has used a single conventional PCR technique. More techniques like DNA sequencing can be used to address the same problem, which possibly provides more knowledge and can identify novel mutations as well. 
• The author hasn’t clarified which type of thalassemia patients they have included in the present study. 

These are some of the possible gaps in the present research. Let’s look at other closing statements for the same. 

“3 common mutations IVS1-5, IVS1-1 and CD8/9 have been selected for the present to screen thalassemia patients. A common mutation IVS1-5 has been identified in 2 out of 70 unrelated thalassemia patients using the conventional PCR technique. The present study can be strengthened by increasing sample size, diversifying geological studies, increasing the number of common mutations and using other techniques for thalassemia.”

“Major limitations of the present study are small sample size, number of mutations and technique selected for the study. 

All these closing statements posit the same type of research gaps. You can use these to prepare your thesis statement. Take a look at the one. 

“Identifying common Beta-thalassemia mutations by DNA sequencing from south India.”

Where to find a literature gap? 

Some research clearly indicates gaps in their studies whereas some don’t. And that’s why it’s difficult for students to discover one. Notedly, by looking into variables used in the study, gaps can be recognized.

• Samples- size, types, collection method, transportation conditions. 
• Research technique- single, two or multiple; significance, efficiency and accuracy of the techniques used. 
• Geological location and condition of the study conducted. 
• Objectives selected for the study.
• Data obtained and research discussions. 

You have to read tons of literature to actually determine possible gaps in the research. A research gap has been indicated in the conclusion section, final interpretation, future direction or suggestions part of a research paper. 

Besides, when you came across some phrases used in the literature such as, 

The present study has not been covered…..

………… excluded from the present study. 

………… is important to address in future research. 

…………. Techniques can be fruitful for future research. 

……………. have/has not been studied/ reported/ evaluated in the present study. 

Keep in mind that this indicates a gap, problem or scopes of improvement in the study. 

Read more: Which factors decide a PhD Salary?

How to find a research gap?

As I said, it’s not an easy process to find a problem or gap in the research, though by following some steps that I will mention here, you can find one and can go with it. 

Select a topic that you like and that motivates you: 

Research interest is important because you have to do the same work for at least 4 to 5 years. Research takes a tremendous amount of physical, mental, economical and intellectual effort. Meaning you have to select a topic that likely motivates you. You should not get tired of doing that! 

Find lucrative keywords to go ahead: 

You can’t go through the whole topic or subject, right! you have to select one or a few. Means, make things more narrow. Take a look at the process, I have explained with an example. 

Find a keyword that is relevant to the topic you like or are interested in and go ahead with it. 

Find relevant resources and literature: 

Now next in the process, type your keyword or group of keywords in the Google search box and try identifying literature, reviews and research associated with it. 

Find reviews, read them and try to find gaps in studies. Keep in mind that it will remain in your interest circle. 

Read peer-reviewed articles and find gaps in the research: 

Try to read every fresh research and review article around your topic, go through the technique and sample collection process used in each research and discover discordance or space there. 

You can make a comparative analysis table as well. Take a look at the table below, 

When you make a comparative analysis of a few studies you will get an idea about the research gap, gap in sample collection, scope to use other techniques, improvisation or new research areas to include in the study. 

Choosing one from many: 

When you complete the process, you may find many unanswered questions or research gaps (if you have done things in this manner) and you get stuck with many, which to choose and which to leave. 

For PhD, it’s important to weightage a research work accurately; not more, not less. An imbalance will create an unnecessary burden and create problems in the future. 

Henceforth, prioritizing and narrowing down the research gap is crucial. 

In this case, you can take your supervisor’s help. Postulate an amazing research question that would be suitable for PhD, as per your interest, under your budget and fulfill your supervisor’s need. 

Expected outcomes: 

This is confusing for you surely! 

You may wonder by only identifying a gap and postulating a research question, how can we expect anything as outcomes? 

Expected outcomes of the research have significant value and importance in the PhD, PhD research proposal and your final report. You or your guide has to explain the possible results of the study. 

It’s mandatory and will give you direction for research. Expected outcomes can be considered as a path on which you will have to walk. 

Take an example of the research question we just postulated, “Identifying common Beta-thalassemia mutations by DNA sequencing from south India.”

What will be the expected results? 

• You will get some common mutations. 
• You will probably get some new mutations or variations. 
• Or you will get nothing, which means, no mutations in any samples. 

In either case, you have definite outcomes, and your final results will be around it, perhaps. You will definitely not get any information regarding the globin protein because that’s not included in the study. 

Right! 

You are just doing mutational analysis and want to find some common mutations in the selected population. So what research gap you will identify will surely give some expected outcomes. 

Wrapping up: 

Research gap/ knowledge gap or literature gap all terms leads us to the same direction and help us to propose a research question. Although as we said, expected outcomes are also an important consideration to fill the gap. 

If you are new to PhD or just started this article is the best place for you to start, and will definitely assist you to find a mission piece of link in the research. 

I hope you like this article. Please do visit other articles on this blog. 

Dr. Tushar Chauhan is a Scientist, Blogger and Scientific-writer. He has completed PhD in Genetics. Dr. Chauhan is a PhD coach and tutor.

