Research and scholarly methods: Applying design thinking to scholarly work

Abstract Engaging in scholarly endeavors is an expected, and sometimes dreaded, activity. While numerous resources exist supporting the technical aspects of writing, generating the motivation and inspiration to move an idea forward are equally necessary. Design thinking is a methodology that can be used when approaching challenging or new situations, such as scholarly writing and other scholarly work, as it offers a method to facilitate the development and postulation of workable solutions. The design thinking process embraces the iterative nature of scholarly work, including the need for multiple rounds of writing and revision based on feedback from co‐authors and peer‐reviewers. We describe how design thinking can be applied to scholarly writing and other types of scholarly production to enhance idea generation, encourage diverse approaches, and optimize outcomes through iterative prototyping and testing to enrich individual and collaborative scholarly production.