Science AI Journal
Arts and Humanities · Research topic

Open research questions in History of Science and Medicine

244 gap statements mined from History of Science and Medicine papers in our 4.5M-paper local library, which holds 2,685 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 History of Science and Medicine? See the ranked Social Science journals.

What the literature leaves open

  • The study notes the challenges of conducting research with vulnerable populations, including the need for sensitivity and respect for the experiences of the women.

    Postcolonial scientific masculinities: the correspondence of Arthur C Clarke and J B S Haldane · 2026 · DOI

  • Further research could explore the impact of Darwinism on the utopian genre. The study's findings suggest the need for further analysis of the role of racism in biopolitical societies. The article's engagement with Foucault's theory of racism could be further developed in future research.

    Evolution, Utopia, and Satire in Robert Ellis Dudgeon’s Colymbia (1873) · 2026 · DOI

  • The article highlights the need for further analysis of the novel's vision of a biopolitical utopia and its engagement with Darwinism and the discourse of the empire.

    Evolution, Utopia, and Satire in Robert Ellis Dudgeon’s Colymbia (1873) · 2026 · DOI

  • The gap is that the literature on the sociology of science has historically struggled to dispel accusations of being against science. The paper identifies a need to understand the migration of scientific authority and its relation to political polarization. The gap also includes the lack of understanding of the role of mathematical modelling in these controversies.

    Science Under Siege and the Migration of Scientific Authority · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should examine the implications of pharmaceutical imperialism for public health. Future research should explore the role of indigenous knowledge in the development of pharmaceuticals.

    German Pharmaceutical Imperialism in Brazil: Cinchona, Biopolitics, and Hybrid Knowledge in the Early 19th Century · 2025 · DOI

  • But the question remained whether the Western experience of a falling birth rate could be replicated on a global scale, especially in Asia, where population was growing fast, not least due to the work that doctors like McCleary were doing in bringing down the mortality rate.

    Zombies un-slayed: Malthusian Myopia in Lapland · 2024 · DOI

  • Further work on fumigating people might also buttress the authors’ claim that fumigation did not prepare the gulag or help account for Zyklon-B and the Holocaust, which haunt this book as ghastly epilogues.

    Sulphuric Utopias: A History of Maritime Fumigation by Lukas Engelmann and Christos Lynteris · 2024 · DOI

  • However, that malaria was not eradicated did not prove Dubos right; in fact, the contradictory evidence to his thesis came quickly in the form of the successful world-wide smallpox eradication campaign, which was intensified at the same time (1965) that Dubos was articulating his scepticism concerning the possibility and value of disease eradication.

    René J. Dubos and Fred L. Soper: Their Contrasting Views on Vector and Disease Eradication · 1997 · DOI

  • It highlights the need for further research in the field of cliometrics.

    Cliometrics: The State of the Science (or is it Art or, perhaps, Witchcraft?) · 1987 · DOI

  • Poorly conducted studies can be detrimental to further scientific development. There is a need for a better understanding of epidemiological principles.

    Book Review: Modern Epidemiology · 1987 · DOI

  • Future research should prioritize a more nuanced approach to understanding human biology, taking into account social and political context. Future research should engage with the critiques of the field's naturalistic approach and develop more contextualized approaches to understanding human biology.

    Intrinsic Social and Political Bias in the History of American Physical Anthropology · 1987 · DOI

  • They were irate that their personal integrity would be questioned to the extent of putting spies in their midst, and they stressed the importance of expert scientific knowledge to be able to judge the merits of a medical experiment—expertise that was lacking among the general public.

    William Henry Welch and the Antivivisection Legislation in the District of Columbia, 1896–1900 · 1985 · DOI

  • There is a need to evaluate Leonard Horner's contributions to education as a whole. Prior work has mentioned his contributions separately, but not evaluated them as a whole.

    Leonard Horner, 1785‐1864: His Contribution to Education · 1985 · DOI

  • Further research could explore the journal's impact on the field of history. Further research could examine the journal's evolution over time and its adaptation to changing circumstances.

    PAST AND PRESENT: ORIGINS AND EARLY YEARS · 1983 · DOI

  • The paper highlights the need to explore the social and historical context of the journal's founding and evolution.

