The perils that migrants face when arriving in a new country are many. To deal with the host community requirements, they often turn to their country people, those who arrived before them, and they build networks that help them manage their new needs and situations. At times, however, when involved in a research project, they also turn to the researcher who can provide help in ways nobody else can. In this paper, I discuss my experience of investigating intercultural communication with migrant physicians in Chile and how, very often, the gatekeepers of my study would require help on matters that could not be addressed through the aims and outcomes of my research. Putting forward the main principles of reciprocity in social research as the basis for the discussion, this article reflects on the boundaries of researchers’ social responsibilities and the limits of reciprocity within the qualitative research, in particular, when conducting studies with migrant communities. © 2018 Western Social Science Association

intercultural communication Migrants Reciprocity social responsibility physicians Gatekeepers

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