The SRQR reporting guideline for writing qualitative research articles
How to use this reporting guideline
You can use reporting guidelines throughout your research process.
- When writing: Consider using a writing guide to draft your manuscript or protocol.
- After writing: Complete a checklist and include it with your journal submission.
- To learn: Consult the guidance whenever you need it.
Please cite SRQR, however you use it.
Applicability criteria
Item order and priority
SRQR does not prescribe order nor structure. Items can be reordered or reported in different sections. For example, some authors may prefer to include some methods items (e.g. Units of Study) in their Results section. Others may call their Results section Findings, or have a completely different manuscript structure. You should include items in the article body when possible, or in tables, figures, or supplements if necessary (see FAQs). Although all items should be reported, you should prioritize items most relevant to your study, findings, context, and readership.
How SRQR was made
SRQR was made through a rigorous, evidence based process and originally published as an academic article. The UK EQUATOR Centre then worked with SRQR’s developers to make it easier to use by clarifying language, adding definitions, examples, extra information and resources. Although worded differently, the guidance on this website is conceptually the same as the original publication and can be used interchangeably. Read more about SRQR’s development in the FAQ.
How to cite SRQR
For attribution, please cite this guideline as:
Bridget O’Brien, Ilene Harris, Thomas Beckman, Darcy Reed, and David Cook. 2023. “The SRQR Guidelines for Writing Qualitative Research Articles version 1.1.” The EQUATOR Network Guideline Dissemination Platform. https://doi.org/10.1234/equator/1010101.If you used the SRQR reporting guideline, writing guide, or checklist to write a publication, please state so in your methods section so that other authors can find these resources too. E.g.,
We used the SRQR reporting guideline writing guide when drafting this article [1].
Or,
We used the SRQR checklist to demonstrate adherence to the SRQR reporting guideline. [1].
You can use your reference manager to save citation information for this webpage, or copy the BibTeX below.
We like publishing transparent research because we think it’s more likely to be used and cited. That’s why we ask authors to use reporting guidelines.
Robin Lavery
Editor, International Journal of World Medicine
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Research paradigm
The set of beliefs and assumptions that guide the research process. These commonly include positivist, post-positivist, constructivist or interpretivist, and critical theory. Qualitative research generally draws from a post-positivist or constructivist/interpretivist paradigm.”
Instruments
Bias
Sampling strategy
Several sampling strategies are commonly used in qualitative research, although most fall under the umbrella of purposeful (or purposive) sampling.
Purposeful sampling means that participants, documents, or events are selected for their relevance to the research question, based on guiding theory or experiences and assumptions of the researchers. Over the course of the research process, researchers may determine that additional or different participants, documents, or events should be included to address the research question.
Other sampling techniques, such as theoretical sampling (seeking examples of theoretical constructs), snowball sampling (using study participants to identify additional participants who meet study criteria), and convenience sampling (including any volunteers with no or minimal criteria for inclusion) may be appropriate depending on the question and approach, so long as the authors provide explanation and justification.
Approach
Data collection methods
Iterative
Study period
Ethnography
The scientific description of peoples and cultures with their customs, habits, and mutual differences.
Grounded theory
A method consisting of a set of systematic, but flexible, guidelines for conducting inductive qualitative inquiry aimed toward theory construction. This method focuses squarely on the analytic phases of research, although both data collection and analysis inform and shape each other and are conducted in tandem.
Degree of participation
For example, if some participants were observed and interviewed and others only interviewed, or if some participants completed multiple interviews and others completed a single interview, these variations should be explained.
Unit of analysis
In qualitative research, the unit of analysis is not necessarily the same as the unit of sampling (e.g., individual participants or events). Instead, some approaches use specific events as the unit of analysis, such as mentions of a particular topic or experience, or observations of a particular behavior or phenomenon, while others use groups rather than individual group participants. This specification has implications for how the data are organized and analyzed as well as the inferences drawn from the data.
Reflexivity
Reflexivity refers to intentional, systematic consideration of the potential or actual effects of the researcher(s) on all aspects of the study process.
Transferability
The transferability of a research finding is the extent to which it can be applied in other contexts and studies. It is thus equivalent to or a replacement for the terms generalizability and external validity.
Generalizability
The appropriate scope for generalization of the findings beyond the study (e.g., to other settings, populations, time periods, circumstances)
Analytic findings
Analytic findings may include interpretations, inferences, narratives, themes, and models.
Frequency counts
The frequency of specific themes or codes.
Reporting Guidelines are recommendations to help describe your work clearly
Your research will be used by people from different disciplines and backgrounds for decades to come. Reporting guidelines list the information you should describe so that everyone can understand, replicate, and synthesise your work.
Reporting guidelines do not prescribe how research should be designed or conducted. Rather, they help authors transparently describe what they did, why they did it, and what they found.
Reporting guidelines make writing research easier, and transparent research leads to better patient outcomes.
Smoother publishing
Many journals require completed reporting checklists at submission.
Maximum impact
From nobel prizes to null results, articles have more impact when everyone can use them.