Guidelines for Articles Reporting on Quantitative Research

Quantitative research should generally include the following sections:

• A Background section which, above all, makes a compelling case for the relevance and need for the current
  study. It should state the research question to be answered, contextualize the research by describing the
  underlying theoretical framework, review previous studies where necessary, and overview the nature of the
  current experiment and the nature of the statistical analyses employed.
• A Methods section that describes the participants, and details of experimental design.
• An Results section that details the form of analysis and descriptive statistics, including significance
  and effect size.
• A Discussion section that includes interpretation of the results and their theoretical implications
• A Conclusion that summarizes the general implications of the research, notes limitations of the study and
  gives suggestions for further research.
• References (following APA guidelines)
• Appendices of instrument(s) used
• Please include an Abstract that covers the following:
  • Background
  • Aims
  • Sample
  • Methods
  • Results
  • Conclusions

Guidelines for Articles Reporting on Qualitative Research

The VLI editors recommend that authors of manuscripts based on qualitative research generally include the
following sections in their articles:

• A Background section which gives a clear statement of the study’s research question, makes a compelling
  case for its relevance to the field, and contextualizes it prior research and a theoretical framework.
• A Methods section giving a description of the methodological tradition of the study, participants and research
  site as well as a detailed description of the procedures employed for data collection and analysis.
• A report of Findings that details their implications.
• Conclusions summarizing implications and noting limitations of the study and avenues for future research.
• Please include an Abstract that covers the following:
  • Background
  • Aims
  • Sample
  • Methods
  • Findings
  • Conclusions