The phrase "a lack of baseline" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used in contexts where you want to indicate the absence of a reference point or standard for comparison.
Example: "The study's findings are inconclusive due to a lack of baseline data to measure progress."
Alternatives: "absence of a baseline" or "deficiency of baseline data".
The Cochrane authors also criticize Miguel and Kremer (2004) for a lack of baseline (pre-treatment) data on school attendance.
And since one of the difficulties in measuring methane emissions was a lack of baseline studies, the report called for compulsory baseline methane measurements in any area being considered for oil and gas development.
This analysis explicitly accounted for fish population dynamics, spillover, fisher movement, and fishery management outside of the MPAs, but was limited to long-term, equilibrium-based results because of a lack of baseline abundance data.
In the inland temperate rainforests (ITRs) of east-central British Columbia (BC), there is a lack of baseline carbon (C) stocks information for managed and unmanaged stands of old-growth western redcedar and hemlock.
Results indicate more extensive research in education and nursing as compared with other fields, a lack of baseline data gathering for comparison, a reliance on a limited number of data-gathering techniques, and a tendency toward studying alumni over current students.
"We feel hobbled by a lack of baseline information," Groat said.
Suborbital vehicles are innovative and unconventional aerospace concepts that are characterized by a high level of complexity and a lack of optimized baseline.
The information provided by the project's backers was almost totally absent, including a lack of any baseline data, a limited scope for the study area -- where at least 45 industrial projects are already contributing to a critically polluted area -- and the use of the 2005 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (a convenient year for which standards don't exist).
It was difficult to determine whether programme objectives were met due to weak design of activities, a lack of valid baseline data, and inadequate performance monitoring and evaluation.
Second, because of a lack of a baseline value, a reduction in cholinesterase from any value had to be considered a depression, without regard for time sequence.
The limitation of this study is a lack of a baseline screening for diabetes, i.e.; by fasting plasma glucose or oral glucose tolerance test.
