Purpose: Hospitality and tourism research lags in using experimental designs. This study aims to reveal prestigious scholars’ opinions and suggestions on how to effectively design and execute experimental research. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted an open-ended survey on 187 editors and editorial board members from 22 top hospitality and tourism journals. Their answers were coded following an inductive method of coding, and a list of themes and categories was synthesized. Findings: The results summarize common problems of this method and indicate significant barriers to making experimental studies publishable. The review criteria for experimental studies are presented from four aspects: overall design, stimuli and manipulations, data collection and reporting results. Research limitations/implications: The results provide valuable suggestions for researchers interested in experimental design in the hospitality and tourism field. The study contributes to a shift toward well-designed and well-executed experimental research in hospitality and tourism. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is the first to survey editorial board members of impactful hospitality and tourism journals to reveal their insights into the experimental methodology. The study makes significant theoretical and methodological contributions by addressing calls to understand common problems and barriers to experimental research in our field.