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Open research questions in Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance

256 gap statements mined from Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 3,214 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 Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance? See the ranked Social Science journals.

What the literature leaves open

  • These findings are consistent with the phenomenon of structuring and suggest that future research should focus more on distinguishing between how transnational organized crime choose destination countries vis-à-vis what volumes of IFFs are observed between countries.

    The Global Dirty Laundry: A Heckman-Adjusted Gravity Model of Illicit Financial Flows · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research could address this limitation by separately modelling export and import mismatches, considering gross mismatch measures based on absolute deviations, and using normalised mismatch measures relative to bilateral trade.

    Macroeconomic Determinants of Trade-Based Money Laundering: Case of South Africa · 2026 · DOI

  • The concept should consequently be regarded as an analytical proposition grounded in the Colombian case, whose broader explanatory scope remains to be established through comparative research.

    Geopolitics and overlapping criminal sovereignty: the case of Tren de Aragua in Colombia · 2026 · DOI

  • First, the cross-sectional, single-source design means that all associations are strictly perceptual and contemporaneous; no inference about temporal precedence or causal directionality is warranted.

    Modeling democratic erosion in Ecuador: narco-capitalism, state reconfiguration, and criminal governance through PLS-SEM and ANN · 2026 · DOI

  • Since we only include data we were able to validate, many beneficiaries of money laundering schemes remain unknown.

    Criminalized Sovereignty: State Capture and Systemic Corruption Embedded in Economic Globalization · 2026 · DOI

  • Disruption has become a central metric in UK organized crime policing, yet its operational meaning and evidential basis remain unclear.

    Counting disruptions: ethnographic insights from organized crime policing in London · 2026 · DOI

  • Money mules are critical facilitators in the laundering of illicit goods and commodities, yet their operational behaviours remain underexplored in the Australian context.

    A crime script of Australian money mules · 2026 · DOI

  • However, limited research and the absence of research conducted with gang members directly, creates challenges regarding the management of gangs and gang violence.

    Gangs, diabolatry and witchcraft: towards a contemporary typology of occult-gangs · 2025 · DOI

  • It highlights the need to go beyond punitive approaches and guarantee access to basic rights. The article implies that the challenge of expanding partnerships with other countries is necessary to mitigate the effects of transnational organised crime.

    Estado, Violência Cultural e Governança criminal · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on the expansion of partnerships with other countries to mitigate the effects of transnational organised crime. It should also investigate the mechanisms of cultural violence that legitimise marginalisation.

    Estado, Violência Cultural e Governança criminal · 2026 · DOI

  • The current legislation does not distinguish between 'aviãozinhos' and traffickers. There is a need for a more nuanced approach to addressing drug trafficking.

    Uma análise crítica sobre a distinção entre os "aviãozinhos" e os traficantes perante o Poder Judiciário · 2026 · DOI

  • The study highlights the need for further research on the effects of different regulatory models on crime-related outcomes.

    Impact of drug legislation on crime reduction: a systematic literature review · 2026 · DOI

  • The relationship between the banana economy and the emergence of Honduras as a major hub in the Latin American drug trade has not been fully explored. The current literature on Honduras tends to separate the banana economy and contemporary problems with crime into two distinct eras.

    From Bunches to Kilos: Commodity-Induced State Weakness as a Predicate for Criminal Governance in Honduras · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a need to understand common money laundering techniques used by organised crime. The paper identifies a gap in the literature on the methods used by organised crime groups to launder money.

    Possible Money Laundering Methods of Organised Crime in the European Union · 2026 · DOI

  • The restrictive interpretation of money laundering offenses, which can lead to dismissals or acquittals. The need to balance the autonomy of money laundering offenses with the requirement to prove the illicit origin of funds.

    The autonomy of the money laundering offense: between legal reality and doctrinal controversy · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies a lack of inter-agency coordination and international cooperation.

    Human Trafficking of Indonesian Citizens in Cambodia: Perspectives from Criminology, Victimology, and International Law · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of effective investigation and prosecution of money laundering cases involving politically exposed persons. The need for improvement in the framework's supervisory coverage and enforcement system.

    POLITICALLY EXPOSED PERSONS AND THE STRUCTURAL LIMITS OF ROMANIA’S AML/CFT FRAMEWORK · 2026 · DOI

  • The author notes that khep has been overlooked as a distinctive system of commerce. The paper argues that the existing literature oversimplifies the complex moral reasoning and practical risks involved in khep.

    Khep : Embodied commerce between Dubai and Karachi in the age of surveillance · 2026 · DOI

  • This proposition is contrary to the common ontology of territory that does not account for the way state capture laundromats leverage systemic corruption to give looted state assets an aura of legitimacy by criminalizing sovereignty.

    Criminalized Sovereignty: State Capture and Systemic Corruption Embedded in Economic Globalization · 2026 · DOI

  • The prevalence of criminally acquired assets is significantly felt globally. Despite the fact that the exact value of looting is difficult to determine with accuracy, the research findings have revealed that there are some estimates.

    Enforcement of the Law on Criminally Acquired Asset Recovery in Tanzania: A Critical Analysis of Barriers Encountered · 2026 · DOI

  • A key limitation of this study stems from the challenges of collecting data on illicit networks.

    Women, Gangs, and Criminal Networks: A Social Network Analysis of the Forty Elephants Gang · 2026 · DOI

  • Apply anti-money laundering (AML) regulations on virtual asset exchanges exceeding the defined trade thresholds. Platform Accountability: Mandate KYC verifications for high-value trades. Mandate reporting suspicious trades to the financial intelligence units.

    Illicit Trade Risks in Online Gaming: Evidence from Albania and North Macedonia · 2026 · DOI

  • Limited understanding of the integrated mechanisms connecting global supply dynamics, transnational criminal networks, and emerging demand patterns - Limited research on the contemporary cocaine market developments…

    The Drug Situation – Focus on Cocaine · 2026 · DOI

  • The restrictive interpretation of money laundering offenses poses challenges for criminal prosecution. The study identifies a gap in the understanding of the autonomy of money laundering offenses and their relationship with predicate offenses.

    The autonomy of the money laundering offense: between legal reality and doctrinal controversy · 2026 · DOI

  • Further study on the use of technology, such as Artificial Intelligence, in detecting false positives and conducting searches. Development of more effective anti-money laundering measures. Analysis of the impact of money laundering on businesses and individuals globally.

    LAUNDERING DOUGH MAKES YOU LOTS OF BREAD…BUT CAN GET YOU TIME IN PRISON! · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) Future research could address this limitation by separately modelling export and import mismatches, considering gross mismatch measures based on absolute deviations, and using normalised mismatch measures relative to bilateral trade (“Macroeconomic Determinants of Trade-Based Money Laundering: Case of South Africa”, 2026); (2) The concept should consequently be regarded as an analytical proposition grounded in the Colombian case, whose broader explanatory scope remains to be established through comparative research (“Geopolitics and overlapping criminal sovereignty: the case of Tren de Aragua in…”, 2026); (3) The cross-sectional, single-source design means that all associations are strictly perceptual and contemporaneous; no inference about temporal precedence or causal directionality is warranted (“Modeling democratic erosion in Ecuador: narco-capitalism, state…”, 2026); (4) Disruption has become a central metric in UK organized crime policing, yet its operational meaning and evidential basis remain unclear (“Counting disruptions: ethnographic insights from organized crime policing in…”, 2026); (5) Money mules are critical facilitators in the laundering of illicit goods and commodities, yet their operational behaviours remain underexplored in the Australian context (“A crime script of Australian money mules”, 2026). 256 gap statements have been mined from Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 3,214 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.

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