1. Identifying Gap Areas from
Literature Review
Prof. G.V.K.Sharma
sharma.gollakota@gitam.edu
“The formulation of the problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be
merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill.” ― Albert Einstein
2. Topic Outline
• The Research Process
• Characteristics of a Researcher
• Example
• Why Literature Review?
• 4 Stage Approach to reading a research paper
• Definition of a Research Gap
• Sources of Research Gaps
• Methods to identify research gaps
• Practical Aids
• References
• My Favourite Professors
3. The Research Process
a) Identify a research problem broadly in a general area of interest
b) Acquire skills
i. Do a background coursework to acquire breadth
ii. Review basic concepts and theories
iii. Make a comprehensive review of relevant literature
c) Identify Research Gaps from Literature Review
d) Formulate a hypothesis (if appropriate)
e) Plan the mode of execution (Work could be experimental or theoretical
or both)
f) Deliver seminar talks
g) Tabulate, Analyze and Interpret results
h) Check hypothesis, draw conclusions
i) Write thesis
Steps in the research process are iterative by feedback as the whole process
moves forward
4. Characteristics of a Researcher
to be able to identify research gaps
• A prepared and open mind
• Broad interests in several areas
• A capacity for hard work
• A strong desire to make an original contribution
• Communication Skills – Oral and Written
• Technically Skillful – Theoretical and Experimental
• Perhaps the most important quality is to “characterize and compare”
5. Example - Attributes of Research Problems
•Difficulty
•Value or usefulness
•Support – Technical, Financial
•Significance / Impact
•Cost / Equipment / Cooperation
6. Why Literature Review?
• To know sufficiently enough to identify gaps and inconsistencies in an area
• To know the views and interest of others in a topic
• To know and establish contact with people who may be interested in your work
• Novelty in Familiarity and Familiarity in Novelty
• To know if others have already done what you want to do
• Avoiding duplication and unintentional plagiarism
• To integrate and compare various ideas on a topic
• To get hints on how to tackle your problem
• State of the art: extend and build on the work of others
7. 4 Stage Approach to reading a research paper
• Stage 0: Get a “feel”
• Stage 1: Get the big picture
• Stage 2: Get the details
• Stage 3: Evaluate the details
• Stage 4: Synthesize the details
8. Stage 0: Get a “feel” for the paper
• Read the title
• See how long the paper is (2 to 40+)
• Conference research papers 4-8 pages
• Journal research papers 6-15 pages
• Review/survey papers much longer
• Where is the paper published
• Look at the figures
• Read the section/ sub-section headings
Structure of a Research Paper
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Background / Motivation
Contribution of paper
Related work
Problem definition (research questions)
Solution approach or outline
Scope / Assumptions / Limitations
Details of solution -experiment / system /
model
Findings
Evaluation
Take-away from paper
References
Every item in paper exists for a reason
9. Stage 1: Get the big picture
What you are looking for Where to find it
What research area / sub-topic does the paper fall
under?
Title, Abstract
What problem does the paper attempt to solve? Title, Abstract, Introduction, Problem definition
What is related work and why is it not sufficient, what
are gaps
Introduction
What key contribution does the paper claim? Title), (Abstract), Introduction, Conclusions
Broadly, how does the paper solve the problem? Introduction, figures
How do the authors defend the solution? Introduction, figures
What category of paper is this? Introduction, headings
• Read
• Title, Abstract, Introduction, Conclusion
• Go through
• Section and sub-section headings
• Look at
• Figures
10. Outcome of Stage 1 - Example
• What research area / sub-topic does the paper fall under?
• Engineering education
• What problem does the paper attempt to solve?
• How to embrace the implementation and benefits of clickers for distance education?
• What is the motivation for this problem?
• Distance education lacks interactivity, ) Clickers shown to be highly effective in face
to face classrooms
• What is related work and why is it not sufficient
• Very little work on use of clickers in distance education
• What key contribution does the paper claim?
• provide architecture of implementing a distributed student response system with
20+ remote locations
• show proof of concept of implementation
11. Stage 2: Get the details
What you are looking for Where to find it
What problem does the paper attempt to solve? Introduction, Problem definition
What is related work? What are gaps? Introduction, Literature Survey or Related Work
What contribution does the paper claim –idea,
technique, proof, surprising result etc?
