Q: What is novelty in research?

Novelty is a very important aspect of research. It is true that research has progressed tremendously in the past two decades due to the advent and accessibility of new technologies that enable goods and data sharing. Consequently, it might be difficult to find a topic about which nothing is known or no literature is available. However, there is still a lot of scope for progress.

For finding novelty in your area of research, you should do a thorough literature search to find out what is known and what are the gaps which need to be clarified. There might be topics that are studied but reports are still contradictory. Researching this can lead to novel leads. Many times, a novel research might just mean disproving what is already known. The novelty will largely depend on your in-depth knowledge of the field. With the increasing amount of research output, many high impact journals are now seeking highly novel information to publish.

Therefore, please do a thorough literature search and I’m sure you will be able to identify the novelty in your area of interest. You may ask your teacher these questions to clarify your doubts about novelty in your specific subject area.

Related reading:

• How can I judge the novelty of my study?
• Where should I submit my paper if it lacks novelty but has good performance metrics?
• The journal editor says my research findings are not novel. What should I do?