Improving the quality of mixed research reports in the field of human resource development and beyond: A call for rigor as an ethical practice

Since 2000, only 13% of the total number of empirical research articles (n=230) published in Human Resource Development Quarterly (HRDQ) have represented mixed research studies. Plausible explanations for why the HRDQ prevalence rate is not more than 13% include the possibility that a high proportion of mixed research studies that are being submitted to HDRQ are not of sufficient quality to be accepted. Thus, in this editorial, we provide evidence-based guidelines for conducting and reporting mixed research that are framed around Collins, Onwuegbuzie, and Sutton's (2006) 13-step model of the mixed research process. Further, we divide our reporting standards into four general areas-research formulation, research planning, research implementation, and research dissemination-that we itemize via a taxonomy that contains more than 60 elements.