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JMIR Formative Research

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

Editor-in-Chief:

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


Impact Factor 2.1 More information about Impact Factor CiteScore 3.5 More information about CiteScore

JMIR Formative Research (JFR, ISSN 2561-326X) 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 (ESCI).

JMIR Formative Research received a Journal Impact Factor of 2.1 according to the latest release of the Journal Citation Reports from Clarivate, 2025.

With a CiteScore of 3.5 (2024) JMIR Formative Research is a Q2 journal in the field of Medicine (miscellaneous), according to Scopus data.

Recent Articles

Tablet displaying "Language" with ABCs on screen, held by hands
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT are increasingly used to support health-related queries and decision-making. However, these models can be “jailbroken” through adversarial prompts that bypass safety filters and elicit harmful or medically inappropriate responses. In health care contexts, such vulnerabilities pose serious risks. Understanding how jailbreak susceptibility varies across languages is essential for developing robust safeguards and promoting equitable access to safe health information. This paper may contain examples that may be deemed harmful in terms of violence, self-harm, and drug abuse.

Woman in VR headset interacting with holographic brain scan on large monitor
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Radiologic technology (RT) education faces challenges in bridging theory and practice due to limited clinical opportunities. While virtual reality (VR) enables safe and repeatable practice, a systematic instructional design framework is needed to develop scalable, procedure-focused modules.

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Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Mobile mental health apps may provide an accessible, scalable, and private avenue for older veterans who may not otherwise seek or receive care to address their mental health concerns. However, older veterans may experience barriers to using these apps that need to be addressed to facilitate effective use. Such support could be effectively implemented within the US Veterans Health Administration to facilitate the use of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs’ established mental health apps and to benefit older veterans with mental health concerns.

Mother and daughter consult doctor online about medication during telehealth appointment.
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Clinical outcomes for patients with cystic fibrosis have improved over the last decades, with a focus on enhancing the quality of life for children and their families. These improvements are expected to reduce the need for in-hospital visits, allowing for alternative care provisions that further enhance their quality of life. Telehealth can decrease the number of in-hospital visits and disruptions to everyday life.

Young boy using a nebulizer while looking at his smartphone
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Adolescent asthma is a significant contributor to youth morbidity and is known to be best managed through consistent medication use and symptom management. However, adolescents often struggle to perceive their symptoms accurately and consistently use their medication at the recommended rate, risking worsened symptoms and impaired quality of life. The Responsive Asthma Care for Teens (ReACT) system is a project aimed at identifying and and providing supporting for several barriers adolescents may face in asthma management. By integrating both software and hardware to monitor medication adherence, ReACT provides a personalized support plan to improve asthma management and, subsequently, quality of life.

Person holding phone displaying a traffic light for alcohol consumption in Mexico
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Returning migrants face a variety of challenges that limit their ability to integrate and adapt to Mexico. This represents a break in their life trajectory, with effects on family dynamics, mid- and long-term projects, and uncertainty about short-term plans.

Two people using a smartphone and tablet, possibly for online research.
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States, and state policies can be effective tools to prevent suicide. State legislators are increasingly active on social media, communicating about their legislative priorities and signaling information about their knowledge and attitudes about issues.

Phone screen displaying the word RISE above a lotus flower symbol.
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Anxiety sensitivity (AS), defined as the fear of anxious arousal, is a promising therapeutic target for reducing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom development after trauma exposure. Initial research suggests that smartphone-based AS interventions may be acceptable to sexual assault survivors at risk for PTSD symptoms and effective for symptom reduction, but only small one-arm proof-of-concept studies have been conducted.

Nurse adjusts IV drip for patient in hospital bed, with vital signs monitor.
Development and Evaluation of Research Methods, Instruments and Tools

Ischemic heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) remains the primary surgical treatment for ischemic heart disease. There is currently a lack of highly accurate and widely applicable models for assessing the risk of postoperative mortality following CABG.

Nurse monitors patient data on computer in hospital room
Formative Evaluation of Non-Ehealth Innovations

Unplanned hospital readmissions represent a critical operational and financial challenge for health care systems in the United States, with 3.8 million 30-day all-cause readmissions in 2018 at an average cost of US $15,200 each, totaling US $58 billion in costs. Many published prediction models rely on comprehensive information (eg, full billing abstractions, discharge summaries, laboratory tests, and vitals) that becomes available only late in the encounter, limiting usefulness for real-time, in-hospital intervention. This creates a timeliness-accuracy trade-off: models that are most accurate retrospectively may arrive too late to act upon.

Elderly woman checks her smartwatch, displaying 12:30 PM
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Hypertension is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and premature mortality, with its prevalence increasing due to population aging and lifestyle factors. Accurate measurement of blood pressure (BP) and arterial oxygen saturation is crucial for disease prevention and monitoring, and wearable devices have emerged as a promising alternative. However, their clinical reliability requires validation, particularly in older populations.

Preprints Open for Peer Review

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