Science AI Journal
Veterinary · Research topic

Open research questions in Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies

153 gap statements mined from Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies papers in our 4.5M-paper local library, which holds 722 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

Choosing where to publish on Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies? See the ranked Medicine journals.

What the literature leaves open

  • Future research should focus on expanding dataset coverage and establishing unified evaluation splits. Future research should develop highly generalizable model architectures and cross-modal deep learning frameworks.

    Computer vision-based livestock weight measurement: principles, methods, and challenges · 2026 · DOI

  • The scarcity of high-quality labeled datasets is a research gap. Variations in animal posture under dynamic conditions are a research gap. Environmental interference is a research gap.

    Computer vision-based livestock weight measurement: principles, methods, and challenges · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should explore the impact of specific light wavelengths on long-term production traits and physiological responses to maximize ben-efits for both animal welfare and farm productivity. Future research should investigate the long-term implications of dif-ferent lighting systems on productivity, reproductive health, and overall well-being.

    Behavioral Responses to Welfare-Friendly Lighting Management in Dairy Cows: A Comparative Study · 2026 · DOI

  • Finally, further work is needed to evaluate humans’ motivations and capacities to compensate (including the symbolic value of compensation), and how to encourage and support decision-makers and practitioners to provide compensation across laboratory, breeding, farming, veterinary and other contexts. No data were collected and ethical approval was not required.

    Compensating animals through the reduction and positive redress of welfare harms · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of readily available ethograms for many species. The difficulty in assessing quantifiable components in definitions. The need for more accurate and reliable methods for behaviour identification.

    Strategies for improving the quality and accessibility of captive animal ethograms · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on generating primary ethograms for other species. The use of accompanying videos should be explored further. The development of more accurate and reliable methods for behaviour identification is needed.

    Strategies for improving the quality and accessibility of captive animal ethograms · 2026 · DOI

  • Limited understanding of the genetic profile of digital dermatitis in young heifers. Need for novel phenotypes and genetic analyses to investigate the disease.

    Phenotypic and genomic study of digital dermatitis in UK Holstein heifers · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of understanding about the adaptive traits of pig breeds and their response to environmental changes. The study fills a gap in understanding the effect of breed on piglet survival and pre-weaning mortality.

    Piglet survival and pre-weaning mortality: The effect of breed, stability, and plasticity under varying housing and feeding conditions · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of understanding about the interplay between housing infrastructure, bedding selection, and manure management. The study aims to address this gap by surveying 228 dairy farms across the UK.

    Management of dairy cow resting areas in the United Kingdom: a survey of infrastructure, bedding selection and socio-technical constraints · 2026 · DOI

  • The study is limited by the fact that it is an observational study, and the farms also varied in genetics, feeding strategies, and parity distribution, which may have influenced the observed outcomes. The study only examined two commercial farms, which may not be representative of all farm settings.

    Welfare parameters and reproductive performance of group-housed sows in two commercial mating area systems: an observational study · 2026 · DOI

  • There is limited field-based evidence on the welfare and reproductive outcomes of group housing immediately after weaning. There is a need for studies that examine the effects of group housing on sow welfare and reproductive performance in commercial farming systems.

    Welfare parameters and reproductive performance of group-housed sows in two commercial mating area systems: an observational study · 2026 · DOI

  • In contrast, exsanguination without prior stunning causes a rapid reduction in cerebral perfusion pressure and CBF, supported by carotid hemodynamic and computational studies, although direct intracerebral measurements during slaughter are lacking.

    EEG-CBF integration in calf slaughter neurophysiology: a narrative review · 2026 · DOI

  • Taking the lead from recent social scientific studies, future research could explore the historical role of farmers in informing and shaping veterinary clinical knowledge (143).

    From veterinary practice to science: the transformation of dairy cow lameness in Britain, c.1930–1987 · 2026 · DOI

  • The study had a limited sample size of 28 rabbits. The study only evaluated the effects of RAP on rabbits exposed to a novel environment. The study did not investigate the long-term effects of RAP on rabbit behavior.

    Crossing the comfort zone: rabbit appeasing pheromone enhances acclimation to a novel environment · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of research on the effects of RAP on rabbits exposed to novel environments. The study aims to address this gap by evaluating the behavioral effects of RAP on rabbits. The study also aims to investigate the use of RAP as a potential tool for reducing stress and anxiety in rabbits.

    Crossing the comfort zone: rabbit appeasing pheromone enhances acclimation to a novel environment · 2026 · DOI

  • Research has paid little attention to tail biting in weaner pig production. There is a need to investigate the impact of motivational factors and economic incentives on the management of tail biting.

