Qualitative Research
Qualitative Research | Research Methods for Cultural Studies | Research Methods in Psychology
Qualitative Research publishes papers with a clear methodological focus. We invite scholarship that has multi-disciplinary appeal, that debates and enlivens qualitative methods, and that pushes at the boundaries of established ways of doing qualitative research. We are interested in papers that are attentive to a wide audience, that are alive to new and diverse ways of thinking about qualitative methods, and that contribute to discussions within the pages of this journal. These discussions can be brought to life through empirical studies and research encounters, but we do not accept papers that focus on reporting the findings from qualitative research studies.
We see our journal as contributing to the community of academics across different fields who use qualitative methods as a way of making sense of the world. We understand methods and methodology as a practice and as a perspective, and welcome contributions that reflect on and critically engage with both aspects. Qualitative Research is a space where ideas and understandings are used to open up methodological issues for reflection and debate, and we work hard to provide a supportive environment to foster this ethos.
| Tom Hall | Cardiff University, UK |
| Sophie Hallett | Cardiff University, UK |
| Jamie Lewis | Cardiff University, UK |
| Kate Moles (Editor-in-Chief) | Cardiff University, UK |
| Louisa Allen | University of Auckland, New Zealand |
| Allison Anders | University of South Carolina, USA |
| Sahla Aroussi | University of Leeds, UK |
| Paul Atkinson | Cardiff University, UK |
| Lucy Bell | University of Surrey, UK |
| Andy Bennett | Griffith University, Australia |
| Casey Burkholder | University of New Brunswick, Canada |
| David Calvey | Manchester Metropolitan University, UK |
| Bryan Clift | University of Bath, UK |
| Julia Coffey | University of Newcastle, Australia |
| Marci Cottingham | University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands |
| Sara Delamont | Cardiff University, UK |
| Tia DeNora | Exeter University, UK |
| Bella Dicks | Cardiff University, UK |
| Andrea Doucet | Brock University, Canada |
| Guillaume Dumont | EMLYON Business School, France |
| Umut Erel | The Open University, UK |
| Sandra L. Faulkner | Bowling Green State University, USA |
| Nigel Fielding | University of Surrey, UK |
| Richard Fitzgerald | University of Macau, China |
| Rosie Flewitt | Manchester Metropolitan University, UK |
| Uwe Flick | Freie Universtität Berlin, Germany |
| Maureen Flint | University of Georgia, USA |
| Victoria Foster | Edge Hill University, UK |
| Andrew Gitlin | University of Georgia, USA |
| Luis F. Gonzales | Universidad Santo Tomás, Columbia |
| Christian Greiffenhagen | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong |
| Katalin Halasz | Brunel University, UK |
| Karen Henwood | Cardiff University, UK |
| Johanna Hiitola | University of Oulu, Finland |
| Sam Hillyard | University of Lincoln, UK |
| Christine Hine | University of Surrey, UK |
| Jenifer Ho | City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong |
| William Housley | Cardiff University, UK |
| David Howes | Concordia University, Canada |
| Marnie Howlett | LSE, UK and University of Oxford, UK |
| Samantha Hurn | Exeter University, UK |
| Annie Irvine | King’s College London, UK |
| Eleanor Johnson | University of Bristol, UK |
| Ameil Joseph | McMaster University, Canada |
| Mareile Kaufmann | University of Oslo, Norway |
| Frans Kruger | University of the Free State, South Africa |
| Joseph Levitan | McGill University, Canada |
| Karen Lumsden | University of Nottingham, UK |
| Dawn Lyon | University of Kent, UK |
| Mairtin Mac an Ghaill | Newman University, Birmingham, USA |
| Katie MacDonald | Athabasca University, Canada |
| Elizabeth Mackinlay | The University of Queensland, Australia |
| Dawn Mannay | Cardiff University, UK |
| Natalia Martini | Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany |
| Alan Santinele Martino | University of Calgary, Canada |
| Eva Marxen | School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA |
| Sonja Marzi | LSE, UK |
| Natasha Mauthner | Newcastle University, UK |
| Julie McLeod | University of Melbourne |
| Litea Meo-Sewabu | University of the South Pacific, Fiji Islands |
| James Mienczakowski | Victoria University, Australia |
| Kathy A. Mills | Australian Catholic University, Australia |
| EJ Milne | Charles Darwin University, Australia and University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa |
| Lesley Murray | University of Brighton, UK |
| David Mwambari | King's College London, UK |
| Caitríona Ní Laoire | University College Cork, Ireland |
| Susan Nordstrom | University of Memphis, USA |
| Caitlin Nunn | Manchester Metropolitan University, UK |
| Chijioke Obasi | University of the West of Scotland, UK |
| Esther O. Ohito | Rutgers University, USA |
| Rebecca E. Olson | University of Queensland, Australia |
| Jane Palmer | University of Southern Queensland, Australia |
| Kaushalya Perera | University of Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Maria-Victoria Perez-y-Perez | University of Canterbury, New Zealand |
| Timothy Rapley | Newcastle University, UK |
| Signe Ravn | University of Melbourne, Australia |
| Sarah Riley | Massey University, New Zealand |
| Lucero Ibarra Rojas | Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, Mexico |
| Karen Ross | University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA |
| Kathryn Roulston | University of Georgia, USA |
| Jennifer Rowsell | University of Sheffield, UK |
| Anne Ryen | University of Agder, Norway |
