Embracing complexity by reducing rigidity: guiding principles for the intersection of implementation science and qualitative research

In this editorial we reflect on recent contributions that have focused on how researchers should involve qualitative research in implementation science. Implementation science as a discipline has firmly entered the zeitgeist and is now attracting a wealth of qualitative inquiry. We welcome qualitative manuscript submissions which focus on profound and reflexive explorations of topics relevant to the journal and call for a greater methodological diversity of qualitative methods and analytic reportage. Novel theoretical and methodological developments are considered. Finally, as we usher in a new era of guiding principles for qualitative research in the field, we set out our new expectations for reporting qualitative research and explain why it will no longer be necessary to include a 'checklist' for qualitative submissions to the journal.