The article discusses how dialogue is understood and used in selected action research literature, based on an investigation of published research internationally. It also draws on the authors’ own experiences from action research in Norway, in particular projects investigating interreligious dialogue and relationships in schools and local communities. The aim is partly to describe and analyse how dialogue as a concept is understood and used in action research, and partly to discuss how this analysis can inform future action research. We find that in action research, dialogue is used both to express features of collaborative relations and as a theoretical concept with an analytical function. This makes it possible to describe an interface between action research and dialogical practice which is illustrated by a model with two crossing axes. One axis illustrates a continuum from the procedural to the substantial, from an emphasis on rules for ‘doing’ to emphasis on content and ways of ‘knowing’. The other axis illustrates a continuum from individual ability and participation to collective commitment. Together these two crossing axes form a matrix that can be used for analysing the use and signinficance of ‘dialogue’ as a concept in action research. The authors argue that the concept of dialogue seems to be widely used in action research and to express basic values and concerns of this research, but that increased reflection and deliberation about the content of the concept and it use could contribute to more clarity regarding the implications of such values and concerns.