Call for Papers: How do we work 'with' people in research and not 'on' them?
In this special issue, we focus on how to (collaborate) with people in qualitative research. There is a strong tradition of co-research which is particularly developed in relation to critical psychological approaches in Denmark (and elsewhere), including the practice research tradition. Co-research fundamentally breaks with the idea that researchers can stand outside practice and from this position 'know better' and create relevant knowledge - often in relation to problems that the researcher has defined in advance. Co-research thus reflects a ‘democratization effort’ that is about making research as relevant as possible for those it concerns.
Built into the co-research is an effort to work on integrating several perspectives and – in some contexts – to contribute to practice development. This challenges mainstream research's understandings of objectivity, validity, reliability and generalization and makes the research more explicitly political, in the sense of 'having a purpose'. Collaborative research goes hand in hand with commitment and often involves close relationships with those who you as a researcher are doing research with. In that sense (collaboration) in research also opens up the collegial field and for the conversation about who else sits at the table when research is being developed and practiced; e.g. research policy framework, the strategies of the foundations, politically selected agendas, etc.
Co-research as an approach is not clear-cut or necessarily easy to work with, and can mean many things, and be practiced in many different ways. It also involves pitfalls around uncritically 'holding the microphone' on the one hand and using the term without actual involvement in the research process on the other. Doing co-research opens up a wide range of themes and questions that we seek to address and explore in this special issue. They do not necessarily have clear or simple answers but are relevant to reflect on in one's own (co)research approach. We therefore invite you to think about these and how they shape our research practices, including ourselves as researchers and those we collaborate with. We invite articles, suggesting the following (or similar) themes: · Positioning of co-researchers – and researchers · Quality criteria in (co)research and (co)work · Ethical requirements and challenges · Participant perspectives and participation · Relational work in (co)work,
Questions can be sent to the guest editors Sabina Pultz (spultz@ruc.dk) and Sofie Pedersen (sofieped@ruc.dk), Department of People and Technology, Roskilde University.
To propose an article to this special issue of Qualitative Studies, please provide an abstract (max 500 words) spultz@ruc.dk no later than November 1st 2025.
The timeline is approximately as follows:
November 1st, 2025: deadline abstracts
February 1st, 2026: deadline full articles (for those accepted)
April 1st, 2026: peer review
June 1st, 2026: revised article deadline (for those accepted)
Qualitative Studies follows the formatting standards of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Articles can be submitted and published in English. Normally, articles will be between 5000 and 7000 words. It should include an abstract of about 150 words, followed by 4-6 key words.