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Research Process

• Brainstorming
• Explore Google This link opens in a new window
• Explore Web Resources
• Explore Background Information
• Explore Books
• Explore Scholarly Articles
• Narrowing a Topic
• Primary and Secondary Resources
• Academic, Popular & Trade Publications
• Scholarly and Peer-Reviewed Journals
• Grey Literature
• Clinical Trials
• Evidence Based Treatment
• Scholarly Research
• Database Research Log
• Search Limits
• Keyword Searching
• Boolean Operators
• Phrase Searching
• Truncation & Wildcard Symbols
• Proximity Searching
• Field Codes
• Subject Terms and Database Thesauri
• Reading a Scientific Article
• Website Evaluation
• Article Keywords and Subject Terms
• Cited References
• Citing Articles
• Related Results
• Search Within Publication
• Database Alerts & RSS Feeds
• Personal Database Accounts
• Persistent URLs
• Literature Gap and Future Research
• Web of Knowledge
• Annual Reviews
• Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
• Finding Seminal Works
• Exhausting the Literature
• Finding Dissertations
• Researching Theoretical Frameworks
• Research Methodology & Design
• Tests and Measurements
• Organizing Research & Citations This link opens in a new window
• Scholarly Publication
• Learn the Library This link opens in a new window

Research Articles

These examples below illustrate how researchers from different disciplines identified gaps in existing literature. For additional examples, try a NavigatorSearch using this search string: ("Literature review") AND (gap*)

• Addressing the Recent Developments and Potential Gaps in the Literature of Corporate Sustainability
• Applications of Psychological Science to Teaching and Learning: Gaps in the Literature
• Attitudes, Risk Factors, and Behaviours of Gambling Among Adolescents and Young People: A Literature Review and Gap Analysis
• Do Psychological Diversity Climate, HRM Practices, and Personality Traits (Big Five) Influence Multicultural Workforce Job Satisfaction and Performance? Current Scenario, Literature Gap, and Future Research Directions
• Entrepreneurship Education: A Systematic Literature Review and Identification of an Existing Gap in the Field
• Evidence and Gaps in the Literature on HIV/STI Prevention Interventions Targeting Migrants in Receiving Countries: A Scoping Review
• Homeless Indigenous Veterans and the Current Gaps in Knowledge: The State of the Literature
• A Literature Review and Gap Analysis of Emerging Technologies and New Trends in Gambling
• A Review of Higher Education Image and Reputation Literature: Knowledge Gaps and a Research Agenda
• Trends and Gaps in Empirical Research on Open Educational Resources (OER): A Systematic Mapping of the Literature from 2015 to 2019
• Where Should We Go From Here? Identified Gaps in the Literature in Psychosocial Interventions for Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Comorbid Anxiety

What is a ‘gap in the literature’?

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 a population or sample (size, type, location, etc.), research method, data collection and/or analysis, or other research variables or conditions.

It is important to keep in mind, however, that just because you identify a gap in the research, it doesn't necessarily mean that your research question is worthy of exploration. You will want to make sure that your research will have valuable practical and/or theoretical implications. In other words, answering the research question could either improve existing practice and/or inform professional decision-making (Applied Degree), or it could revise, build upon, or create theoretical frameworks informing research design and practice (Ph.D Degree). See the Dissertation Center  for additional information about dissertation criteria at NU.

For a additional information on gap statements, see the following:

• How to Find a Gap in the Literature
• Write Like a Scientist: Gap Statements

How do you identify the gaps?

Conducting an exhaustive literature review is your first step. As you search for journal articles, you will need to read critically across the breadth of the literature to identify these gaps. You goal should be to find a ‘space’ or opening for contributing new research. The first step is gathering a broad range of research articles on your topic. You may want to look for research that approaches the topic from a variety of methods – qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods. 

See the videos below for further instruction on identifying a gap in the literature.

Identifying a Gap in the Literature - Dr. Laurie Bedford

How Do You Identify Gaps in Literature? - SAGE Research Methods

Literature Gap & Future Research - Library Workshop

This workshop presents effective search techniques for identifying a gap in the literature and recommendations for future research.

Where can you locate research gaps?

As you begin to gather the literature, you will want to critically read for what has, and has not, been learned from the research. Use the Discussion and Future Research sections of the articles to understand what the researchers have found and where they point out future or additional research areas. This is similar to identifying a gap in the literature, however, future research statements come from a single study rather than an exhaustive search. You will want to check the literature to see if those research questions have already been answered.

Roadrunner Search

Identifying the gap in the research relies on an exhaustive review of the literature. Remember, researchers may not explicitly state that a gap in the literature exists; you may need to thoroughly review and assess the research to make that determination yourself.

However, there are techniques that you can use when searching in NavigatorSearch to help identify gaps in the literature. You may use search terms such as "literature gap " or "future research" "along with your subject keywords to pinpoint articles that include these types of statements.

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Library Guide to Capstone Literature Reviews: Find a Research Gap

Find a research gap: tips to get started.

Finding a research gap is not an easy process and there is no one linear path. These tips and suggestions are just examples of possible ways to begin. 

In Ph.D. dissertations, students identify a gap in research. In other programs, students identify a gap in practice. The literature review for a gap in practice will show the context of the problem and the current state of the research. 

Research gap definition

A research gap exists when:

• a question or problem has not been answered by existing studies/research in the field 
• a concept or new idea has not been studied at all
• all the existing literature on a topic is outdated 
• a specific population/location/age group etc has not been studied 

A research gap should be:

• grounded in the literature
• amenable to scientific study
• Litmus Test for a Doctoral-Level Research Problem (Word) This tool helps students determine if they have identified a doctoral level research problem.

Identify a research gap

To find a gap you must become very familiar with a particular field of study. This will involve a lot of research and reading, because a gap is defined by what does (and does not) surround it.

• Search the research literature and dissertations (search all university dissertations, not just Walden!).
• Understand your topic! Review background information in books and encyclopedias . 
• Look for literature reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses.
• Take notes on concepts, themes, and subject terms . 
• Look closely at each article's limitations, conclusions, and recommendations for future research. 
• Organize, analyze, and repeat! 

• Quick Answer: How do I find dissertations on a topic?

Start with broad searches

Use the Library Search (formerly Thoreau)  to do a broad search with just one concept at a time . Broad searches give you an idea of the academic conversation surrounding your topic.

• Try the terms you know (keywords) first.
• Look at the Subject Terms (controlled language) to brainstorm terms. 
• Subject terms help you understand what terms are most used, and what other terms to try.
• No matter what your topic is, not every researcher will be using the same terms. Keep an eye open for additional ways to describe your topic.
• Guide: Subject Terms & Index Searches: Index Overview

Keep a list of terms

• Create a list of terms
• Example list of terms

This list will be a record of what terms are: 

• related to or represent your topic
• synonyms or antonyms
• more or less commonly used
• keywords (natural language) or subject terms (controlled language)
• Synonyms & antonyms (database search skills)
• Turn keywords into subject terms

Term I started with:

culturally aware 

Subject terms I discovered:

cultural awareness (SU) 

cultural sensitivity (SU) 

cultural competence (SU) 

Search with different combinations of terms

• Combine search terms list
• Combine search terms table
• Video: Search by Themes

Since a research gap is defined by the absence of research on a topic, you will search for articles on everything that relates to your topic. 

