Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rsap Establishing trustworthiness and authenticity in qualitative pharmacy research Mohamed Ezzat Khamis Amin a,* , Lotte Stig Nørgaard b , Afonso M. Cavaco c , Matthew J. Witry d , Lisa Hillman e , Alina Cernasev f , Shane P. Desselle g a Faculty of Pharmacy, Beirut Arab University, P.O. Box: 11, 5020, Beirut, Lebanon b Department of Pharmacy, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 2, Building: 17-5-504, 2100, København Ø, Denmark c Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003, Lisboa, Portugal d College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, 115 S. Grand Avenue, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA e College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, 7-159 Weaver-Densford Hall, 308, Harvard St. SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA f The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, College of Pharmacy, 301 S Perimeter Park Drive, Suite 220, Nashville, TN, 37211, USA g Touro University, California College of Pharmacy, Applied Pharmacy Solutions, 1310 Club Dr, Vallejo, CA, 94592, USA ABSTRACT Spurred by the value it can add, the use of qualitative research methods has been steadily growing by social pharmacy researchers around the globe, either separately or as part of mixed methods research projects. Given this increase, it is important to provide guidance to assist researchers in ensuring quality when employing such methods. This commentary addresses both theoretical fundamentals as well as practical aspects of establishing quality in qualitative social pharmacy research. More specifically, it provides an explanation of each of the criteria of trustworthiness proposed by Lincoln and Guba (credibility, transferability, dependability and con- firmability) and different techniques used in establishing them. It also provides a brief overview of authenticity, a more recent and less widely used set of criteria that involve demonstrating fairness, ontological authenticity, educative authenticity, catalytic authenticity, and tactical authenticity. For each of these terms, the commentary provides a definition, how it applies to social pharmacy research, and guidance on when and how to use them. These are accompanied by examples from the pharmacy literature where the criteria have been used. The commentary ends by providing a summary of competing viewpoints of establishing quality in the published literature while inviting the reader to reflect on how the presented criteria would apply to different qualitative research projects. Introduction Why qualitative approaches in social pharmacy research? Four characteristics distinguish science from non-science. Science is theory-based, uses systematic research techniques, is cumulative and is predictive. 1 All science is embedded in belief systems known as para- digms, which are frameworks based on assumptions about ontology (nature of being) and epistemology (nature of knowledge and ration- ality of belief). Four paradigms are used most commonly: positivism, post-positivism, interpretivism, and critical theory, 2 each with their own important differences. 2,3 Research carried out within the positivist/post-positivist paradigm strives towards objectivity and neutrality and typically employs quan- titative studies with a focus on numbers, precision, and general- izability. 4 A positivist approach, however, may not be the best way to address some research questions. Hence, there has been a notable in- crease in interpretivist studies using qualitative methods in health services research, including pharmacy research, to tackle questions that do not lend themselves to a positivist paradigm. Social pharmacy re- searchers have been using qualitative methods to understand, explain, discover, and explore patients' and health care practitioners’ beliefs, perceptions, and feelings. With considerable variety in qualitative ap- proaches, 5 qualitative research provides considerable options for re- searchers to pick when approaching a research question. 6 Qualitative research allows a researcher to provide an interpretation of observed experiences and actions of individuals and groups in dif- ferent contexts. 2 It lends itself to health services research in general and social pharmacy research in particular, where an in-depth under- standing of the participants’ experiences is needed. As it pertains to more critical theoretical studies, qualitative methods can also be used for the “democratization” of research through carrying out studies that are more inclusive, collaborative, and involving partnerships and co- production. 7 Indeed, such methods can provide a framework that is not only “about” or “on” participants but, rather, with and by participants as co-creators. 8 This is particularly important, especially with the https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2020.02.005 Received 13 September 2019; Received in revised form 31 January 2020; Accepted 10 February 2020 * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: m.amin@bau.edu.lb (M.E.K. Amin), lotte.norgaard@sund.ku.dk (L.S. Nørgaard), acavaco@ff.ulisboa.pt (A.M. Cavaco), matthew-witry@uiowa.edu (M.J. Witry), hill0667@umn.edu (L. Hillman), acernase@uthsc.edu (A. Cernasev), Shane.Desselle@tu.edu (S.P. Desselle). Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx 1551-7411/ © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Please cite this article as: Mohamed Ezzat Khamis Amin, et al., Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2020.02.005