This article is an attempt to provide a cognitive approach to understanding and reporting research strategy, design, procedure and methods, validity and reliability, as well as methodological limitations. We begin with a strong assumption that, compared with a literature review, the research methods chapter should be the easiest chapter to understand and report. However, in reality, most business and public administration/ management research students do not always demonstrate a firm understanding of this chapter. Furthermore, its reporting is nothing more than reproducing chunks of the numerous research methodology textbooks. They also include unimportant terminology and, therefore, expose the fact that they do not absolutely understand what they are doing or writing about. This article attends to the question: ‘how can we develop a procedural framework for understanding and reporting research strategy, design, procedure and m