• List out all the themes related to your gap.
• Search different combinations of the themes as you discover them (include search by theme video at bottom) 

For example, suppose your research gap is on the work-life balance of tenured and tenure-track women in engineering professions. In that case, you might try searching different combinations of concepts, such as: 

• women and STEM 
• STEM or science or technology or engineering or mathematics
• female engineering professors 
• tenure-track women in STEM
• work-life balance and women in STEM
• work-life balance and women professors
• work-life balance and tenure 

Topic adapted from one of the award winning Walden dissertations. 

• Walden University Award Winning Dissertations
• Gossage, Lily Giang-Tien, "Work-Life Balance of Tenured and Tenure-Track Women Engineering Professors" (2019). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 6435.

Break your topic into themes and try combining the terms from different themes in different ways. For example: 

Theme 1 and Theme 4

Theme 2 and Theme 1

Theme 3 and Theme 4

Video: Search by Themes (YouTube)

(2 min 40 sec) Recorded April 2014 Transcript

Track where more research is needed

Most research articles will identify where more research is needed. To identify research trends, use the literature review matrix to track where further research is needed. 

• Download or create your own Literature Review Matrix (examples in links below).
• Do some general database searches on broad topics.
• Find an article that looks interesting.
• When you read the article, pay attention to the conclusions and limitations sections.
• Use the Literature Review Matrix to track where  'more research is needed' or 'further research needed'. NOTE:  you might need to add a column to the template.
• As you fill in the matrix you should see trends where more research is needed.

There is no consistent section in research articles where the authors identify where more research is needed. Pay attention to these sections: 

• limitations
• conclusions
• recommendations for future research 
• Literature Review Matrix Templates: learn how to keep a record of what you have read
• Literature Review Matrix (Excel) with color coding Sample template for organizing and synthesizing your research
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• Next Page: Get & Stay Organized
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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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Research Gaps Suggester

The Research Gaps Suggester is a cutting-edge tool designed to assist researchers in identifying research gaps in a given topic. By inputting the desired topic, users can generate a specified number of research gaps to explore. Whether it’s for a thesis, academic paper, or any research endeavor, this tool provides valuable insights by highlighting areas where further investigation is needed. The number of research gaps to be generated can be specified by the user, ensuring a customizable and efficient research process.

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How to identify a Research Gap in Research Articles?

 In this article, you will learn how to find research gap from research articles by following simple steps.

Identifying a research gap is normally quite difficult for most researchers, no matter if you are pursuing a PhD, MS or doing any form of research . However, I have explained simple steps to identify a gap.

• Table of Contents

What is a gap in the Research?

A research gap is a knowledge or information gap within a given field of research. Gaps can exist within a single study, if the researcher has failed to consider all relevant literature .

Research Gap = Deficiency in Literature

• Research Gap is a research topic which has not been addressed.
• provides you the reason for conducting your research .
• drive you to think about your research questions .

Gaps are often identified during the literature review process, as part of an assessment of the state of current knowledge on a given topic.

Identifying gaps is important for two main reasons: first, it helps to focus the research question and ensure that the study will make a unique contribution to knowledge; second, it allows the researcher to build on existing work and avoid duplication.

How to identify a gap?

Research Gaps represent an opportunity for new research to fill the void and advance our understanding of a given topic.

In order to identify a research gap, you must

✔ First identify what information is already known about the topic,

✔ Secondly, determine what information is still unknown.

You can find research gap by reading multiple paper on same topic and by reading the article’s future directions and limitations. There are several ways to identify research gaps.

• One way is to use Google Scholar or another academic search engine to find recent articles on your topic.

Once you have found several articles, read through them and take note of any areas that are not fully addressed or where further research is needed.

Another way to identify research gaps is to attend conferences or talks on your topic and take note of any areas that are not fully addressed in the presentations.

Before you start to identify gaps in the literature, you need to figure out:

• What your area of interest is?
• Then focus to narrow down that research area

How to find articles?

If you are looking for research articles, you should search online databases such as Google Scholar. Google Scholar allow you to search for articles by keyword and usually provide access to the full text of the article.

In order to find articles , that are specific to your research area, you need to follow these steps:

• Go to Google scholar from your browser
• Type the topic on which you are conducting your research in the search bar. Like my research area is cyberbullying so I will type it in the search bar. Press Enter.

As you can see, there are list of articles that are showing up all related to cyberbullying The years in which they were published are mentioned. All these research articles are old like articles that were published in 2010, 2008, 2012.

Note that in order to find gaps on your research topic you must consider research articles that are published in recent years.

In order to do that, you need to Click on Custom Range.

You have to look for paper from recent years. Like I’m searching for article from 2018 to 2022. Click on Search .

Now, All these articles are of recent years in which you can find what is unexplored area, that researchers have pointed recently on cyberbullying.

For example, I have selected this article. Now in order to read this article we need to download it. To do that Open the article.

Copy link address. Go to Sci-Hub website to download the article. Link is in the description box of the video. Paste the link address. Click on open. Download the paper. The paper has been downloaded. Open the paper.

As you begin to gather gaps, critically read for what has, and has not, been learned from the research. Use the articles’ Discussion and Future Research sections to learn more about what the researchers discovered and where they suggest future or additional research topics.

Now, You have to highlight the gap. You can also search for future gap by pressing Control + F Button.

Use tools such as MS Word to map out the research you find from scholarly articles. These methods would be helpful to organize what information you have found and what is shared among the literature, as well as to identify what areas may be missing in the research.

The gap which I have identified I will paste them in word document. Also remember to write the name of author with the gap and also mention the year. This would help when you will write your research literature and to build the model.

