Open research questions in Historical Geography and Geographical Thought
65 gap statements mined from Historical Geography and Geographical Thought papers in our 4.5M-paper local library, which holds 477 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.
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What the literature leaves open
Further research could explore the impact of the Great Patriotic War on the development of Soviet geographical science. Further research could analyze the role of institutional support in the implementation of large-scale research projects.
Preparation of Geography of the USSR by Soviet Scientists in the Second Half of 1930s — First Half of 1940s: Plans, Problems of Realisation, and the Fate of the Project · 2026 · DOIThe paper highlights the need for an analysis of the research and organizational activities undertaken by Soviet scientists.
Preparation of Geography of the USSR by Soviet Scientists in the Second Half of 1930s — First Half of 1940s: Plans, Problems of Realisation, and the Fate of the Project · 2026 · DOIThe study highlights the need to address epistemic inequalities across Europe's geographical and disciplinary peripheries. The research gap includes the lack of representation of SSH researchers from Southern and Central-Eastern Europe in agenda-setting roles and the undervaluation of SSH credibility and region-salient topics.
Reclaiming the margins in environmental research: Epistemic inequalities across Europe's geographical and disciplinary peripheries · 2026 · DOIGeopolitical interference can harm the integrity of science and authorship. International tensions and restrictions on freedom of expression can limit the ability of researchers to collaborate and publish their work. The lack of awareness about the impact of geopolitics on international collaborations in health professions education scholarship can hinder efforts to address this issue.
It is preferred that the 2014-2015 fellow will focus on under-studied topics in nineteenth-century cartography (related to Volume Five of The History of Cartography), but this is not required and the choice of subject matter is otherwise open.
It highlights the need for further research on the experiences and observations of Russian writers in the United States. The paper suggests that Korolenko's views have been overlooked in the context of Russian intellectual history.
It highlights the need for a framework to reintegrate diverse pursuits. The paper emphasizes the importance of adapting to changing philosophies outside geography.
The paper suggests the need for further research on the concept of a self-transforming profession. It implies the importance of exploring the relationship between geography and societal values.
The significance of Taylor's work in addressing this gap is highlighted.
Future research should consider the complexity of voting behaviour. Changes in political generations and electoral distortion should be taken into account.
The study highlights the need for further research on the historical development of geography as a discipline.
The paper does not explicitly state a research gap, but it implies that there is a need for more information about the benefits and challenges of word processing.
The paper suggests that future research should focus on developing a more holistic approach to geographic study. It highlights the importance of considering time and space in geographic analysis. The paper suggests that future research should aim to integrate concepts and processes in geography.
The paper identifies a gap in the existing literature on regional analysis, particularly in terms of the lack of a holistic approach to geographic study. It highlights the limitations of traditional dichotomies in geography, such as natural vs. human and qualitative vs. quantitative.
The lack of agreement among scholars on the definition and scope of the field of political geography and geopolitics. The need to analyze the implications of the development of air power and nuclear weapons for geopolitical strategy.
The argument that if a farm can be considered as a primary whole, the same must be true of New York Harbor indicates that the critic has not understood, if he read, the definition of the terms as used in my text.
The paper's focus is limited to the development of physical geography in the context of American geography. No specific limitations are stated.
Their works, “There’s not a Bathing Suit in Russia and Other Bare Facts” (1927) and “Ding Goes to Russia” (1932), have received limited scholarly attention and have not been previously analyzed within this critical frame work.
While these three cases show how problematic it is to translate adjectives such as ‘radical’ and ‘critical’ across national, linguistic, and cultural barriers, they also expose how there is no standard or unique application of these definitions to geography, which does not impede putting distinct experiences in mutual and productive dialogues, including for today scholarly and activist agendas.
Translations, translocations, and pluralism: A transnational and multilingual analysis of the circulation of radical geographical knowledge · 2025 · DOIWill the 'from the achieved level' method be replaced? If so, by what? And when? I see no answer to the second question.
The Hudson-Wevers model does not account for various factors that influence voting behaviour. The model is too simplistic and does not capture the complexity of voting behaviour.
The lack of opportunity to work in the Soviet Union hindered advanced research and training - The risk of guilt by intellectual association may have subtly checked the growth of professional expertise…
The lack of expertise on the USSR after World War II - The lack of funding for advanced training…
There is a need to understand the importance of Griffith Taylor's correspondence with leading American scholars - The gap in understanding the influence of the correspondence on Taylor's career…
Further analysis of the implications of the development of air power and nuclear weapons for geopolitical strategy. Examination of the relevance of the concept of the Heartland in modern geopolitical thought.
Most-cited papers in Historical Geography and Geographical Thought
- Playing the Field: Questions of Fieldwork in Geography · The Professional Geographer · 1994 · 431 citations
- Exceptionalism in Geography: A Methodological Examination · Annals of the Association of American Geographers · 1953 · 270 citations
- Imaginative geographies · Progress in Human Geography · 1995 · 245 citations
- Governmentality, Geography, and the Geo-Coded World · Progress in Human Geography · 2006 · 174 citations
- APPROACHES TO REGIONAL ANALYSIS: A SYNTHESIS · Annals of the Association of American Geographers · 1964 · 164 citations
- The Spaces of Knowledge: Contributions towards a Historical Geography of Science · Environment and Planning D Society and Space · 1995 · 154 citations
- Foreword to Historical Geography · Annals of the Association of American Geographers · 1941 · 144 citations
- BOUNDARY STUDIES IN POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY · Annals of the Association of American Geographers · 1963 · 140 citations
- Modernism and the Harlem Renaissance · American Quarterly · 1987 · 137 citations
- Between Regions: Science, Militarism, and American Geography from World War to Cold War · Annals of the Association of American Geographers · 2006 · 134 citations
Most recent work
- Political geography III: Authoritarian geographies · Progress in Human Geography · 2026
- Elevating the Discipline: Creating Pathways for Geographers as Public Scholars · Annals of the American Association of Geographers · 2026
- Watching Radical Geography: Spaces and Practices of Authoritarian Surveillance in ‘Democratic’ and ‘Dictatorial’ Brazil · Antipode · 2026
- Reclaiming the margins in environmental research: Epistemic inequalities across Europe's geographical and disciplinary peripheries · Applied Geography · 2026
- The spaces & times of African Liberation Geographies · Urban Geography · 2026
- Looking Back: Economic Geography’s Evolution, 1925–1991 · Economic Geography · 2026
- Doing Geography Amidst Precarity · Area · 2026
- Historical geography in contemporary China: Key opportunities and characteristics · Journal of Historical Geography · 2026
- Mischief, care, and heterotopia: reflections on the potentials of zines in geography’s spaces · Cultural Geographies · 2026
- Preparation of Geography of the USSR by Soviet Scientists in the Second Half of 1930s — First Half of 1940s: Plans, Problems of Realisation, and the Fate of the Project · Izvestia of the Ural federal university Series 2 Humanities and Arts · 2026
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