Introduction, Conclusion
How does the paper solve the problem? Title, Abstract, Introduction, Conclusions
Broadly, how does the paper solve the problem? Solution, Experiment, figures
How do the authors defend the solution? Methodology, Experiment, Results
What is the precise research question addressed? Introduction, Problem definition
Why is it believed that solution works, better than
previous ?
Solution approach, figures
What are assumptions, scope? Problem definition, solution approach
What are details of proposed solution –argument,
proof, implementation, experiment?
Solution, System details, Experiment, Methodology,
figures
What evidence is provided? Figures, Results
What is the take-away message from the paper? Overall
12. Stage 3: Evaluate the details
• Is the research problem significant ?
• Is the problem novel?
• Is the solution approach novel ?
• Are the contributions significant ? –
• Is relevant related work surveyed “sufficiently” enough?
• Have alternate approaches of solution been explored?
• Are assumptions valid? Has paper violated assumptions?
• Are the claims valid?
• Are the different parts of the paper consistent?
• Are the figures, graphs, diagrams precise?
• Does the paper flow logically?
• What is the paper trying to convince you of? Does it succeed
13. Stage 4: Synthesize, Ask Creative Questions
• What are some alternative approaches to address the research problem?
• Could there be a different way to substantiate the claim?
• Are their counter-examples or arguments against the paper’s claims?
• Are all assumptions identified and validated?
• How can the research results be improved?
• How can the results be generalized?
• What are the new ideas and open problems suggested by this work?
14. Activity
1. Collect a bunch of papers and delineate the different sections of the
paper - as per Stage 1
2. Write a 2-3 page review of a paper. The review should have three
parts:
a) Summary. Should address questions in Stage 2: Get details
b) Critically evaluate. Should address questions in Stage 3.
c) Creatively synthesize: Should address questions in Stage 4.
Use the questions as guidelines to develop your review as a coherent essay
15. Writing a Literature Review
• A literature review is not:
• a descriptive list of papers
• a summary of one paper after another
• A literature review should
• initially identify themes, factors, or variables relevant to your
problem.
• table classifying related work on the basis on various categories
that you need to devise
16. Definition of a research gap
• Research gap is a research question or problem which has not been
answered appropriately or at all in a given field of study
17. Sources of Research Gaps
• “Future Work” sections in thesis and papers
• To read systematic reviews
• These papers delve deep into the literature and examine the trends and
changes in a discipline or specific field of study
• “Key Concepts” sections in influential journals which aim to assist the journal’s
audience to develop an appreciation of central ideas in that field
• “Recent Trends and Challenges” papers summarize the state of knowledge on a
specific subject
• Tutorial sessions and keynote lectures in prominent conferences
• GIAN Courses, Book chapters in Handbooks
18. Methods to identify research gaps
• Comparison of different approaches by some objective measures of efficiency or
accuracy
• Identify harmful simplifications or arbitrary choices in a paper – try something
different
• Novelty in Familiarity and Familiarity in Novelty
• Requires extensive reading
19. Practical Aids that facilitate
identifying research gaps
• Running notes, highlighting points during paper reading
• Writing a survey paper by reviewing papers in
• Chronological order
• Categorical order
• Implementing Selected Papers (upto their last detail)
• Presenting Seminars (to yourself and others)
• During Post Coursework Phase:
• to firm up your own ideas
• to get input from others about feasibility and what they feel about
• During Conference Phase: Done after some initial amount of work
• to share ideas with similar researchers
• to get ideas from other fields
• During PreSubmission Phase: Done typically after completion of work
• to announce your contributions
• to get inputs about thesis organization
20. References
• ISTE Workshop Lectures on “Introduction to Research
Methodologies” at IIT Bombay
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVAoBW-
y8VE&list=PL_uaeekrhGzL9fDd1Mohm9Llzah1yFYem
• NPTEL Online Certification Course “Introduction to Research”
• https://nptel.ac.in/courses/121106007/
21. My Favourite Professors
Peter Stoica
Professor of Systems Modeling
Division of Systems and Control, Uppsala University
B. Sundar Rajan
Professor of Wireless Communications
Department of Electrical Communication Engineering
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
