Developing Clear Research Aims to Investigate Knowledge Gaps
Giving Purpose to Academic Writing
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24215596 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robin Bendrey (0000-0001-5286-1601, School of History, Classics and Archaeology University of Edinburgh, Old Medical School Edinburgh UK), P D Mitchell (0000-0002-1009-697X, Department of Archaeology University of Cambridge Cambridge UK) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-08-23 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Osteoarchaeology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1047-482X • E-ISSN: 1099-1212 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/oa.70165 |
| OpenAlex | W7204049432 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 9 |
This editorial sits in a series aiming to give helpful pointers to those submitting manuscripts for publication to the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology (IJO), in particular early career colleagues starting out in publishing their research (e.g. Bendrey and Mitchell 2024). An issue that sometimes occurs is a submission to the journal which considers an interesting or useful dataset, but which does not respond to a research question, problem or identified gap in existing literature. Such manuscripts may suffer from a range of issues. The absence of a research problem or identified research gap to address reduces the strength of justification for publication; it also impacts ability to develop a compelling narrative. This can leave a study feeling less focused, less important, and descriptive rather than analytical.
Academic writing · early-career researchers · knowledge gaps · manuscript submission · osteoarchaeology · research justification · research objectives · research questions · Academic Publishing and Open Access · Academic Writing and Publishing · Publishing and Scholarly Communication
| Highly cited | No |
|---|