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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

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Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

The transition from child to adult mental health services is a vulnerable period marked by service disengagement, care gaps, and worsening mental health outcomes. Although planned, developmentally appropriate transition processes can improve functioning, youths report insufficient preparation, limited continuity of care, and unmet expectations for support. Existing transition supports remain underevaluated and require further adaptation for mental health contexts. Youth consistently report needing clearer information, concrete support, and sustained connection. Digital tools, particularly SMS text messaging, which is widely used, accessible, and acceptable to youth, offer a promising way to deliver timely transition supports. Yet most digital mental health tools are developed without meaningful youth involvement, highlighting the need for participatory approaches to ensure relevance, usability, and uptake.

Man with fitness tracker checking his phone while sitting outdoors with water bottle
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Post–COVID-19 fatigue affects millions worldwide; yet, evidence-based management strategies remain limited. Activity pacing, regulating activity to match available energy and minimize symptom exacerbation, may support symptom management, although optimal pacing approaches remain unclear.

Emergency Center: Medical staff attend to patients in a busy hospital waiting room.
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Emergency department (ED) revisits are critical quality indicators, particularly in medically underserved areas, where traditional prediction tools show limited performance. Machine learning (ML) approaches may offer improved predictive performance for identifying high-risk patients.

Laptop screen showing a healthcare workflow: assessment, brain health, and remote monitoring.
Pilot studies (non-ehealth)

Older Black adults remain underrepresented in dementia research, particularly in studies using speech-based methods for early cognitive assessment. Understanding how to effectively recruit and engage this population in research involving audio-recorded interactions is critical to ensuring equitable inclusion and developing culturally responsive study designs. However, recruiting older Black adults into dementia research remains a significant challenge.

Mother and two daughters in pajamas by a window, festive winter decor
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Environmental factors account for 23% of global deaths and 25% of chronic diseases. In France, the Fourth National Environmental Health Plan prioritizes training health professionals in environmental health. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are chemical substances that interfere with hormonal systems, contributing to a range of health effects. In 2024, the Primary Care and Environmental Health (PCEH) program at the University of Montpellier–Nîmes introduced an innovative e-learning module on EDCs for first-year family medicine residents.

Man with glucose monitor checks phone at kitchen table with notebook
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Telemonitoring has been shown to improve glycemic control in type 2 diabetes, but the optimal design for effectively integrating self-management education remains unclear. Including patient feedback in the design process can enhance usability, increase engagement, and improve the feasibility and effectiveness of the intervention in real-world settings.

Screenshots of a health tracking app showing home, settings, questions, timeline, and bleeding details.
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

A prevalent and serious complication of diabetes mellitus is the development of diabetic foot ulcer (DFU). There is a need for effective solutions that help prevent DFU to support our increasingly stressed health care systems. The use of mobile health (mHealth) tools has been shown to improve awareness and effective self-care management skills in people at risk of developing diabetic foot ulceration.

Doctor and patient discuss health information on a smartphone.
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Endometriosis is a chronic gynecological condition affecting approximately 10% of women of reproductive age worldwide and is associated with chronic pelvic pain, infertility, and reduced quality of life. In Brazil’s Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde [SUS]), diagnostic delays frequently range from 7 to 10 years and disproportionately affect socially vulnerable populations, including rural, low-income, Black, and Indigenous women. Digital health interventions have been proposed as scalable solutions; however, most available applications are developed in high-income settings and do not align with the structural and operational realities of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

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.

Preprints Open for Peer Review

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