Current work
a topical area of research
issues currently under discussion
… has recently gained currency
an area that has become increasingly important
An increasing amount of literature is devoted to …
This is reflected in current research on …
… has or have been debated widely in the media
research undertaken by X and X in the last ten etc. years has shown that …
Attitudes to … vary from … to …
Recent work or research suggests that …
X and Y have proposed that …
A number of commentators have suggested that …
Recently, it has been suggested or demonstrated that …
It has recently been shown that …
a new and interesting observation
A comparatively recent study on or of … is …
… presented recently …
… is the subject of work in progress
Recent research on … has made great strides towards …
Recently, there have been important advances in …
The last few years have witnessed …
… a shift towards …
… an increase in …
… a surge of interest in …
… renewed interest in …
… a revival of …
the ongoing effort to …
… complement current or existing research
The problem has been much discussed in recent literature.
… has attracted considerable or widespread interest …
Similar results have been found in …, suggesting that …
… is similar to that reported by X
… is similar to results recently published by X
… parallels X’s findings
… has emerged as the most likely explanation for …
This interpretation or explanation is supported by earlier work on … by X
Their work has yielded a number of promising new avenues of research
… has prompted new ways of looking at …
Another possibility considered in previous studies is that …
A growing number of researchers share the view of … as …
This is often taken to support the view that …
This is based on the belief that …
a long-standing question
the long-standing issue of …
… are known to exist
a new line of inquiry