 Download multiple articles on a specific topic. You need to find multiple gaps on the same research topic as one gap is not enough to build the model or to conduct a research . Find gap from each paper and paste them in word document. You must have a gap for your Independent Variable , Dependent Variable, moderator and mediator.

Hope you have understood the process of identifying gaps in the research papers. If you want more articles comment in the comment section, so that next article will be of your choice.

Other articles

Please read through some of our other articles with examples and explanations if you’d like to learn more about research methodology.

• PLS-SEM model
• Principal Components Analysis
• Multivariate Analysis
• Friedman Test
• Chi-Square Test (Χ²)
• Effect Size

 Methodology

• Research Methods
• Quantitative Research
• Qualitative Research
• Case Study Research
• Survey Research
• Conclusive Research
• Descriptive Research
• Cross-Sectional Research
• Theoretical Framework
• Conceptual Framework
• Triangulation
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• Quasi-Experimental Design
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• Randomized Controlled Trial
• Stratified Sampling
• Ethnography
• Ghost Authorship
• Secondary Data Collection
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• Ex-Post-Facto
•   Dissertation Topic
• Thesis Statement
• Research Proposal
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• Research Problem
• Research Gap
• Types of Research Gaps
• Operationalization of Variables
• Literature Review
• Research Hypothesis
• Questionnaire
• Reliability
• Measurement of Scale
• Sampling Techniques
• Acknowledgements

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Ohio State grad taking public health research gap year

Public health major graduated in may and plans to apply to medical school.

Shivani Patel has been interested in public health and health care for years, long before she enrolled at The Ohio State University.

“In high school, I had done a lot of advocacy work related to vaccines and vaccine hesitancy,” she said. 

Earlier this month, Patel was one of more than 12,000 students who graduated from Ohio State. She leaves with a bachelor’s degree in public health. She won’t be going far, though. 

Patel plans to apply to medical school, but not before she takes a gap year as a clinical research assistant in otolaryngology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

“I’ve had to practice the name a few times,” Patel admitted. “When I’d go for training, I’d sit in my car and say it to myself.”

“I wanted a gap year for the clinical research component,” she said. “I had participated in research throughout undergrad so I know I like it. I had a couple of different experiences, so I know which components of research I like: I like interacting with patients. I like participating in research that will improve people’s health.”

Before she begins her research position, though, Patel is spending her summer as an intern for the Southern Plains Tribal Health Board’s Tribal Health Experiential Student Internship Seminar, which is funded in part by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“I’m really excited about it,” she said. “It’s my dream to work for the CDC in some capacity.”

The eight-week program provides students and recent graduates with public health mentors who guide them through coursework and research, both of which focus on Native American health. At the end of the seminar, students present their research at the CDC Showcase in Atlanta.

“As an Ohio State student, my public health education really prepared me,” she said. “I’ve also had a lot of opportunities to grow as a person. I was a resident adviser; I’ve worked in the Office of Student Life since I was a sophomore. I feel like all those extra components, that may not seem like they’re related to my degree, they really helped me, too.”

Those opportunities are what Patel suggests incoming Buckeyes pursue, even if they are unsure.

“Try everything you feel OK about trying, even if you’re not in love with it,” she said. “See what sticks and what doesn’t. I didn’t pigeonhole myself into one activity. I did a lot of random things, but it all came together in the end. Try everything.”

Through trying different activities, Patel developed friendships across campus. She’ll miss those the most, she said.

Another thing she’ll miss about Ohio State? The school spirit. When Patel was younger, she knew she wanted to study at Ohio State because of how passionate the community is, she said.

“I was a big school spirit person in high school,” she said. “That’s why Ohio State appealed to me so much, that focus on students and school pride and excitement. That whole vibe was something I was really attracted to. I just wanted to go to Ohio State.”

May 6-10 is  In-Demand Jobs Week , an annual statewide celebration of the jobs, industries and skills that are in demand in Ohio. Ohio State News highlights students as they transition from graduation into the workforce.

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Ohio state academic year culminates with student fashion show.

Students at The Ohio State University who are preparing to enter a variety of career fields showcased their creativity with a recent fashion show at the Ohio Union.

Putting sourdough under the microscope

Since sourdough starters are created from wild yeast and bacteria in the flour, it creates a favorable environment for many types of microbes to flourish. There can be more than 20 different species of yeast and 50 different species of bacteria in a sourdough starter. The most robust become the dominant species.

New machine learning algorithm promises advances in computing

Systems controlled by next-generation computing algorithms could give rise to better and more efficient machine learning products, a new study suggests. 

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Summer learning loss: What we know and what we’re learning

Concerns about students losing ground academically during summer break go back at least a century, with early evidence suggesting that summer contributed to large disparities in students’ outcomes. This narrative spurred expansion of a variety of summer programs and interventions aimed at stemming summer learning loss.

However, in the last five years, there has been a spirited debate about two long-standing questions about students’ summers: 1) the degree to which test scores actually drop during the summer and 2) the degree to which summer break contributes to educational inequities. A new layer to this conversation is the response to the learning disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. School leaders and policymakers have used the summer break as a potential time for academic recovery. Summer programs have emerged as one of the most popular recovery strategies offered by school districts, with an estimated $5.8 billion of ESSER funds expected to be spent on summer programs by September 2024.

With more focus on the impact of summer on students’ learning and the potential to extend the school year, it is essential for educators, policymakers, and families to have an up-to-date understanding of the impact of summer breaks on students’ learning patterns. In this post, we aim to highlight what is known about summer learning loss by quickly summarizing recent research and posing some questions that remain unanswered about the role of summers on students’ learning.

Students’ test scores flatten or drop during the summer

While our initial understanding of summer learning loss dates back to studies conducted in the 70s and 80s , a recent collection of studies in the last six years provides a fresh look at students’ learning across summers using four modern assessments ( ECLS-K direct cognitive tests , MAP® Growth™, Star, and i-Ready) with large national (though not typically nationally representative) samples. See “School’s out: The role of summers in understanding achievement disparities,” “When does inequality grow? School, summer, and achievement gaps,” “Evidence of ‘summer learning loss’ on the i-Ready diagnostic assessment,” “Findings on summer learning loss often fail to replicate, even in recent data,” and “Inequality in reading and math skills forms mainly before kindergarten: A replication, and partial correction, of ‘Are schools the great equalizer?’”

