How to identify a research gap EASILY [Sanity-saving tools] 

My father is a professor, and upon showing him this, he just said, "if you can't find a bubble, make one". That's a response that I found unexpected. He explained it as understanding how people think in a certain field, and approaching it with a different thought process. For example, when working with viruses, bacteria, DNA, and proteins, biologists approach the project in a certain way, one that is absolutely different from how a physicist or engineer would. I've been doing a couple of projects with him by taking biologists' problems and approaching them as an electrochemist and materials engineer (those are my backgrounds), and I've gotten some slightly interesting results. Hell, we even developed some novel instruments to do research with.

Thank you, Andy! I got absolutely stuck as in the Arts everything has been researched, and it is challenging to come up with something unique.

thanks for this...you helped me on my doctoral dissy in further defining the gap I am looking for. My program heads often talk about the 'gap' but many times this confuses the heck outta me because its like youre searching for a needle in a haystack among the research, In you saying to look at this as the tendrils coming from known research has really helped me to conceptualize my work better, especially when it comes to my literature review.

thank you for this video! I'm currently finishing my undergrad and working on writing a grant to fund my grad school. I've always had trouble identifying the gaps in knowledge, I can't wait to try these techniques :)

this video should be sold in millions of $$s honestly

Needed this!!! Thank you

You are doing a great job Sir. I must say, I enjoy your videos and you are helping make research more enjoyable to me. Thank you

Great stuff. I needed this right now while writing up a paper

Thank you for publishing this video! This information is fantastic!

Thank for your work is so useful!!!

These kind of videos i like.

Thank you

Ohh thank you so much so helpful ❤️❤️

Is it the same for the master thesis, I'm about to pick a research topic for it...thanks.

Thank you!!

How about asking the target group / community if there are gaps in intervention or service?

Thank you, you are so helpful and brilliant! I am about to take on an MRes and I think I have found the ‘tendrils’ you are talking about. However, my research is in medieval literature so, I think the ‘research gaps’ search words will be different to scientific fields. Any ideas? Thanks

❤❤

It is instinct. You gain basic knowledge from bachelor's to master's degrees and also from your readings. the rest is up to you.

Love the tip on using "promising results" - will save me from tens of hours on reading through literature reviews!

I started using Connected Papers after one of your videos, and I have come back to say Thank you so much for telling us about such a powerful tool ! I appreciate your continued commitment to support current and prospective graduate students, especially in Chemistry all around !

why you scream at me

Thank you, that's really insightful. I hadn't realized I was focusing on the wrong aim when thinking about research gaps until I saw this.

I've been seeing your lectures for a long time. As a perspective PhD student, I get so many helpful tips and tricks on how to be an ideal student and what should and should not be done. Thank you so much for all your videos. Rooting for more.

I used to look for the most recent questions and discussion about my field on the Research Gate, and I could find lots of valuable research questions and directions. Thanks a lot for everything you are posting on your channel 🌹🌹

Woah! This was super helpful. I was having sleepless nights identifying how to go about finding a research gap and you just saved me a ton of trouble. You got a sub man!

I love this channel. I want to apply to a PhD program next year and I'm trying to get ready as much as I can, this channel has been so helpful in this process. Thanks Andy!

Your channel is a straight cheat code lol Thanks a lot buddy

"Research tendrils" ‐- what a great and less-intimidating way to put it!

I LOVE you!!! My gosh, I do not have the words to say how much you helped me with this video. I am going to apply for a Ph.D. program at the end of the year and I always felt terrified when thinking about what would I write about. Like a deer looking into the headlight!! And I already dropped out from a Ph.D. program where, among other things, no one cared to say how the %uck to do that. This video is already on my favorite list. Thank you very much!!!

I have started using your recommendations to use google scholar. Great ideas. Thanks

Your tips are helpful. I want to go for phd by publication. I would like know is it equivalent to traditional phd by thesis? What domain the certificate bears ? Is same Doctor of Philosophy that phd has?

Hi Andy, please share links to the tools in the discription section. It's much easier to navigate with links.

I really appreciate these videos. I start graduate school in a few weeks!

Great Video! Very helpful! Keep doing more videos!

how to identify the methodology and approach (inductive/deductive) of the paper? can you share a paper written with either approach so i can understand. TIA

My issue at the moment is I am not attached to a University and I am writing as part of my Practice, where can I get access to full research papers? I use Core, Sci-Hub and Google as best I can but I miss having access to all the resources I used to have when I was at UoN

"Asking a PhD student" this makes me more worried! Because I'm a PhD student and watching this video 😆🙈

I think this is how students who do required thesis fail. They usually do not identify a gap properly. Making them to make a research but ont that gives only a small contribution that goes unnoticed and then their capabilities dulled when they are not acquired by a research institution because most institutions look for research that close gaps better.

I would add elicit to the tools worth using for research exploration 😁

Thank you for sharing. It is like you said … it can be hard to find a gap and less difficult to push the knowledge a bit further in a new direction or angle of examination 🙃

Love your videos, thanks Andy 🙏🏻

Amazing channel!

Again! Thank you so very much. These videos are the right size. I can jot down a few notes and thoughts during breakfast and carry that new thought into work (PhD student 😊).

Great video! Thanks for the online apps. I wasn't aware of those! :)

wow Sir

Conclusions are helpful, but then skim the methods to ensure the validity of the study.

Hi Andy! Have you made a video on how to finish a paper? I have a few figures and I am trying to figure out how to finish it up. I find I get into a spiral of "I have so much data" to "none of this matters" but at the end of the day it is data, I just don't know how to finish the story!

Watched this a second time and learned even more. I appreciate your videos. Good info.

Thank inadvance for breaking research gap with brief note .

Thank you Andy for this video, if I want to do a review paper do I need to follow the same techniques?

thanks for the tip, I've also had a video idea that I may need help on which is how to collaborate with fellow academics when writing and contributing work to a paper.

Thank you Dr. Stapleton for this useful information! That helps a lot!

thank you very very much sir, i got exactly what i was looking for

Thank you so much

God bless you Bro! Thank you Jesus

Thank you for your sharing knowledge.

so helpful thanks so much

Frontiers magazine

Need more of this content

Really helpful thanks mate

Good video.

Don't chase gaps that researchers with more money and more brains are chasing. Heartache in the making

Thanks!

Isn’t it funny someone who failed a career in academia is trying to explain how to succeed? Or maybe it’s to sell his website and newsletter? Who knows?