Abstract
The demands of academic work seem to increase with our growing dependence on other people to do this work. Qualitative and mixed method research that was once done individually is now almost always done collaboratively in teams (Clark & Sousa, in press). Patient, community, and government stakeholders, once engaged at the end of projects, are now involved increasingly throughout: from study conception to study completion. Writing, the seemingly quintessential lone-soul scholarly activity, is done more in groups and in many varied ways (Sword, 2017). Indeed, try to get anything meaningful done around research and you will quickly run into the imperative of interacting and working with others. We simply can’t and don’t do research on our own anymore.
Likewise, our conception of research has shifted from one defined by the singular “eureka” moments of brilliant minds to work that is defined by the presence and influence of people working together. This is not a necessary evil but a vital impetus for inspiring and sustaining work that is energized by diversity—and is challenging, creative, and fun (John-Steiner, 2000). With so much to know, and ever proliferating methods, if we can’t see and act beyond ourselves, our research suffers and all too quickly stalls. Research not only benefits from but depends on others.
Yet it’s tempting amid the individual demands of academia to ignore the fundamentally collective nature of our work. When we feel so busy by our next pressing demand, we may stop choosing to contribute to our communities because we lament, “I just don’t have the time” (Clark, Wiens, & Thompson, 2014). Paying lip service to “community” and making platitudes about collegiality and scholarly bonhomie are easy. Conversely, taking time amid these many demands to develop the work of others and via our actions and contributions and to advocate for quality, scholarship, and growth in our global community of researchers is beyond important. It is the catalyst through which individuals, knowledge, and our methods grow. As such, while being a journal reviewer may seem mundane, it is one of the most precious gifts one can give.
We all benefit from the contributions of excellent peer reviewers. At the International Journal of Qualitative Methods (IJQM), we endeavor to select reviewers well matched to our submissions and experienced in their fields. While many reviewers report that they find reviewing personally rewarding and informative, this act of giving of your time and expertise remains under appreciated. The quality of a review rests on the expertise and thoughtfulness of many individuals whose efforts in doing timely and complete reviewers are seldom recognized and celebrated sufficiently. Recognizing this debt to this journal and the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology, we devote this editorial to pay tribute to our wonderful IJQM reviewers—without whose contributions, there would be no peer-reviewed journal and both our work and our methods would be weaker. To each of the following reviewers, we thank-you sincerely for your service to our global research community.
Aaltonen, Sanna Abdul Kadir, Nor Absolon-King, Kathy Adam, Amina Adams, Tony Aldred, Benjamin Alves, Hayda Amy, Fulton Archer-Kuhn, Beth Arriaza, Pablo Avery, Leanne M. Ayala, Ricardo Bacon, Eugen Bagnoli, Anna Bailliard, Antoine Baker, H. Kent Barna, Emilia Barney, Katelyn Baumbusch, Jennifer Beaton, M. Beazley, Karen Berman, Rachel Bernstein, Eve Beutel, Denise Bhar Paul, Kalpita Bilash, Olenka Booth, Andrew Boydell, Nicola Bracher, Michael Brearley, Sarah Brooks, Carolyn Brown, Kevin Bruce, Anne Brysiewicz, Petra Calafate-Faria, Francisco Campbell, Marie Cannella, Gaile Carastathis, Anna Carmel, Simon Castleden, Heather Cheng, Hui Lin Chojenta, Catherine Christman, Dana Clark, Tom Contreras, Ricardo Cortini, Michela Cox, Susan Damsa, Dorina Davies, William de Finney, Sandrina deLange, Nadine Delgado, Melvin Dennis, Barbara Dickson-Swift, Virginia Dunne, Ciaran Earle, Rod Ferrari, Manuela Fisher, Karin Floyd, Alan Freeman, Mark Garratt, Dean Geisler, Cheryl Gentilini, Shannon Gibson, Barry Giske, Tove Gonick, Marnina Gooneratne, Tharusha N. Grant, Aimee Greenhalgh, Joanne Gubrium, Aline Guetterman, Timothy Haase, Kristen Hannes, Karin Harder, H. Harvey, William S. Hatala, Andrew Hayter, Mark Healee, David Higgins, Marc Hulen, Elizabeth Jachyra, Patrick Jakobsen, Rita Janesick, Valerie Kantrowitz-Gordon, Ira Kebbe, Maryam Kekäle, Jouni Kelly, Marcella Kenny, Amanda Kidd, Susan Koskinen, Camilla Kosny, Agneiczka Kowal, Stephanie Kurtz, Elizabeth Kwee, Maurits Laitinen, Heleena Lapum, Jennifer Larkin, Philip Lewis, John Liebenberg, Linda Lindwall, Lillemor Liu, Xu Locke, Lorraine Looi, Chee-Kit Low, Lisa MacCleave, Anne MacEntee, Katie Mandic, Mo Marshall, Anne McKenna, Sioux Meadows, Lynn Michaelson, Valerie Mikesell, Lisa Moen, Torill Morey, Yvette Moylan, Carrie Muhamad, Rosediani Nagel, Daniel Neumann, Cecilie Nowell, Lorelli Öcek, Z. A. O’Keeffe, Tracey Pang, Bonnie Papoutsi, Chrysanthi Pigg, Stacey Pival, Paul Prinsloo, Paul Ramalho, Rodrigo Rehman, Emma Rowland Reilly, Rosemary Richard, Veronica Richards, Rose Richardson, Catherine Ridgeway, Jennifer Rivaz, Mozhgan Rocha-de-Oliveira, Sidinei Roger, Kerstin Røseth, Idun Rowland, Paula Sanders, Jackie Sanscartier, Matthew Satinovic, Milka Sawyer, Richard Scherman, Vanessa Schiff, Brian Schmidt Hanbidge, Alice Scott, John Scrine, Clair Seymour-Smith, Sarah Sharples, Mike Shea, Jennifer Shelton, Stephanie Simmonds, Shan Sinclair, Raven Spencer, Dale Striano, Maura Stuckey, Heather L. Swayze, Susan Talbot, Debra Taylor, Sarah Teucher, Ulrich Thirsk, Lorraine Thorne, Sally Tileaga, Cristian Toerien, Merran Trinidad, Susan Vaismoradi, Mojtaba Vandenberg, Helen Vasconcelos, Selene Vicsek, Lilla Walby, Kevin Walby, Kevin Wanda, Thuma-McDermond Welch, Anthony Wells, Mary White, Sarah C. Williams, Iestyn Williamson, Charmaine Wilson, Elena Yamamoto Mitani, Noriko Yuan, Chien-Wen