eParticipation is a challenging research domain comprising a large number of academic disciplines and existing in a complex social and political environment. In this paper we identify eParticipation research needs and barriers and in so doing indicate future research direction. We do this by first setting the context for eParticipation research. We then consider the current situation and analyse the challenges facing future research. The future research direction was identified through conducting workshops and analysing published papers. The results are six main research challenges: breadth of research field; research design; technology design; institutional resistance; equity, and theory. These six challenges are described in detail along with the research direction to address them.