Call for abstracts for our research paradigms handbook!
We are seeking chapter contributions for a forthcoming edited book titled The Researcher’s Compass: Choosing Your Paradigm, Finding Your Voice. This book aims to demystify research paradigms by offering accessible, reflective, and grounded accounts of how paradigms shape research design, practice, and identity. The book will be co-edited by Dr Lynette Pretorius and Dr Basil Cahusac de Caux.
Dr Lynette Pretorius
Contact details
Dr Lynette Pretorius is an award-winning educator and researcher specialising in doctoral education, academic identity, student wellbeing, AI literacy, autoethnography, and research skills development.
Dr Basil Cahusac de Caux
Contact details
Dr Basil Cahusac de Caux is an Associate Professor with a specialisation in the sociology of higher education, postgraduate research, and the sociology of language.
This book is designed for early career researchers, doctoral students, supervisors, and interdisciplinary scholars who want to better understand how ontology, epistemology, and axiology influence the way we know, question, and explore the world through research. By using the metaphor of a compass, the book will guide readers in navigating the often murky terrain of research philosophy. The book will begin with foundational chapters exploring the “big three” philosophical questions (ontology, epistemology, and axiology).
The second part of the book, for which this call is issued, will feature reflexive and practical contributions from researchers across disciplines and paradigms. These chapters should provide grounded, narrative accounts of how specific paradigms shaped research questions, relationships, ethical decisions, and researcher identity. We invite expressions of interest from researchers who:
- Have conducted a research project situated within a specific paradigm. We seek chapters from those who have used the more traditional paradigms (e.g. Positivism, Post-Positivism, Constructivism, Interpretivism, Critical Realism, or Pragmatism) as well as those who have used emerging or non-Western paradigms (e.g., Indigenous Paradigms, Post-Colonial or Decolonial Paradigms, Transformative Paradigms, Religious Paradigms, Post-Humanist Paradigms, or Queer Paradigms).
- Are willing to reflect critically on how their paradigm influenced the design, process, ethics, and outcomes of their work.
- Are open to writing in a clear, accessible, and reflective style, suitable for readers who may be new to research paradigms.
- Can commit to peer reviewing two of the chapters in the book in 2026.
We welcome contributions from researchers across all disciplines, cultures, and career stages. Collaborative or co-authored chapters are also most welcome.
Chapter Structure
Each chapter will follow a shared reflective scaffold:
- What paradigm did you choose, and why?
- How did this paradigm shape your research questions, methodology, and relationships with data, participants, or concepts?
- What challenges, tensions, or surprises did you experience working within this paradigm?
- How has this paradigm influenced your understanding of yourself as a researcher (your identity, purpose, or practice)?
Chapters should be approximately 5,000–6,000 words, written in an engaging, thoughtful, and accessible style. References should follow APA 7th edition.
For an example of the style and tone of writing we are expecting, you can refer to the paper below.
Key Dates
Abstracts due: 10 November 2025
Notification of acceptance: Start of December 2025
Full chapters due: 30 March 2026
Each accepted chapter author will be expected to peer review at least two other chapters in the book during 2026.
How to Submit
Please submit your abstract using the button below.
If you have any questions, please direct them to Dr Lynette Pretorius (Contact details).
Posted: by Lynette Pretorius
