Which Quotations to Use? Guidance on Selecting and Reporting Quotations in Qualitative Research

Quotations serve multiple purposes in qualitative research, such as supporting claims, illustrating findings, explaining, impressing, and offering readers vicarious experiences. Despite their widespread use, there is limited guidance on how to select and report quotations, leading to potential issues of "cherry-picking" quotes that may not accurately represent the findings. This study aimed to fill this gap by establishing guiding principles for qualitative researchers. Through an in-depth synthesis of literature focusing on papers that have discussed standards and guidelines for selecting and reporting quotations (n=14), we identified five considerations for the use of quotations: functional/instrumental, practical, ethical, aesthetic, and inclusive considerations. Additionally, based on a systematic review of health qualitative research papers on a narrowly defined research topic (n=13), we examined current practices in selecting and reporting quotations in health qualitative research to derive practical insights for qualitative health researchers.