Methods and the Global South Community

Who this Community is for

This Community is for researchers, academics, and practitioners working in or with Global South contexts, including Africa, Asia, Latin America, and other regions. It welcomes scholars at all career stages who are engaged in methodological innovation, ethical research practice, and context-sensitive approaches to knowledge production.

---

Community focus and ethos

The Methods and the Global South Community is a vibrant and growing hub within MethodsNET dedicated to advancing methodological excellence rooted in Global South contexts. It brings together scholars and practitioners committed to promoting epistemic justice, ethical co-creation, and locally grounded understandings of research impact. The Community constitutes a dynamic and supportive network in which Global South voices in methodology are promoted and made to matter. Its mission is to connect, empower, and innovate by creating vital spaces for early-career researchers, facilitating the exchange of practical, field-tested tools, and collectively amplifying Global South methodologies on the world stage. Through these efforts, the Community contributes to redefining what inclusive research practice can look like.

The Community plays a central role in shaping and coordinating the Community-led Methods and the Global South track at the MethodsNET Conference. Under the theme “Methods Excellence from the Global South: Innovation, Ethics, and Impact,” the track invites contributions that explore how methodological rigour is redefined through context-driven innovation, equitable knowledge production, and understandings of impact grounded in the perspectives of the communities research seeks to serve.

Beyond the conference, the Community supports ongoing exchange and collaboration by creating safe and supportive spaces—particularly for early-career researchers—sharing resources, tools, and practical “how-to” guidance on research and research methods, and hosting webinars, infographics, and community discussions. Across its activities, the Community aims to amplify Global South voices in global methodological debates and to contribute to more inclusive, equitable, and impactful research practices.

---

Topics relevant for submissions

• Context-driven methodological adaptation and innovation: how methodological rigour is redefined and exemplified through research rooted in the Global South, including the design, adaptation, and refinement of methods in response to specific social, political, institutional, and cultural contexts, and the development of context-driven research tools.
• Epistemic justice and ethical co-creation: methodological approaches that promote equitable knowledge production, participatory research practices, and ethical frameworks grounded in local perspectives and community engagement.
• Redefining impact and research valorisation: alternative ways of conceptualising, measuring, and valuing research impact as understood and assessed by the communities research seeks to serve.
• Pedagogies for methodological excellence in the Global South: teaching and learning practices that support context-sensitive, inclusive, and reflexive methodological training.
• Case studies of transformative research practice: empirical examples that demonstrate methodological innovation, ethical engagement, and meaningful social impact in Global South research settings.
• AI and digital frontiers in global research: opportunities, risks, and positionalities associated with the use of AI and digital methods in Global South contexts.

Co-convenors

---

---

---