New Trends in Qualitative Research (NTQR) is an international, open-access scientific journal dedicated to the discussion, critical reflection, analysis, and development of qualitative research methodologies. All articles submitted to NTQR must have qualitative methodology as their central focus. The fundamental editorial criterion for acceptance is the article's contribution to understanding, evaluating, improving, or transforming qualitative research practices. Articles whose main objective is only to present empirical results, without clear and substantive methodological reflection, will not be considered for publication.
TYPES OF SUBMISSIONS ACCEPTED
The Editorial Board of New Trends in Qualitative Research (NTQR) invites authors to submit original and innovative articles for evaluation by the Scientific Committee, through a Double Blind Peer Review process.
NTQR accepts the following types of contributions:
1. Theoretical-Conceptual Articles: Articles dedicated to the deepening of epistemological foundations, paradigms, theoretical models, or conceptual frameworks in qualitative research. These articles should develop consistent theoretical argumentation, grounded in relevant literature, contributing to the clarification, integration, problematisation, or advancement of concepts and perspectives in the field.
It is expected that they:
• present a rigorous and systematic conceptual construction;
• establish a critical dialogue with the existing literature;
• contribute to the theoretical or epistemological development of qualitative research.
They do not require empirical application, but must clearly demonstrate the relevance and implications of the proposed contribution.
2. Scientific Essays: Essayistic contributions that develop theoretically grounded critical reflection on qualitative research methodologies. These texts problematise practices, dilemmas, challenges, limitations, or emerging trends, and may propose interpretations, positions, or research agendas.
They are characterised by:
• a reflective and critical approach, not necessarily structured as a formal methodological proposal;
• a focus on problematisation and interpretation, rather than on the systematisation of procedures;
• consistent articulation with theoretical and epistemological foundations.
They may include illustrative examples, but do not require systematic demonstration of methodological operationalisation.
3. Methodological Innovation Studies: Articles that propose new methods, techniques, tools, analytical models, or innovative and critical uses of technologies, software, or artificial intelligence in qualitative research.
They must:
• present clearly and in a structured manner the logic, stages, and procedures of the methodological proposal;
• explain the methodological problem that the proposal seeks to address;
• position themselves critically in relation to existing approaches, highlighting their specific and distinctive contribution.
The proposal must be accompanied by a demonstration of its operationalisation, which may take one of the following forms:
• application to empirical data (preferred), or
• a structured, integrated, and continuous analytical demonstration, with examples that make it possible to understand how the method functions throughout its different stages.
The articles must also make explicit:
• potentialities and contexts of application;
• limitations and operational challenges;
• implications for the practice of qualitative research.
4. Comparative Studies of Methods or Techniques: Articles that develop critical and comparative analyses between qualitative approaches, methods, or techniques, with the aim of highlighting differences, convergences, implications, and conditions of applicability.
They must:
• present clear criteria for comparison;
• analyse epistemological and methodological assumptions;
• discuss advantages, limitations, and practical implications of the approaches analysed;
• contribute to informed methodological decision-making.
They may resort to examples or empirical data to illustrate differences between methods; these are recommended when they strengthen the comparative analysis, but are not mandatory.
5. Empirical Studies with Methodological Reflection: Articles based on empirical research in which the central focus lies on critical reflection about methodological choices, research processes, and transferable methodological learning.
They must:
• present an empirical study with a clear description of the research design, data collection, and data analysis;
• develop an explicit section of methodological reflection, distinguishing it from substantive results;
• discuss methodological decisions, challenges, adaptations, and implications;
• demonstrate contributions that may be transferable to other research contexts.
In these articles, empirical data are indispensable, with methodological reflection constituting the central axis of the contribution.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Languages
Articles can be written in Portuguese, Spanish, or English, always following the formatting defined in the corresponding template.
Guidelines and Template
The structure of the article should be appropriate to the type of contribution submitted. NTQR values structural flexibility, provided that the text presents a clear, coherent and methodologically sound argument.