    PAST AND PRESENT: ORIGINS AND EARLY YEARS · 1983 · DOI

  • The limited influence of scientific associations in the decisional phase of policy making is a challenge. The ability of dictatorial states to disregard the norm of open scientific communication is a challenge.

    Book Reviews : The Social Basis of Scientific Discoveries. Augustine Brannigan (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981) 212 pp. (preface by Michael Mulkay · 1983 · DOI

  • The need to develop new therapeutic approaches that take into account Bion's theory of thinking.

    Wilfred R. Bion · 1981 · DOI

  • As Clark notes, few studies have analyzed the question of state formation through a focus on public health, and here she acknowledges Paul Farmer's analysis of Ebola in West Africa in Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds (2020), one of the first books to differentiate between "containment" and "care" in disease eradication.

    Conjuring the State: Public Health Encounters in Highland Ecuador, 1908–1945 by A. Kim Clark (review) · 2024 · DOI

  • Underappreciated and little known in the ever-growing literature on Morgenthau and classical realism at large, this manuscript provided the foundation for a series of publications throughout his life in which he ferociously and even polemically defended a normative role for “science” ( Wissenschaft) in modern societies against the backdrop of the rise of behavioralism.

    Crisis, Values, and the Purpose of Science: Hans Morgenthau in Europe · 2016 · DOI

  • The paper argues that the field's emphasis on naturalistic explanation has limited its ability to understand human biological and social variations.

    Intrinsic Social and Political Bias in the History of American Physical Anthropology · 1987 · DOI

  • Scientific associations have limited influence in the decisional phase of policy making. ISPAs are effective only when their recommendations suit the interests of governments.

    Book Reviews : The Social Basis of Scientific Discoveries. Augustine Brannigan (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981) 212 pp. (preface by Michael Mulkay · 1983 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of how German scientists acquired knowledge of the therapeutic properties of plants. The paper identifies a gap in the examination of the intersection of pharmacological experimentation and biopolitical practices.

    German Pharmaceutical Imperialism in Brazil: Cinchona, Biopolitics, and Hybrid Knowledge in the Early 19th Century · 2025 · DOI

  • Further analysis of historical figures using DNA and informatics. Application of the methods to other fields such as forensic science.

    A Reconstitution of the Face of the French Bayard Knight (1473?-1524) Based on DNA Analyses and on Informatics Study of his Official Portrait · 2024 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the historiography of fundamentalism, particularly in regards to the southern connection. The author notes that the liberal schools of fundamentalist historiography denied any intellectual content in fundamentalism.

    Evolution, Fundamentalism, and the Historians: An Historiographical Review · 1981 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of Donne's use of the legend of the Oldest Animals in his work. The study aims to fill this gap by exploring the literary and cultural context of Donne's time.

    DONNE'S ANATOMY OF THE WORLD AND THE LEGEND OF THE OLDEST ANIMALS · 1981 · DOI

Most-cited papers in History of Science and Medicine

Most recent work

Find a gap in your own History of Science and Medicine sub-topic

This page shows what the History of Science and Medicine 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 Arts and Humanities

EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
1,733 open questions
Second Language Learning and Teaching
1,014 open questions
Themes in Literature Analysis
823 open questions
Diverse Music Education Insights
792 open questions
Art Education and Development
694 open questions
Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies
688 open questions
Reformation and Early Modern Christianity
670 open questions
Medieval Literature and History
660 open questions
Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) Further research could explore the impact of Darwinism on the utopian genre (“Evolution, Utopia, and Satire in Robert Ellis Dudgeon’s Colymbia (1873)”, 2026); (2) The gap also includes the lack of understanding of the role of mathematical modelling in these controversies (“Science Under Siege and the Migration of Scientific Authority”, 2026); (3) Future research should examine the implications of pharmaceutical imperialism for public health (“German Pharmaceutical Imperialism in Brazil: Cinchona, Biopolitics, and Hybrid…”, 2025); (4) There is a need for a better understanding of epidemiological principles (“Book Review: Modern Epidemiology”, 1987); (5) Future research should prioritize a more nuanced approach to understanding human biology, taking into account social and political context (“Intrinsic Social and Political Bias in the History of American Physical…”, 1987). 244 gap statements have been mined from History of Science and Medicine papers in our 4.5M-paper local library, which holds 2,685 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.