Research Gap
An area where existing literature is missing, thin, conflicting, or methodologically limited, which a new study can address.
A research gap is a specific shortfall in the existing literature: a question not yet asked, a population or context not yet studied, findings that conflict, or methods whose limitations leave a conclusion uncertain. A genuine gap is demonstrated, not asserted; it emerges from systematically mapping what has been done and showing where the map runs out.
The gap is the hinge of a thesis. Your literature review exists largely to establish it, your research question is written to fill it, and your contribution is judged against it. Be precise about the kind of gap you claim, because examiners probe vague ones: saying no one has studied something invites the reply that perhaps no one needed to. Stronger gap statements explain why the missing knowledge matters and how filling it changes theory or practice.
Writing the thesis this term belongs to?
CiteDash takes a thesis from research question to a compiled document, with AI that cites only real papers and verifies every claim against its source.