Pragmatic Rigor: Principles and Criteria for Conducting and Evaluating Executive Scholarship

Abstract

Executive scholarship is a novel and promising avenue for addressing the gap between academic research and practice. To advance the objective of publishing the findings of executive scholarship, we propose the concept of pragmatic rigor. Pragmatic rigor consists of principles and criteria for conducting and evaluating research with respect to its practical value. Pragmatic rigor includes criteria for evaluation, so that research may be judged on pragmatic merits, in addition to scientific criteria. We propose four principles of pragmatic rigor, along with associated criteria for evaluation: relevance, actionability, comprehensibility, and ethical reasoning. The principles suggest a range of variation for pragmatic rigor rather than a critical threshold. The criteria may be incorporated into journal review processes to ensure that studies considered for publication meet standards for both scientific and pragmatic rigor.