Figure 1 compares the test score patterns across four different studies. Three important patterns stand out:

• On average, test scores flatten or drop during the summer , with larger drops typically in math than reading.
• Studies using test scores from ECLS-K:2011 show that student learning slows down but does not drop over the summers after kindergarten and first grade. However, research using interim and diagnostic assessments ( MAP Growth , Star, and i-Ready ) has found far larger summer drops across a range of grade levels.
• Given the sizable differences in the magnitude of test score drops across tests, it remains uncertain whether summer slide should be considered a trivial issue or a serious educational challenge.

Figure 1. Comparison of summer slide estimates across datasets

Note: All estimates are reported as the total average summer test score change in standard deviation (SD) units relative to the prior spring test score. Whenever possible, we report the estimate that adjusted scores for time in school prior/after testing in the fall and spring. Sources: Author calculations based on data reported in ECLS-K:20210-11 , MAP Growth , i-Ready , and Star .  

Who is most likely to show summer learning loss.

While all three diagnostic assessments show some degree of summer slide in grades 3–8 on average, the research community lacks consensus about whether summers disproportionately impact certain students. Paul von Hippel and colleagues have pointed out that whether and how much summers contribute to educational inequalities (across students of different income levels, races, ethnicities, and genders) depends on the test used to study students’ learning patterns. Nonetheless, we can present a few key patterns from this line of research:

• Learning rates are more variable during the summer than during the school year. See “School’s out: The role of summers in understanding achievement disparities,”   “When does inequality grow? School, summer, and achievement gaps,”  and  “Inequality in reading and math skills forms mainly before kindergarten: A replication, and partial correction, of ‘Are schools the great equalizer?’”
• Gaps between students attending low- and high-poverty schools do not consistently widen during the summer. See “Is summer learning loss real, and does it widen test score gaps by family income?”  and  “Is summer learning loss real?”
• Test score differences between Black and white students hold steady or narrow during the summer. See “Do test score gaps grow before, during, or between the school years? Measurement artifacts and what we know in spite of them”  and  “When does inequality grow? School, summer, and achievement gaps,” though results can be sensitive to the metric and test used. See also  “Black-white summer learning gaps: Interpreting the variability of estimates across representations” and “Findings on summer learning loss often fail to replicate, even in recent data.”
• The field cannot really explain why differences in students’ summer learning occur. See “Rethinking summer slide: The more you gain, the more you lose”  and  “Inequality in reading and math skills forms mainly before kindergarten: A replication, and partial correction, of ‘Are schools the great equalizer?’”

Planning effective summer programming

It is clear across recent studies that summer is a particularly variable time for students. Summer break is also increasingly a time in which districts are offering a range of academic offerings.

During summer 2022, an estimated 90% of school districts offered summer programs with an academic focus. However, evidence on the effectiveness of academic summer programs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic is limited. One study of eight summer programs in summer 2022 found a small positive impact on math test scores (0.03 SD), but not on reading. The improvements in math were largely driven by elementary students compared to middle schoolers. However, the effectiveness of these programs remained consistent across student groups, including race/ethnicity, poverty, and English learner status.

It is crucial to recognize the challenges associated with scaling up summer programs. In the districts studied, only 13% of students participated in the summer programs , which only lasted for an average of three to four weeks. Prior research indicates that for summer programs to yield measurable academic benefits, they should run at least five weeks with at least three hours of instruction a day. Additionally, getting students to regularly attend summer programs remains a significant hurdle. To address this issue, districts should actively recruit families to participate and offer a mix of academic instruction and engaging extracurricular activities. By adopting these strategies, districts can maximize the effectiveness of their summer programs and better support student learning during the break.

If you’re interested in learning more about effective summer programs, we encourage you to read the following:

• “Effective summer programming: What educators and policymakers should know”
• “Investing in successful summer programs: A review of evidence under the Every Student Succeeds Act”
• “Analysis: Summer learning is more popular than ever. How to make sure your district’s program is effective”
• “The impact of summer learning programs on low-income children’s mathematics achievement: A meta-analysis”
• “The effects of summer reading on low-income children’s literacy achievement from kindergarten to grade 8: A meta-analysis of classroom and home interventions”

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From the military to the workforce: How to leverage veterans’ skills

US employers face multiple challenges when it comes to filling jobs and retaining workers, including a shortage of skilled labor and an aging workforce. To meet the moment in this era of technological change, some companies are broadening their hiring lens beyond the traditional college résumé. They are evaluating candidates on their capacity to learn , their intrinsic capabilities, and their transferable skills.

About the authors

This article is a collaborative effort by Scott Blackburn , Michael Kim, Charlie Lewis , Hannah Oh, and Kallman Parry.

This is where military veterans can make a difference. Veterans represent a source of labor potential that is untapped relative to the breadth of experience and depth of skills  that they acquire and develop during their service. Members of the military receive technical training, operate under pressure in austere environments, and develop strong interpersonal skills throughout their service, making them well qualified for numerous civilian occupations. While not every military role is directly transferrable to a civilian job, most skills are—including those that correspond to US industries experiencing labor shortages, such as infrastructure and manufacturing.

And veterans aren’t the only ones who stand to benefit from a longer look by employers: the economic opportunity of unleashing the value of veterans’ work experience through skills-based hiring could reach almost $15 billion over a ten-year period, new McKinsey research shows.

In this article, we explore the complex employment picture for military veterans , including in jobs and industries that will be most affected by automation and generative AI . We look at actions the military can take to help service members prepare for their transition to civilian work. We focus particularly on enlisted veterans, who make up the majority of those shifting out each year but who tend to fare worse in the labor market because employers don’t recognize their technical skills. We then discuss ways that the military and the private sector can close the veteran opportunity gap by improving employment outcomes.

