Reporting single-case design studies: Advice in relation to the designs’ methodological and analytical peculiarities

Abstract

The current text provides advice on the content of an article reporting a single-case design research. The advice is drawn from several sources, such as the Single-case research in behavioral sciences reporting guidelines, developed by an international panel of experts, scholarly articles on reporting, methodological quality scales, and the author's professional experience. The indications provided on the Introduction, Discussion, and Abstract are very general and applicable to many instances of applied psychological research across domains. In contrast, more space is dedicated to the Method and Results sections, on the basis of the peculiarities of single-case designs methodology and the complications in term s of data analysis. Specifically, regarding the Method, several aspects strengthening (or allowing the assessment of) the internal validity are underlined, as well as information relevant for evaluating the possibility to generalize the results. Regarding the Results, the focus is put on justifying the analytical approach followed. The author considers that, even if a study does not meet methodological quality standards, it should include sufficiently explicit reporting that makes possible assessing its methodological quality. The importance of reporting all data gathered, including unexpected and undesired results, is also highlighted. Finally, a checklist is provided as a summary of the reporting tips.