| Samira Saramo | Migration Institute of Finland, Finland |
| Susie Scott | University of Sussex, UK |
| Anastasia Shesterinina | The University of Sheffield, UK |
| Wesley Shumar | Drexel University, USA |
| Pat Sikes | University of Sheffield, UK |
| Robin Smith | Cardiff University, UK |
| Neil Stephens | University of Birmingham, UK |
| Sharlene Swartz | University of Fort Hare, South Africa |
| Atsushi Takeda | Ritsumeikan University, Japan |
| Elena Vacchelli | University of Greenwich, UK |
| Phillip Vannini | Royal Roads University, Canada |
| Dirk vom Lehn | King’s College London, UK |
| Ash Watson | UNSW, Sydney, Australia |
| Darin Weinberg | University of Cambridge, UK |
| Susan Whatman | Griffith University, Australia |
| Emilie Whitaker | University of Salford, UK |
| Emma Wincup | Joseph Rowntree Foundation, UK |
Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Qualitative Research
This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics
Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/qrj to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.
Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Qualitative Research will be reviewed.
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.
As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that the journal may accept submissions of papers that have been posted on pre-print servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines) and include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the journal's author archiving policy.
If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.
- What do we publish?
1.1 Aims & Scope
1.2 Article types
1.3 Writing your paper - Editorial policies
2.1 Peer review policy
2.2 Authorship
2.3 Acknowledgements
2.4 Funding
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
2.6 Research Data - Publishing policies
3.1 Publication ethics
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
3.3 Open access and author archiving - Preparing your manuscript
4.1 Formatting
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
4.3 Supplemental material
4.4 Reference style
4.5 English language editing services - Submitting your manuscript
5.1 ORCID
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
5.3 Permissions - On acceptance and publication
6.1 Sage Production
6.2 Online First publication
6.3 Access to your published article
6.4 Promoting your article - Further information
Qualitative Research publishes papers with a clear methodological focus. We invite scholarship that has multi-disciplinary appeal, that debates and enlivens qualitative methods, and that pushes at the boundaries of established ways of doing qualitative research. We are interested in papers that are attentive to a wide audience, that are alive to new and diverse ways of thinking about qualitative methods, and that contribute to discussions within the pages of this journal. These discussions can be brought to life through empirical studies and research encounters, but we do not accept papers that focus on reporting the findings from qualitative research studies.
We see our journal as contributing to the community of academics across different fields who use qualitative methods as a way of making sense of the world. We understand methods and methodology as a practice and as a perspective, and welcome contributions that reflect on and critically engage with both aspects. QR is a space where ideas and understandings are used to open up methodological issues for reflection and debate, and we work hard to provide a supportive environment to foster this ethos.
Qualitative Research publishes articles, notes and reviews. Most of our submissions follow formal academic publishing guidelines, but we welcome creative and imaginative ways to explore qualitative methods and are open to conversations about the format and presentation of submissions.
Articles
We publish articles that are original, critical and creative engagements with qualitative methods. Articles must have a clear methodological focus, and not simply present findings from qualitative studies. They should be between 7,500 and 8,500 words, excluding references. Any articles that fall below or above that range will be returned.
Notes
Notes is a new format for short, engaging and imaginative submissions. It offers a more playful space for critical reflection on the craft of qualitative research. Authors are encouraged to experiment with styles of writing, and submissions can take the form of stories, anecdotes, or lessons that impart original methodological insights. Submissions should be between 2,000 and 4,000 words, excluding references.
Reviews
Reviews are an important contribution to Qualitative Research. We welcome proposals that connect with the aims and the scope of our journal by offering reflective readings of key contributions to methodological debates and discussions in qualitative research. Specifically, we invite traditional book reviews that critically engage with titles and identify connections to wider literature, as well as provide a more descriptive account of content. Here, reviewers should not be afraid to (kindly) consider the significance and clarity of the contribution.
While our book reviews are usually around 800 to 1000 words and tend to focus on a single title, we also welcome longer review essays that explore two or three publications. If you would like to submit a proposal for a book review on the latest contribution or a classic of the genre, please get in touch with the editors, QR@cardiff.ac.uk. Your proposal should include a statement on why you would like to review the title(s) and how the piece relates to your own interests and expertise.