The veteran employment landscape

Military veterans are not a homogeneous demographic, nor is their labor profile. Veterans’ work experiences differ by age, skills, and educational degrees. Our research shows that, in the aggregate, veterans with bachelor’s degrees and those skilled through alternate routes (known as STARs 1 According to the not-for-profit Opportunity@Work, STARs are individuals who are at least 25 years old, are currently active in the workforce, and who have a high school diploma but no bachelor’s degree. ) outearn their nonveteran peers (Exhibit 1).

Veteran STARs are, on average, eight years older and earn $3.91 more per hour than civilian STARs, though they tend to cluster in fewer, technical occupations. The largest veteran STAR group is aged 45 to 54; this cohort has the highest median hourly wage ($26.44) of all STAR groups. The group with the highest median hourly wage overall ($42.58) is made up of veterans aged 55 to 64 and with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

The roles with the highest representation of veterans are often analogs of military specialties. These roles include aircraft pilots, flight engineers, and aircraft mechanics and service technicians, as well as detectives and criminal investigators. Veterans are also well-represented in middle- to high-wage occupations that are accessible from low-wage jobs and rarely require an undergraduate degree. These roles include occupational-health and safety specialists and technicians, crane and tower operators, paramedics, and construction and building inspectors.

When viewed as a monolith, veterans are doing relatively well. But when broken down into subsets, many veterans are struggling to find jobs that use, recognize, and compensate them commensurate with their level of military experience. This is especially true for those who have difficulty translating their experience to civilian employment opportunities—in particular, veterans without a four-year degree, who represent 61 percent of all employed veterans. 2 Opportunity@Work analysis of the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) 2021 Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS).

Of the roughly 150,000 active-duty service members who transition from the military each year, 3 Demographics report , US Department of Defense, 2021. approximately 90,500 earn less in their first year after being discharged than they did on active duty, resulting in billions of dollars of lost economic value (Exhibit 2). 4 Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) 2022 Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey (CPS), as well as data analysis of the US Census Bureau’s Veteran Employment Outcomes. And while some categories of veterans fare better than others—including former officers, as well as Special Forces and personnel who specialized in intelligence, IT, and cyber operations—veterans across categories are, on average, entering the civilian workforce at lower median wages than they had in the military.

Enlisted service members are disproportionately affected: veteran STARs tend to occupy lower-paying and more physically demanding roles than veterans with bachelor’s degrees, indicating that they may be hampered by not having a four-year degree.

Our methodology

To understand the lost economic opportunity associated with the lower wages for transitioning enlisted service members, we grouped junior enlisted service members who had undervalued occupational skills and noncommissioned officers (NCOs) who had undervalued managerial skills. We identified the one-year postdischarge salary for each category as a baseline, then assigned best-fit skills-based careers to each category. We narrowed the field of choices by factoring in required education, preparation needed, and projected annual job openings. Based on those choices, we identified salaries and calculated projected future earnings. We then determined the economic difference between current and potential salaries for all categories. Top careers included registered nurses; electricians; first-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers; industrial-machinery mechanics; and municipal and forest firefighters.

The cohort of enlisted veterans postdischarge excludes occupational groups (intelligence, Special Operations forces, and IT) that earn roughly equal to or greater than their last year of active-duty regular military compensation. The comparison of actual and potential average salary for enlisted veterans postdischarge is based on the latest data set to track income relative to military occupation from the US Census Bureau’s Veteran Employment Outcomes, which covers army veterans who left active-duty service between 2000 and 2015. 1 “Veteran Employee Outcomes,” US Census Bureau, accessed October 24, 2023. Actual earnings are from the Department of Labor; future-earnings projections are based on the 2023 Bureau of Labor Statistics annual wage increase and converted to 2018 dollars to match the Department of Labor data set. We also referred to the Department of Defense’s digital employment tool, Occupational Information Network, or O*NET; a 2023 RAND report on service members’ knowledge, skills, and abilities 2 Elizabeth Hastings Roer, Jeffrey B. Wenger, and Jonathan P. Wong, Military-to-civilian occupational matching: Using the O*NET to provide match recommendations for the US Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force , RAND, 2023. ; and an internal survey of veterans working at McKinsey that matched the RAND findings.

McKinsey analyzed what the total potential loss of annual earnings for a cohort of 90,500 transitioning enlisted service members would mean in terms of lost overall economic potential (Exhibit 3). The research, which combined labor data and a skills-based analysis, found that the economic potential of improving employment outcomes for a single cohort of transitioning veterans could be almost $15 billion over a ten-year period (see sidebar, “Our methodology”). This presents a significant opportunity for the military, the private sector, and not-for-profit organizations supporting veterans as employers seek workers with ready-made skills.

How veterans’ skills apply to jobs—now and in the future

In the broad economic context, McKinsey research on the US labor market shows a disconnect  between available jobs and people qualified to fill them. Two industries in particular stand out: infrastructure and manufacturing.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) is expected to create hundreds of thousands of additional jobs on projects ranging from roads, bridges, and waterways to clean energy and electric vehicles. However, a labor crunch in construction jobs exists across sectors, occupations, and geographies . In manufacturing, McKinsey analysis suggests that reviving the industry —in which the bulk of employees don’t need four-year degrees—could boost GDP and add up to 1.5 million jobs. 5 “ Delivering the US manufacturing renaissance ,” McKinsey, August 29, 2022.

Veterans map well to these high-demand jobs. To identify the specific actions that can help improve veterans’ employment outcomes in these industries and others, the research matched military specialties and skills to their full spectrum of civilian occupations. The goal was to identify high-potential pathways that are likely to improve veterans’ livelihoods based on skill overlap. 6 To focus the analysis and gain an understanding of the distribution of veterans across occupations, their education attainment levels, and incomes today, we examined employment and demographic data from external sources such as the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and the US Census Bureau, in addition to analysis from internal sources such as the McKinsey Global Institute. For the purposes of this research, veterans’ livelihood represents their overall well-being, as well as the strength of their means to provide essentials (for example, food, shelter, clothing, healthcare) to support themselves and their families. Our ratings of veterans’ occupational skills were based on a 2023 RAND survey of more than 5,100 veterans and augmented with a small sample of McKinsey veteran employees. For more, see Elizabeth Hastings Roer, Jeffrey B. Wenger, and Jonathan P. Wong, Military-to-civilian occupational matching: Using the O*NET to provide match recommendations for the US Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force , RAND, 2023.

