Editorial: Developing Publishable Mixed Methods Manuscripts

With an increasing interest in mixed methods research, an issue of considerable importance has emerged: How do authors report these studies effectively and in publishable form? Although there are some general guidelines for writing manuscripts (e.g., Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007; Sandelowski, 2003), little formal information is available for guiding authors. It seems to us that up to now, a discussion of what constitutes a strong mixed methods report has, by and large, been pushed to the background, favoring paradigmatic, methodological, and political issues surrounding mixed methods. As also observed by Stange, Crabtree, and Miller (2006), ‘‘The dramatic advances in the scope and sophistication of conducting mixed methods research have not been met with parallel progress in ways of disseminating the results of mixed methods studies’’ (p. 292). When we reflect on this issue, we cannot help but note that we have received numerous requests from scholars across the globe, asking us for exemplary manuscripts that may be used as models for writing publishable mixed manuscripts. Two (not mutually exclusive) groups of scholars are usually identifiable in these requests: (a) those who are trying to write manuscripts that might be accepted for publication and (b) instructors of research and evaluation methodology in graduate programs who are trying to teach their students how to report mixed methods studies. We believe that it is timely to bring this issue to the forefront of our discussions about mixed methods. Stange et al. (2006) have suggested various strategies for effectively disseminating mixed methods studies, ranging from publishing the qualitative and quantitative components in separate journals to developing online discussion forums. Publication of JMMR provides an outlet for disseminating mixed methods findings and discussions. An issue in need of discussion is how to effectively present the mixed methods results in a single manuscript with the potential to be accepted for publication. Therefore, we are writing this editorial with two related purposes: (a) to start a dialog among scholars about the attributes of strong mixed methods manuscripts and (b) to provide some general guidelines for authors who are planning to submit papers to JMMR. We feel that attention to this issue builds on our last editorial in Volume 1, Issue 1 exploring the definition of mixed methods research. One way to start this discussion is to summarize the attributes of successful and unsuccessful submissions to JMMR and use manuscripts published as specific illustrations. We have had a full year to review manuscripts submitted to JMMR, and we are delighted with the outpouring of responses by authors and the submission of high-quality manuscripts. We have reflected on the types of manuscripts submitted, and we have examined extensive feedback from our Editorial Board and external reviewers to more than 100 manuscripts that we have received thus far. We broadly classify the manuscripts that we have received into the two categories of original studies (or empirical research studies) and theoretical and Journal of Mixed Methods Research Volume 1 Number 2 April 2007 107-111 2007 Sage Publications 10.1177/1558689806298644 http://jmmr.sagepub. com hosted at http://online.sagepub. com