Beyond the traditional book review, we also invite reviews of events, cultural artifacts, and other dissemination platforms. Here we welcome reviews of relevant conferences and colloquia, podcasts and radio programmes, novels, and documentary series. As with the book review, the word count should be 800 to 1000 words and explicitly relate to how the event/artifact furthers debates in qualitative research. Again, please contact the editors at QR@cardiff.ac.uk with an outline of your proposal.
Please note that Qualitative Research does not accept unsolicited reviews.
The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.
1.3.1 Make your article discoverable
For information and guidance on how to make your article more discoverable, visit our Gateway page on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online
Sage does not permit the use of author-suggested (recommended) reviewers at any stage of the submission process, be that through the web-based submission system or other communication. Reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Our policy is that reviewers should not be assigned to a paper if:
• The reviewer is based at the same institution as any of the co-authors
• The reviewer is based at the funding body of the paper
• The author has recommended the reviewer
• The reviewer has provided a personal (e.g. Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail) email account and an institutional email account cannot be found after performing a basic Google search (name, department and institution).
All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. For any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis the student should normally be named as first author.
Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.
2.3.1 Third party submissions
Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:
- Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
- Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
- Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.
Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.
Qualitative Research requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
Qualitative Research encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway
2.6 Research Data
At Sage we are committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research. Where relevant, the journal encourages authors to share their research data in a suitable public repository subject to ethical and methodological considerations and where data is included, to add a data accessibility statement in their manuscript file. Authors should also follow data citation principles. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway, which includes information about Sage’s partnership with the data repository Figshare. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages.
We acknowledge this practice is not always relevant or appropriate for ethically sound qualitative inquiry, and so would encourage you to consider the unfolding ethical, legal and moral obligations linked to your research data on a case by case basis.
Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.
3.1.1 Plagiarism
Qualitative Research and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.
3.1.2 Prior publication
If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway
3.3 Open access and author archiving
Qualitative Research offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.
4. Preparing your manuscript for submission
- Attach to every submission a letter confirming that all authors have agreed to the submission and that the article is not currently being considered for publication by any other journal.
- Include a title page with full title and subtitle (if any). For the purposes of blind refereeing, full name of each author with current affiliation and full address/phone/fax/email details plus short biographical note should be supplied on a separate sheet. The editors will not inspect the manuscript until this information is given.
- Also for the purposes of blind refereeing, authors should replace all self-citations in the text and reference list with anonymous citations, in the style (Author, 2009), etc.
- Any citation that includes any of the authors should be replaced with (Author A and others, 2003) in the text, and in the reference list at 'Au' put 'Author A and others (2003), details withheld for peer review' followed by Author B and others, if necessary.
- Abstract of 100-150 words.
- Up to 10 key words.
- All authors must provide a full word count for their paper. The minimum word count is 7500 and the maximum is 8500 words excluding all references. Papers under the minimum and over the maximum word count will be unsubmitted.
- The journal uses notes where necessary. Historical, documentary or archival sources should be cited in endnotes. Discursive endnotes are also allowed. Endnotes are signalled in the text by superscript numbers.
- References in both the text and in any endnotes should follow Sage Harvard style. References are cited in the text thus: (author, date: page).
- An alphabetical References section should follow the text (and endnotes, if any) using the Sage Harvard system.
- All artwork, graphics, line diagrams and photographs are termed 'Figures' and should be referred to as such in the manuscript. They should be numbered consecutively. All figures should have short descriptive captions at the end of the document.
- Articles must be written in English. Use a clear, readable style, avoiding jargon. If technical terms or acronyms must be included, define them when first used.
- Non-discriminatory language is mandatory
- UK or US spellings may be used with '-ize' spellings as given in the Oxford English Dictionary (e.g. organize, recognize).
- Use single quotation marks with double quotes inside single quotes.
- Dates should be presented in the form 1 May 2010. Do not use points in abbreviations, contractions or acronyms (e.g. AD, USA, Dr, PhD)
- Qualitative Research adheres to the Sage Harvard reference style. View the Sage Harvard guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.
- If you use EndNote to manage references, you can download the Sage Harvard EndNote output file.
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
Qualitative Research welcomes the inclusion of figures. There is no word count equivalent for figures, but images should be carefully selected and will be reviewed for their quality and suitability.
For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines.
Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.
This journal does not currently accept supplemental files.
Qualitative Research adheres to the Sage Harvard reference style. View the Sage Harvard guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.
If you use EndNote to manage references, you can download the Sage Harvard EndNote output file..
4.5 English language editing services
Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.
Qualitative Research is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/qrj to login and submit your article online.
IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.
As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.
The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID ID you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID ID will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID ID is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.
If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).
Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway.
6. On acceptance and publication
Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit or by email, and corrections should be made directly or notified to us promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.
Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.
6.3 Access to your published article
Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.
Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.
Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Qualitative Research editorial office. Please email: QR@cardiff.ac.uk