The analysis found that enlisted veterans are highly rated on occupational skills associated with trades such as electricians, mechanics, and construction professionals. For example, veterans were consistently rated higher on technical skills such as installation, equipment maintenance, repairing, and troubleshooting than the threshold required for the average civilian occupation.

Conversely, enlisted veterans were rated lower on “softer” occupational skills associated with management, sales, and office and administrative-support roles, such as reading comprehension, persuasion, and negotiation, suggesting real or perceived deficiencies in interpersonal skills that are required to succeed in business environments. However, these lower ratings tended to improve with military rank and the accompanying experience that rank brings, as both midlevel and senior noncommissioned officers (NCOs) scored above average on all occupational skills. 7 Melissa A. Bradley et al., Helping soldiers leverage army knowledge, skills, and abilities in civilian jobs , RAND, 2017.

Veterans overall score higher on service orientation, which the analysis defined as “actively looking for ways to help other people,” than the threshold for the average civilian occupation. However, this skill may not fully capture inherent veteran strengths, such as dependability, punctuality, discipline, and integrity.

While the typical veteran tool kit favors technical ability over verbal and written communication, veterans can consider developing and refining their soft skills to allow for better access to high-potential “gateway” roles , while continuing to pursue in-demand occupations that require technical skills. 8 “New research finds workers without four-year degrees not realizing wage gains despite having the skills for higher-wage work; identifies 51 job roles that unlock economic mobility,” Opportunity@Work press release, accessed October 30, 2023. These roles create a bridge between frontline work and destination roles, which require higher-level skills training and academic credentials.

The top 15 occupations that employ veterans today are generally expected to experience strong positive labor demand change and low change-of-work activities in the coming years as digitization and other technological changes take hold  (Exhibit 4). These occupations include nursing (expected to experience a 41 percent increase in labor demand); laborers and freight, stock, and material movers (a 26 percent increase); construction laborers (a 22 percent increase); and truck drivers (a 12 percent increase). Veterans can continue to pursue these occupations at even higher rates.

On the other hand, certain occupations that employ veterans are at risk of displacement due to declining job demand and adoption of automation, as well as the acceleration of generative AI in these occupations. This includes retail salespeople (expected to experience a 23 percent decrease in labor demand), supervisors of office and administrative-support workers (a 20 percent decrease), and customer service representatives (a 14 percent decrease).

Transitioning veterans can consider avoiding these roles, and veterans already in these occupations can continue to focus on upskilling, while taking advantage of reskilling opportunities to move into more secure occupations. Veterans looking to move into more senior positions can also use generative AI tools to their own advantage to help boost their capabilities and output.

Veterans looking to move into more senior positions can use generative AI tools to their own advantage to help boost their capabilities and output.

Several gateway occupations offer high potential to improve veterans’ livelihoods, including heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) mechanics and installers, human resources specialists, and industrial-machinery mechanics. However, these occupations are being accessed by less than 2 percent of employed veterans today (Exhibit 5).

Closing the opportunity gap: Actions stakeholders can take

We’ve looked at the skills that many veterans offer and the potential roles that a majority of veterans pursue, including gateway jobs for those without four-year degrees. To carve out better pathways and help make transitions more successful for those who need more support, the military services and employers can consider the following interventions.

The military: Recruit, retain, retrain

The military can address three recruiting and retention challenges by communicating the value of service and how skills developed in the military can translate to future careers.

Reverse declining interest in military service. The US military itself is facing a recruiting crisis that is likely to worsen if the value proposition of employment beyond military service doesn’t improve. 9 Ben Kesling, “The military recruiting crisis: Even veterans don’t want their families to join,” Wall Street Journal , June 30, 2023. The general population is largely unaware of the benefits of service, with 50 percent of young people saying they know little to nothing about military service and its unique professional-development offerings. 10 “Facts and figures,” US Army Recruiting Command, accessed August 29, 2023.

To shift perceptions and to help support candidates on their holistic career journey, the military can train recruiters to promote how service-developed skills can lead to well-compensated civilian careers and improved livelihoods, including how different military specialties map to various civilian occupations. As discussed earlier, there are several high-potential career pathways that are open to veterans that will continue be viable even as AI adoption increases. Recruiters who can communicate the value of military service in the context of these pathways could improve interest levels over the longer term.

The US Department of Defense (DOD) and service branches can launch a public relations campaign that highlights how the military develops desirable skills during service and provides support, education, and training opportunities during and beyond the transition. These programs include the GI Bill, tuition and credentials assistance, leadership academies, military occupation-related training, and SkillBridge, which allows transitioning service members to intern with civilian employers during the last 90 to 180 days of their service. 11 For more, see Army Credentialing Opportunities Online (Army COOL), US Army; “Education and training,” US Department of Veterans Affairs; “Tuition assistance,” US Army; and “What is SkillBridge?,” US Department of Defense, all sources accessed October 23, 2023.

Reduce disparities in commercial-sector employment opportunities . As noted earlier, the military has effective transition programs aimed at increasing the presence of veterans in the tech space and elsewhere. In one example of a successful transition, a naval flight officer looking for a civilian job emphasized her experiences in combat, as a NATO instructor, and in leading teams. Through the DOD SkillBridge program, she found a role focusing on public sector sales at a tech start-up. Starting as a customer success manager, she was promoted three times to a director-level role at the company, which is now a unicorn.

However, in many cases the digital career tools available to those transitioning to civilian work are inconsistent and often focus on literal job translations, neglecting inputs beyond military occupational specialties, such as rank, education, and formal training. For instance, recruiters from the Army and the Marine Corps receive different career recommendations from a widely used digital tool, the DOD’s Occupational Information Network, or O*NET, which transitioning service members are encouraged to use to evaluate potential careers.

