When undertaking any research, it is important to be aware the criteria by which various stakeholders will evaluate it in terms of the credibility of its contribution to knowledge. The links and articles in this section build on the material in Chapter 6, in allowing you to access some key standard-setting sources.

Journal article reporting standards of the American Psychological Association: what APA journal editor and reviewers expect an article to look like (includes separate criteria for qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies).

CONSORT Guidelines for reporting clinical trials: criteria that have been accepted as defining standards for controlled quantitative outcome studies.

Tracy, S. J. (2010). Qualitative quality: Eight “big-tent” criteria for excellent qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, 16(10), 837–851. 

Highly influential set of criteria for assessing the credibility and practical utility of qualitative studies

Morse, J. M. (2015). Critical analysis of strategies for determining rigor in qualitative inquiry. Qualitative Health Research, 25(9), 1212–1222.

Review and discussion, by a leading figure in qualitative research, of the procedures undertaken by qualitative researchers to achieve credible and trustworthy findings

Birt, L., Scott, S., Cavers, D., Campbell, C., & Walter, F. (2016). Member checking: a tool to enhance trustworthiness or merely a nod to validation? Qualitative Health Research, 26(13), 1802–1811.

Member checking is a crucial credibility procedure in qualitative research. This paper provides an authoritative discussion of how to use this technique effectively

Hannes, K., Heyvaert, M., Slegers, K., Vandenbrande, S., & Van Nuland, M. (2015). Exploring the potential for a consolidated standard for reporting guidelines for qualitative research: An argument Delphi approach. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 14(4), 1609406915611528.

Experienced qualitative researchers were asked for their views on credibility criteria

Truijens, F. L., Cornelis, S., Desmet, M., De Smet, M. M., & Meganck, R. (2019). Validity beyond measurement: Why psychometric validity is insufficient for valid psychotherapy research. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 532.

Discussion of the importance of criteria beyond those currently used by therapy researchers