Evidence Gap Map Services
Pubrica develops evidence gap maps for research funders, portfolio teams, policy makers and guideline groups. Each map places interventions against outcomes in a matrix, with every cell either showing the studies it contains or marked as empty, and each empty cell written up as a research question. Our information specialists and subject matter experts agree the framework with you, run a systematic search, chart the studies and deliver the map with its charting data, so that you can base commissioning and funding decisions on where evidence is missing.
- A framework agreed before the search, because the axes determine which gaps can appear, and axes built after the search reflect only what was found
- Every cell filled or visibly empty, with study counts and designs, rather than a narrative about coverage
- Gaps stated as fundable research questions: a population not yet studied, a design not yet used or an outcome not yet measured
- Interactive where it helps, so a portfolio team can filter by design, region or date rather than reading a static figure
- Built to be extended, so that next year’s studies can be added without rebuilding the map
Framework agreed before searchingIncluded
Systematic search and chartingIncluded
Map with every cell resolvedIncluded
Gaps written as fundable questionsIncluded
Judging whether the evidence is goodA different review type
Framework → searched → charted → mapped → commissioned
- Framework set before the search
- Search recorded and reproducible
- Every cell resolved
- Gaps written as questions
- Built so it can be extended
Service Scope
Four Evidence Gap Map Service Areas, Available Individually
Pubrica offers evidence gap map work as separate services, so you can engage us at any stage, from defining a framework to extending an existing map.
Who We Serve
Funders and Organisations We Support with Evidence Gap Maps
We support sponsors, research teams, institutions and decision makers as well as academic researchers.
Deliverables
What Every Evidence Gap Map Includes
The map is the main deliverable, and its usefulness depends largely on the framework underneath it.
Framework stage exampleA framework derived from the studies you found can only show you gaps inside the space those studies already occupy. The absences that matter are outside it.
Map exampleThis is what distinguishes a gap map from a literature review with a figure: the empty cells are the main output.
Example from a gap analysisThere is limited evidence in this area.No randomised study has measured quality of life for this intervention in low-resource settings; the four trials that measured it were all in high-income health systems. That is a call for proposals.
Example from a handoverFunders often commission gap maps repeatedly on the same portfolio, and a map that cannot be extended has to be commissioned again.
The samples shown are illustrative and anonymised. Hover over a sample to replay it.
Compliance and Standards
Evidence Mapping Methodological Standards
Evidence mapping follows the search and charting methods of scoping review methodology.
PRISMA-ScR (charting and reporting)
The scoping review reporting extension, which governs the search and charting discipline underneath a gap map even though the output is a matrix rather than a narrative.
JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis (conduct guidance)
The conduct manual for scoping and umbrella reviews, which covers how the review is conducted rather than how it is reported.
PRISMA-S (search reporting)
The 2021 search extension to PRISMA 2020. Its sixteen items cover where you searched, how, when and what you found, which is the detail that makes a search reproducible.
Quality management (cert. H3CR9TCU20251212INDQM10N)
Our certified quality system governs how work is run, recorded and released.
Responsible Use of AI
Our Approach to AI Use in Evidence Mapping
Automated tools are good at clustering existing studies, but a gap map reports what is absent. Identifying an absence is a judgement made against the framework by a specialist who knows the field.
Why We Do Not Publish AI Accuracy Figures
Accuracy figures for AI tools are usually reported by the companies that sell them.
Pubrica therefore does not quote a self-generated accuracy figure, because it would carry the same conflict of interest. Instead, we tell you which tool was used on your project, at which stage, and what a specialist changed afterwards.
Methodology
How Our Evidence Gap Map Process Works
The framework defines what the map can show, and each later step builds on it.
Framework Development
We agree the interventions and outcomes with you, align them to an existing taxonomy where one exists, and fix them in writing before searching.
Literature Search
We search databases, registries and grey literature systematically and record each source, so that the map can be reproduced and extended.
Data Charting
We chart studies into the framework, capturing design, population, setting and date alongside the cell assignment.
Mapping and Interpretation
We produce the matrix, interactive where useful, and write up every empty cell as a question with a reason for the absence.
Our Experts
Your Evidence Gap Map Team
A named team of subject specialists stays with your project from scoping to delivery. Your project coordinator introduces each team member by name before work begins.
Identifies the evidence on which the work is based and documents the search so that it can be reproduced. Writes the search strategy line by line for each platform and delivers it dated and reproducible.
Determines what the work can claim on the basis of the evidence. The subject expert is matched to your topic and tells you clearly when the evidence does not support the expected conclusion.
Reviews the work independently of the first pass and reconciles the two, because most errors in this work are transcription errors rather than errors of reasoning. All disagreements are logged and adjudicated.
Responsible for every decision that depends on the numbers. Confirms before analysis begins whether the data can answer the question, and hands over the code so the analysis can be re-run independently.