    Motivational factors and financial incentives to mitigate tail biting in pig production in Finland · 2026 · DOI

  • The study was conducted in a controlled environment, which may not reflect real-world conditions. The sample size was limited to 64 pigs. The study did not investigate the long-term effects of disease on pig behaviour.

    Characterising responses in group-housed pigs to Salmonella typhimurium infection through integrated computer vision–based behavioural monitoring and statistical analyses · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper acknowledges that understanding the functions and mechanisms of affects will evolve and inform affect profile construction, yet provides no framework for how existing affect profiles should be updated, revised, or versioned as new mechanistic understanding emerges, or how inconsistencies between revised profiles and previous welfare decisions should be managed.

    Mapping profiles of animal affect · 2026 · DOI

  • The study was limited to a specific type of animal (pigs and sheep) and a specific type of virus (African Swine Fever Virus and Bluetongue virus).

    RAMSMART: a low-invasive system for real-time automated multi-species monitoring of livestock activity in research trials · 2026 · DOI

  • There is no EU legislation specifically dedicated to the welfare of working equids.

    Indicator factsheet - Welfare of working equids in the European Union · 2026 · DOI

  • Investigating the long-term effects of disease on pig behaviour. Developing more effective health monitoring strategies for livestock. Exploring the application of computer vision-based behavioural monitoring in other areas of livestock management.

    Characterising responses in group-housed pigs to Salmonella typhimurium infection through integrated computer vision–based behavioural monitoring and statistical analyses · 2026 · DOI

  • Building up affect profiles for a wide range of species. Using affect profiles to further our science and improve interactions with animals. Investigating the evolution of affect and consciousness.

    Mapping profiles of animal affect · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies a gap in the understanding of the effect of melatonin administration on oxidative stress and blood parameters in sheep during shearing.

    Oxidative Stress and Blood Parameters During Shearing in Sheep Treated with Melatonin · 2026 · DOI

  • Further research could explore the application of the proposed framework to other animal species, - The use of other attention mechanisms or architectures could be investigated, - The integration of the proposed framework with other sensors or data sources could be…

    Light Attention Encoder–Decoder for Cattle Body Segmentation and Body Weight Estimation · 2026 · DOI

  • Further testing of the system in different animal species and research settings. Investigation of the potential applications of the system in other fields, such as wildlife conservation and animal welfare monitoring.

    RAMSMART: a low-invasive system for real-time automated multi-species monitoring of livestock activity in research trials · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies

Most recent work

Find a gap in your own Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies sub-topic

This page shows what the Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies literature already flags as unresolved. To narrow it to your specific question, search the Research Gap Finder: the search is free with a free account and lists the papers closest to your topic first. Unlocking that topic (50 credits, charged once) fills the comparison table from our 4.5M-paper local library and writes the gaps from its rows.

Open the Research Gap Finder →

Related topics in Veterinary

Veterinary Equine Medical Research
196 open questions
Brucella: diagnosis, epidemiology, treatment
88 open questions
Helminth infection and control
84 open questions
Veterinary Pharmacology and Anesthesia
75 open questions
Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) Future research should focus on expanding dataset coverage and establishing unified evaluation splits (“Computer vision-based livestock weight measurement: principles, methods, and…”, 2026); (2) Future research should explore the impact of specific light wavelengths on long-term production traits and physiological responses to maximize ben-efits for both animal welfare and farm productivity (“Behavioral Responses to Welfare-Friendly Lighting Management in Dairy Cows: A…”, 2026); (3) Future research should focus on generating primary ethograms for other species (“Strategies for improving the quality and accessibility of captive animal…”, 2026); (4) There is a lack of understanding about the adaptive traits of pig breeds and their response to environmental changes (“Piglet survival and pre-weaning mortality: The effect of breed, stability, and…”, 2026); (5) There is a lack of understanding about the interplay between housing infrastructure, bedding selection, and manure management (“Management of dairy cow resting areas in the United Kingdom: a survey of…”, 2026). 153 gap statements have been mined from Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies papers in our 4.5M-paper local library, which holds 722 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

Tools for your next paper

Gaps & Literature SearchFind open questions in any field — 120,000+ open gaps mined from our own library.Pre-CheckIs your paper ready? Acceptance odds for top, mid and open/emerging journals, in seconds.Journal FinderA ranked shortlist of target journals from a 17,500-venue index.Duplicate Publication CheckerCheck for prior publication across 7 sources and our local library.Citation GeneratorFreeA DOI or title → APA, MLA, Vancouver, Chicago, BibTeX, RIS. No signup.Graphical Abstract MakerFreeTurn your findings into a colorblind-safe graphical abstract.

How Pre-Check worksHow AI Review works

Compare the category — Honest roundups of the AI research tools, ours listed alongside the alternatives.

Command palette

Jump anywhere, run any action.