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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

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are widely used in oncology but can cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs), which may be severe or life-threatening if not detected early. Electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) symptom monitoring systems may facilitate timely recognition and management of irAEs. Usability testing is a critical stage in ePRO system development, yet no published examples of formal usability and acceptance testing exist.

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Development and Evaluation of Research Methods, Instruments and Tools

Smartwatches have gained popularity for their potential to provide accurate measurements of various physiological parameters. However, the validity of energy expenditure (EE) across different smartwatch models remains a topic of ongoing investigation. Discrepancies between results obtained from different models and gold standard methods are particularly critical across varying exercise intensities and types, as validation studies have demonstrated overestimation when wearable activity monitors are compared with indirect calorimetry.

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Research Letter

Prospective integration of large language model tools into a classical hematology challenging-cases conference was feasible, increased clinician familiarity and interest, and was perceived as diagnostically and educationally valuable.

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Research Letter

This study analyzed social media posts from patients with congenital ichthyosis and their caregivers across Europe and found that users, primarily young women, discussed hygiene care, psychological impact, therapeutic challenges, and lack of disease awareness. This allowed for the identification of unmet needs and potential actions to improve patients’ quality of life.

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Development and Evaluation of Research Methods, Instruments and Tools

Chronic illness may cause a financial burden that affects patients, their caregivers, and families. While international research, mostly from the United States, has largely focused on cancer-related financial hardship, less is known about whether financial distress due to other chronic illnesses exists, specifically in countries that have universal health insurance coverage, such as Switzerland.

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Development and Evaluation of Research Methods, Instruments and Tools

Chronic insomnia affects more than 30% of US adults, is more prevalent in women and older adults, and is strongly associated with poor mental and physical health outcomes. Poor sleep quality and intraindividual variability of sleep are recognized to be key characteristics of chronic insomnia, but longitudinal assessment of sleep is largely subjective, with no objective characterization of sleep patterns and intraindividual variability over extended periods. Objective, ecologically valid longitudinal sleep measurements are needed to help identify and manage insomnia in both clinical and population settings. Consumer sleep technologies offer a possible solution, but their clinical utility remains relatively unexplored.

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Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

E-cigarette use remains prevalent among US adolescents, with many reporting daily use and high nicotine dependence. Few evidence-based mobile health interventions focus specifically on adolescents.

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Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Electronic medical records (EMRs) are increasingly adopted globally to improve health care delivery, yet challenges remain in their acceptance, defined here as favorable attitudes toward their use among health professionals. Understanding factors influencing acceptance is critical for successful implementation.

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Development and Evaluation of Research Methods, Instruments and Tools

Using social media platforms has been demonstrated to be a successful recruitment method, especially for young people. Two cited benefits of using social media for recruitment are its ability to quickly increase sample size and engage hard-to-reach participants.

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Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

The prevalence of various mental health conditions is higher among physicians and medical learners. One common barrier to receiving adequate care includes a lack of time to see a provider and follow treatment plans. As such, virtual forms of cognitive behaviour therapy with mindfulness (CBTm) were introduced to mitigate these barriers and provide care in an efficient and effective manner.

Preprints Open for Peer Review

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