As a guideline:
Empirical Studies with Methodological Reflection (4,500 to 5,500 words, including charts and tables)
Introduction – Theoretical–Methodological Framework – Methodology* – Empirical Analysis/Illustration – Methodological Reflection – Final Considerations
* The Methodology section must contain between 1,000 and 1,500 words.
Empirical studies must include a separate section on methodological reflection. In other types of articles, methodological reflection should be clearly integrated into the text.
Articles must include abstracts in Portuguese/Spanish and/or English, between 250 and 300 words, and between 2 and 5 keywords.
Only the final version of the articles accepted for publication may mention information identifying the authors (names, e-mail, affiliation, ORCID, etc.). To enable blind review, authors should remove this information from the first page, as well as subsequent pages that contain information to identify the authors (eg, author's note, thanks).
Authorship of manuscripts
New Trends in Qualitative Research (NTQR) establishes a maximum limit of 10 authors per submitted article, applicable to all types of articles. The list of authors must exclusively reflect substantial intellectual contributions to the development of the work, in accordance with international standards of scientific authorship.
Submissions exceeding this limit will not be considered for review, unless exceptionally authorised, duly justified, and previously approved by the Editorial Board.
Preparation and Submission of Articles
Articles should be submitted using the respective template (available here), maintaining the document's formatting. The final version of the articles must be submitted in Microsoft Word format.
Manuscripts must be prepared using only the official NTQR template, without any changes to the existing formatting. Submissions must be made via the journal's OJS platform, available at https://publi.ludomedia.org/index.php/ntqr/about/submissions.
For peer review purposes, articles must be anonymous. They must not contain any elements that could identify the authors. For example, references to the authors' own publications must be anonymised. Information on authorship, institutional affiliation, ORCID and contact details should only be included in the final version of the article accepted for publication.
Text Quality
In addition to scientific quality standards, NTQR aims to maintain high standards of writing quality, not accepting articles with spelling, grammatical, or other errors. Therefore, it is mandatory that authors who are not native speakers of the publication language request prior revision/correction of the document by qualified individuals or companies, and submit the proof of this revision with the article.
Submissions with significant language errors will not be accepted for peer review, and authors will be contacted to correct the errors and resubmit.
Ethical Code and Ethics Approval
All articles involving participants in data collection must include an explicit statement regarding the ethical considerations of the research. Authors must indicate the ethical code followed and, where applicable, the approval of an institutional ethics committee, including the name of the institution and the approval reference number.
Furthermore, it must be ensured that participants were informed about the objectives of the study, that their participation was voluntary, and that informed consent was obtained where necessary. Compliance with these guidelines is essential for the article to be considered for review and publication.
For more information on NTQR's ethical guidelines and best practices, authors should refer to the Ethics and Best Practices Statement page.
Citation Guidelines
Articles must follow the rules of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), 7th Ed., 2019. We request your attention to the following particularities:
Evaluation Criteria and Editorial Decision
All articles submitted to New Trends in Qualitative Research (NTQR) are subject to a scientific peer-review process. The editorial evaluation focuses on the article’s contribution to the advancement of methodological knowledge in qualitative research, in accordance with the journal’s scope, mission, and editorial principles.
The criteria outlined below guide article preparation, reviewers’ assessments, and editorial decisions, and should be interpreted in a manner appropriate to the type of article submitted.
SUBMISSION AND PUBLICATION FEES
Each articles submitted to NTQR is subject to a submission fee of €45. If the article is accepted, a publication fee of €395 will also be charged.
The submission fee must be paid prior to the article's pre-evaluation. Only submissions with confirmed payment will undergo pre-evaluation, and authors will be informed whether the article will proceed to the review process or be rejected.
Authors have 15 days from the date of submission to make the payment. If payment is not completed within this timeframe, NTQR reserves the right to remove the submission from the system.
Learn more about submission and publication fees here >
ANTI-PLAGIARISM CONTROL
Articles submitted to NTQR are subject to procedures for detecting possible plagiarism. NTQR aims to comply with the criteria of the originality of published works and information on the sources of the ideas presented, as such: