Writing a Rigorous Qualitative Journal Article: Tips for Authors

Rigor and quality in a qualitative research project go hand in hand with writing a rigorous, informative qualitative journal manuscript. Given today’s pressure on researchers to get published, their papers are often rejected or must undergo major revision because of poor information or structure, lack of formatting to a journal’s requirements and misunderstandings about what constitutes rigor and quality in a qualitative paper. In the author’s long experience as an editor and reviewer, some problems in writing qualitative manuscripts are common, no matter what part of the world the author(s) come from. This brief paper is aimed at qualitative researchers who are novices at getting their research reports published in journals. Using a personal narrative style, the author highlights common issues in the writing process across various sections of manuscripts connected to a qualitative study’s design, conduct, and reporting. Tips are given to help novice authors write better in the future.