JMIR Formative Research

Process evaluations, early results, and feasibility/pilot studies of digital and non-digital interventions

Editor-in-Chief:

Amaryllis Mavragani, PhDc, Scientific Editor at JMIR Publications, Canada


Impact Factor 2.0 CiteScore 2.7

JMIR Formative Research (JFR, ISSN 2561-326X, Journal Impact Factor™ 2.0 (Journal Citation Reports™ from Clarivate, 2023)) publishes peer-reviewed, openly accessible papers containing results from process evaluations, feasibility/pilot studies and other kinds of formative research and preliminary results. While the original focus was on the design of medical- and health-related research and technology innovations, JMIR Formative Research publishes studies from all areas of medical and health research.

Formative research is research that occurs before a program is designed and implemented, or while a program is being conducted. Formative research can help

  • define and understand populations in need of an intervention or public health program
  • create programs that are specific to the needs of those populations
  • ensure programs are acceptable and feasible to users before launching
  • improve the relationship between users and agencies/research groups
  • demonstrate the feasibility, use, satisfaction with, or problems with a program before large-scale summative evaluation (looking at health outcomes)

Many funding agencies will expect some sort of pilot/feasibility/process evaluation before funding a larger study such as a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT).

Formative research should be an integral part of developing or adapting programs and should be used while the program is ongoing to help refine and improve program activities. Thus, formative evaluation can and should also occur in the form of a process evaluation alongside a summative evaluation such as an RCT.

JMIR Formative Research fills an important gap in the academic journals landscape, as it publishes sound and peer-reviewed formative research that is critical for investigators to apply for further funding, but that is usually not published in outcomes-focused medical journals aiming for impact and generalizability.

Summative evaluations of programs and apps/software that have undergone a thorough formative evaluation before launch have a better chance to be published in high-impact flagship journals; thus, we encourage authors to submit - as a first step - their formative evaluations in JMIR Formative Research (and their evaluation protocols to JMIR Research Protocols). 

JMIR Formative Research is indexed in MEDLINEPubMed, PubMed CentralDOAJ, Scopus, Sherpa/Romeo, EBSCO/EBSCO Essentials, and the Emerging Sources Citation Index (Clarivate).

Recent Articles

Article Thumbnail
Pilot studies (ehealth)

Existing interventions for co-occurring depression and cannabis use often do not treat both disorders simultaneously and can result in higher rates of symptom relapse. Traditional in-person interventions are often difficult to obtain due to financial and time limitations, which may further prevent individuals with co-occurring depression and cannabis use from receiving adequate treatment. Digital interventions can increase the scalability and accessibility for these individuals, but few digital interventions exist to treat both disorders simultaneously. Targeting transdiagnostic processes of these disorders with a digital intervention—specifically positive valence system dysfunction—may yield improved access and outcomes.

|
Article Thumbnail
Research Letter

This study assessed weight change in the parents of children with disabilities following a 12-week, remotely delivered weight loss program focused on lifestyle modifications and found a significant median weight reduction of 3 kg from baseline to week 12.

|
Article Thumbnail
Pilot studies (non-ehealth)

Research has shown that integrating community health workers (CHWs) into the formal health care system can improve outcomes for people living with HIV, yet there is limited literature exploring this framework among marginalized minority populations.

|
Article Thumbnail
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for noncommunicable diseases and a leading cause of premature death. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity (PA) weekly, regardless of age, gender, or personal habits. However, in both sports performance and clinical settings, personalized training (PT) regimens have shown superior efficacy over general guidelines.

|
Article Thumbnail
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) are capable of closing gaps in the prevention and therapy of common mental disorders. Despite their proven effectiveness and approval for prescription, use rates remain low. The reasons include a lack of familiarity and knowledge as well as lasting concerns. Medical students were shown to have a comparatively higher risk for common mental disorders and are thus an important target group for raising awareness about DMHIs. At best, knowledge is already imparted during medical school using context-sensitive information strategies. Yet, little is known about medical students’ information preferences regarding DMHIs.

|
Article Thumbnail
Development and Evaluation of Research Methods, Instruments and Tools

The environment shapes health behaviors and outcomes. Studies exploring this influence have been limited to research groups with the geographic information systems expertise required to develop built and social environment measures (eg, groups that include a researcher with geographic information system expertise).

|
Article Thumbnail
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

This study focuses on the Budd app, a mobile health intervention designed for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men who participate in chemsex. Chemsex, the use of psychoactive drugs in a sexual context, presents substantial health risks including increased HIV transmission and mental health issues. Addressing these risks requires innovative interventions tailored to the unique needs of this population.

|
Article Thumbnail
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Adolescents and young adults frequently present to the emergency department (ED) for medical care and continue to have many unmet sexual health needs. Digital interventions show promise to improve adolescent and young adult sexual health; yet, few interventions focus on male ED patients, despite their infrequent use of contraceptives and rising rates of sexually transmitted infections.

|
Article Thumbnail
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) affects up to 37% of adolescents. Without recognition, HMB can lead to other medical conditions resulting in diminished health-related quality of life. WeThrive, a new mobile health (mHealth) app, implements the pictorial bleeding assessment chart to identify HMB, and the adolescent Menstrual Bleeding Questionnaire to measure the effects of HMB on adolescents’ health-related quality of life. If HMB is identified, WeThrive will connect users to local clinics for further assessment of their menstrual bleeding with a health care provider.

|
Article Thumbnail
Pilot studies (ehealth)

Aging is a risk factor for falls, frailty, and disability. The utility of wearables to screen for physical performance and frailty at the population level is an emerging research area. To date, there is a limited number of devices that can measure frailty and physical performance simultaneously.

|
Article Thumbnail
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, have shown promising potential in supporting medical education and clinical decision-making, given their vast knowledge base and natural language processing capabilities. As a general purpose AI system, ChatGPT can complete a wide range of tasks, including differential diagnosis without additional training. However, the specific application of ChatGPT in learning and applying a series of specialized, context-specific tasks mimicking the workflow of a human assessor, such as administering a standardized assessment questionnaire, followed by inputting assessment results in a standardized form, and interpretating assessment results strictly following credible, published scoring criteria, have not been thoroughly studied.

|
Article Thumbnail
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Smart tracking technology (STT) that was applied for clinical use has the potential to reduce 30-day all-cause readmission risk through streamlining clinical workflows with improved accuracy, mobility, and efficiency. However, previously published literature has inadequately addressed the joint effects of STT for clinical use and its complementary health ITs (HITs) in this context. Furthermore, while previous studies have discussed the symbiotic and pooled complementarity effects among different HITs, there is a lack of evidence-based research specifically examining the complementarity effects between STT for clinical use and other relevant HITs.

|

Preprints Open for Peer-Review

|

Open Peer Review Period:

-

|

Open Peer Review Period:

-

We are working in partnership with