Packages
Evidence Gap Map Service Packages
Pricing depends on the size of the framework and the number of records the search returns, which for a portfolio-scale map is usually several thousand.
Evidence gap map
A defined topic or portfolio
Quoted per projectBased on framework size and record volume
Delivery Quoted by scope
- ✓Framework agreed before searching
- ✓Systematic search recorded per source
- ✓Studies charted into the matrix
- ✓Every cell filled or shown empty
- ✓Gaps written as fundable questions
- ✓Charting data handed over
The framework discussion determines whether the map is useful, so we give it the time it needs.
Deliverables Request a quoteInteractive map
Portfolio and commissioning teams
Quoted per projectBased on framework size and filters required
Delivery Quoted by scope
- ✓Everything in the gap map
- ✓Filterable by design, region, date and population
- ✓Study records linked from each cell
- ✓Shareable with your own stakeholders
- ✓Built so new studies can be added
Suitable where several teams use the same map to answer different questions.
Deliverables Request a quoteScheduled refresh
Maps that inform recurring funding rounds
Quoted per projectBased on refresh interval
Delivery Scheduled
- ✓Search rerun against the same strategy
- ✓New studies charted into the existing framework
- ✓Cells that changed state flagged
- ✓Gaps closed since last time identified
- ✓Framework extended where the field moved
A refresh shows which cells are no longer empty, which is often its most useful output and is lost if the map is rebuilt from scratch.
Deliverables Request a quoteSend your portfolio or topic and we will draft the framework at no cost, so you can review the axes before committing to the search. The framework determines whether a gap map is useful.
Benefits
Benefits of a Pubrica Evidence Gap Map
Four reasons clients commission this service.
Quality Assurance
Our Service Commitments and Limitations
Our service terms are set out in full below, before you commit.
Our revision commitment
Revision Support Within the Agreed Scope
We continue working within the agreed scope until the work meets the agreed requirements. We offer continued revision rather than a refund, because a refund ends the engagement without delivering the work.
01
Unlimited revisions within the agreed scope
There is no limit on revision rounds or time within the agreed scope. If the work does not meet what we agreed, we revise it. Changes that widen the scope are quoted separately, and we confirm which applies before work starts.
02
Corrections at Our Cost
If the work needs correction because of an error in our analysis or writing, we correct it at no cost.
03
Delivery on the agreed date
We agree a delivery date that we can meet. If a milestone is at risk, we tell you early rather than on the day.
04
Mutual NDA on request
Signed in both directions before you send anything, at no cost. We are also happy to sign your NDA instead of ours.
05
Final decisions remain with you
We advise, give our view and tell you clearly when we disagree, but decisions about what is published in your name are always yours.
Average client rating
From 3,000 responses to Pubrica’s own post-delivery survey, sent to every client at handover between January 2024 and June 2026. This figure comes from our own records.
Service limitations. We cannot guarantee outcomes decided by others, such as an editor’s decision, a funding panel’s decision or a regulator’s assessment. Within the agreed scope, we guarantee the work: completed to the standards named on this page, delivered on the agreed date and corrected at our cost if we made an error.
FAQs
Evidence Gap Map FAQs
If your question is not answered here, please ask an expert. No quote is required.
The method underneath is largely the same — systematic search, charting against a predefined framework, no quality appraisal. The output is different.
A scoping review describes what exists in narrative form. A gap map is a matrix in which every intersection is resolved, and it is commissioned by people who need to make allocation decisions.
Not as a rule. A gap map shows where evidence exists rather than whether it is good, and combining the two makes a map harder to read and interpret.
Where a funder needs confidence as well as coverage, we can add an appraisal layer, usually shown as a second dimension on each cell rather than combined with the count.
Research funders deciding a call, biotech portfolio teams deciding where to invest, and policy bodies deciding what to commission next.
In each case, the client has resources to allocate and needs to know where funding would add new evidence rather than duplicate existing work.
In an active field, about a year. In a slow one, several.
Because the framework and charting data are handed over, a refresh adds new studies to the existing map rather than rebuilding it, which also shows which gaps have closed since the last version.
Related Services
Related Evidence Synthesis Services
Evidence mapping and answering a specific question are separate tasks, usually done in that order.
1THE RELATED MAPPING FORMsame method, different output
Scoping reviewA narrative review rather than a matrix. Literature reviewIncluding gap analysis.2ANSWERING WHAT THE MAP FOUNDdownstream
Systematic reviewOne question, reviewed exhaustively. Rapid reviewFor decisions with a fixed deadline.3IF IT IS FOR A FUNDING ROUNDrelated services
Grant writingTurning an identified gap into a proposal. Search peer reviewPRESS review before the search runs.Request a Free Draft Evidence Gap Map Framework
Review the framework axes before committing to the search, because the framework determines whether the map is useful.