As a PhD student, immersing oneself in the vast literatures in relation to specific contents and methodology can be a bit of an overwhelming experience. I have been there myself, and I vividly recall the confusion and lack of direction in the formative stages of my PhD. It is for this reason that I wanted to share a range of articles that genuinely helped me – not only to write my PhD thesis (especially the methodological section) – but also frame arguments and contributions of my research in such a way that could eventually convince the reviewers and editors, and lead to the acceptance of the manuscript. Please note that this is an organic list, and it will be enlarged as I stumble over important future (or hitherto unknown) articles. I have separated the list in four broader categories: philosophy of science, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, and on theory and framing contribution.

Philosophy of Science

Duster T. (2006) Comparative Perspectives and Competing Explanations: Taking on the Newly Configured Reductionist Challenge to Sociology. American Sociological Review 71: 1-15.

Guba EG and Lincoln YS. (1989) Fourth generation evaluation, London: Sage.

Guba EG and Lincoln YS. (1994) Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In: Denzin NK and Lincoln YS (eds) Handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 105-117.

Helay M and Perry C. (2000) Comprehensive criteria to judge validity and reliability of qualitative research within the realism paradigm. Qualitative market research 3: 118-126.

Lincoln YS and Guba EG. (1985) Naturalistic inquiry, Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Sandberg J and Alvesson M. (2011) Ways of constructing research questions: gap-spotting or problematization? Organization 18: 23-44.

Putnam H. (1979) Philosophy and Our Mental Life. In: Putnam H (ed) Mind, Language and Reality. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 291-303.

Von Wright GH. (1971) Explanation and Understanding, New York: Cornell University Press.

Qualitative Methods

Cassell C. (2005) Creating the interviewer: identity work in the management research process. Qualitative Research 5: 167-179.

Cassell C, Bishop V, Symon G, et al. (2009) Becoming a qualitative management researcher. Management learning 40: 513-533.

Cassell C and Symon G. (2011) Assessing ‘good’ qualitative research in the work psychology field: A narrative analysis. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 84: 633-650.

Eisenhardt KM. (1989) Building Theories from Case Study Research. Academy of Management Review 14: 532-550.

Gioia DA, Corley KG and Hamilton AL. (2013) Seeking Qualitative Rigor in Inductive Research: Notes on the Gioia Methodology. Organizational Research Methods 16: 15-31.

Golden-Biddle K and Locke K. (2007) Composing Qualitative Research, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Hycner RH. (1985) Some Guidelines for the Phenomenological Analysis of Interview Data. Human studies 8: 279-303.

Holt R and Sandberg J. (2011) Phenomenology and organization theory. In: Tsoukas H and Chia R (eds) Research in the Sociology of Organizations. London: Emerald, 215–249.

Locke K. (2015) Pragmatic Reflections on a Conversation About Grounded Theory in Management and Organization Studies. Organizational Research Methods.

Pratt MG. (2008) Fitting Oval Pegs Into Round Holes. Organizational Research Methods 11: 481-509.

Pratt MG. (2009) For the lack of a boilerplate: tips on writing up (and reviewing) qualitative research. Academy of Management Journal 52: 856-862.

Sanders P. (1982) Phenomenology: A New Way of Viewing Organizational Research. Academy of Management Review 7: 353-360.

Quantitative Methods

Anonymous. (2015) The Case of the Hypothesis That Never Was; Uncovering the Deceptive Use of Post Hoc Hypotheses. Journal of Management Inquiry 24: 214-216.

Antonakis J, Bendahan S, Jacquart P, et al. (2010) On making causal claims: A review and recommendations. The Leadership Quarterly 21: 1086-1120.

Frazier PA, Tix AP and Barron KE. (2004) Testing Moderator and Mediator Effects in Counseling Psychology Research. Journal of Counseling Psychology 51: 115-134.

Hayes AF. (2009) Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical Mediation Analysis in the New Millennium. Communication Monographs 76: 408-420.

Nikolaeva R, Bhatnagar A and Ghose S. (2015) Exploring Curvilinearity Through Fractional Polynomials in Management Research. Organizational Research Methods.

Podsakoff PM, MacKenzie SB, Lee JY, et al. (2003) Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology 88: 879-903.

Preacher K and Hayes A. (2004) SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behavior Research Methods 36: 717-731.

On theory and framing contribution

Alvesson M and Sandberg J. (2011) Theory Development: Generating research questions through problematization. Academy of Management Review 36: 247-271.

Alvesson M and Sandberg J. (2013) Has Management Studies Lost Its Way? Ideas for More Imaginative and Innovative Research. Journal of Management Studies 50: 128-152.

Ashkanasy NM. (2011) Advancing theory: More than just “gap filling”. Journal of Organizational Behavior 32: 819-821.

Davis GF. (2015) Editorial Essay: What Is Organizational Research For? Administrative Science Quarterly 60: 179-188.

Holt R and den Hond F. (2013) Sapere Aude. Organization Studies 34: 1587-1600.

Kilduff M, Mehra A and Dunn M. (2011) Theory Development: From Blue Sky Research to Problem Solving: A Philosophy of Science Theory of New Knowledge Production. Academy of Management Review 36: 297-317.

Suddaby R. (2010) Editor’s Comments: Construct Clarity in Theories of Management and Organization. Academy of Management Review 35: 346-357.

Suddaby R. (2014) Editor’s Comments: Why Theory? Academy of Management Review 39: 407-411.

Suddaby R, Hardy C and Huy QN. (2011) Special Topic Forum – Theory Development Introduction: Where are the New Theories of Organization? Academy of Management Review 36: 236-246.

Wright PM. (2015) Rethinking “Contribution”. Journal of Management 41: 765-768.