Service members with critical skills, such as cyber-operations specialists and unpiloted-aerial-systems operators, are more likely to leave for commercial opportunities after their first enlistment, while other specialties are less in demand because of a lack of clear occupational analogs. The services could adopt reenlistment incentives that amplify the value of more military experience for skill development, rather than providing potentially ineffective financial incentives for service members so they stay for an additional enlistment.

For instance, promoting the long-term NCO tool kit, with a focus on leadership of personnel and resources, could improve both retention and recruiting outcomes. The services could enhance NCO leadership academies to offer upskilling and additional training, which improve the likelihood of employment in civilian occupations that offer increased earning power.

The military could also promote occupations such as nursing, which has a significant labor shortage, with more than 200,000 openings annually . Veterans with experience as medics are well suited for nursing roles. In addition, the military could offer nursing prerequisites on base as a part of its Installation Education Centers and highlight veterans in diverse nursing careers (in intensive care units, emergency rooms, and flight or transport roles).

In another individual example, an air force aerospace medical technician earned his associate’s degree in nursing while in the service, then used the GI Bill to complete his bachelor’s degree in nursing after leaving the air force. He then went on to earn his MBA and is now a healthcare consultant.

Increase job satisfaction rates. Twenty-two percent of active service members report dissatisfaction with their military experience, 12 See “Military-to-civilian occupational matching,” 2023; and “Navy readiness: Actions needed to evaluate and improve surface warfare officer career path,” US Government Accountability Office, June 17, 2021. a percentage that spikes further in certain demographics, such as the 88 percent of female Naval Surface Warfare Officers who leave within their first ten years.

To encourage younger generations to seek out military service as a career, the military can partner with more universities, trade associations, and employers to diversify the service member experience and to allow service members to pursue opportunities outside their specialty while still contributing to the capabilities of their service.

The private sector: Build a talent model around skills

As the United States invests in infrastructure- and climate-related projects, the labor shortage the country is currently experiencing may only grow . And as generative AI and other technologies take off, productivity changes will likely affect the occupations that veterans pursue and the skills that transitioning service members will need to be competitive for employment.

To help expand talent pools , corporate leaders should take note that 60 percent of American workers over the age of 25 don’t hold a four-year degree. 13 “Hire for the skills it takes to do the job,” Opportunity@Work, accessed October 24, 2023. That roughly matches the percentage of those transitioning out of the military who don’t have a bachelor’s degree.

By moving to a skills-based approach, companies can boost the number and quality of applicants  who apply to open positions. Internally, they can build skills and retrain their existing workforces to prepare people for new roles. Retention improves when workers find more opportunities to advance internally, McKinsey research shows . 14 Sandra Durth, Asmus Komm, Florian Pollner, and Angelika Reich, “ Reimagining people development to overcome talent challenges ,” McKinsey, March 3, 2023. Skills-based practices have a greater impact when they’re implemented across the whole talent journey, including in sourcing, hiring, and career development.

Companies can also set targets for veteran recruitment and hiring. One company that has pledged to hire veterans is Micron, which is building a $100 billion semiconductor plant in upstate New York. 15 Steve Lohr, “Micron pledges up to $100 billion for semiconductor factory in New York,” New York Times , October 4, 2022. Of the 9,000 people it expects to hire for the plant, Micron is aiming to hire 1,500 veterans, or 17 percent of its workforce. The company has found that veterans are a good fit for the semiconductor industry because of their experience with heavy machinery and technology, along with their disciplined mindset and team-building skills.

In the public sector, US states and local governments that are receiving BIL funding  can reserve a portion of jobs for veterans, just as they have for stakeholders such as local construction companies, engineering firms, trade schools, and others.

A hiring strategy that focuses on expanding the pool of potential talent can help communities by creating more and better job opportunities for a broader, diverse pool of workers. It can also provide upward mobility for millions of workers—including veterans—at a crucial time for the US economy.

The military can take more steps to support veterans, particularly enlisted service members, as they navigate the transition to civilian work. Companies can open their hiring practices to consider veterans for a variety of roles, not just those that match perfectly with their military skills. Together, these actions can add billions in value to the US economy as veterans moving into civilian jobs maintain or increase their earning power to support their families and build their communities.

Scott Blackburn is a senior partner in McKinsey’s Washington, DC, office, where Kallman Parry is a senior analyst; Michael Kim and Hannah Oh are consultants in the Southern California office; and Charlie Lewis is a partner in the Stamford, Connecticut, office. All are veterans of the US armed forces.

This article was edited by Barbara Tierney, a senior editor in the New York office.

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• Home Services

Moving Soon? Here's How You Can Find Reliable Movers

Don't choose just any moving company to secure and transport your most valuable possessions -- do a bit of research first.

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Finding reputable professional movers can be a major task, and there's also a lot of money at stake -- an average of $4,100 if you're moving between states and $980 for in-state.

When you select a moving company, you're going to want all your belongings to arrive undamaged at your new home at the delivery day and time that was scheduled. You'll also want a company that's responsive to questions and quick to resolve disputes.

Learn what to look for when researching moving companies and red flags to avoid. For more moving tips, learn how to calculate what size moving truck you need and how to lift heavy items without hurting yourself.

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When choosing any professional service, there's nothing as valuable as a personal recommendation. Ask family, friends and neighbors about their moving experiences and if they have any movers that they recommend. 

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Read online reviews, consumer reports and customer complaints for moving companies

The internet holds a vast number of customer reviews about moving companies. Business review site Yelp is a good place to start, and the home services site Angi (formerly Angie's List) is also a great resource.

Reddit's Moving community is chockablock with advice, and a Google search of the expansive community website can often uncover lots of helpful guidance. Try doing a Google search starting with  site:reddit.com then the terms you're interested in, such as moving companies and Portland Oregon.

To keep digging, search the Better Business Bureau for customer complaints and the FMCSA website for information on interstate movers. 

Watch out for moving company red flags

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It takes a bit of work to properly vet a moving company, but it's worth it to reduce the possibility of a moving disaster. Your stuff is important, and a little research can help keep it safe and secure when moving.