Journal Article Reporting Standards for Qualitative Research (JARS-Qual), published by a working group of the American Psychological Association (APA) in 2018, are well-known among researchers using mixed methods as a writing guideline for high-quality articles. These standards are included in the 7th edition of the APA's Publication Manual. This study defines a research article as a communication tool. From that perspective, I introduce the overall picture and characteristics of JARS-Qual. First, the historical background of the establishment of the standards is described. Thereafter, the definition of qualitative research that the standards assume is explicated, where qualitative research is placed equally alongside quantitative research. Next, the overall structure of JARS-Qual is described and its unique characteristics, which include the concept of “methodological integrity” and how to demonstrate it in an article. Additionally, I explain the indicators of reflexivity, which are a specific feature of qualitative research. Finally, this study considers the contributions of the APA standards to the practice of qualitative research and the pitfalls of placing qualitative research equally alongside quantitative research.

Mixed methods research (MMR) is in the process of becoming an accepted new research approach. In order to deepen the discussion on how to make it easier for researchers to use MMR, it is important to consider cases based on actual research projects which have used MMR. This article introduces the author's own research in the field of nursing, including the reasons for choosing MMR and an overview of the research design, as well as summarizing the significance and challenges of using MMR which emerged during the study. The significance was found to be “improving reliability,” “helping with interpretation,” “clarifying perspectives,” and “exploring potential issues.” The following challenges were raised: “the level of understanding of MMR in the community” “longer research period,” and “limitations on the amount of text and information in papers.” These are only limited perspectives derived from one case study. If the expected significance of integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches is clarified, and also countermeasures to the various challenges are considered and presented, it would encourage more researchers to actively choose MMR.