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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 2.4 More information about Impact Factor CiteScore 4.2 More information about CiteScore

JMIR Formative Research 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 2025 Impact Factor of 2.4, ranking Q2 in Health Care Sciences & Services (97/194).

JMIR Formative Research received a Scopus CiteScore of 4.2 (2025), placing it in the 68th percentile (149/466) as a second quartile (Q2) journal in the field of Medicine, and in the 52nd percentile (81/168) as a second quartile (Q2) journal in the field of Health Informatics. 


Recent Articles

Laptop displaying medical data analysis and patient monitoring system.
Development and Evaluation of Research Methods, Instruments and Tools

Electrocardiograms (ECGs) are commonly stored in PDF, particularly as vector-based files generated by ECG management systems. Previous studies have demonstrated that ECG signals can be extracted through PDF-to-Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) conversion, highlighting the potential to reconstruct waveform signals from vector graphics. These reconstructed signals further enable the derivation and prediction of clinically relevant ECG parameters.

Vending machine for harm reduction supplies at San Francisco VA SSP, next to a biohazard sharps container.
Formative Evaluation of Non-Ehealth Innovations

Veterans face stigma, privacy concerns, and access barriers to HIV screening. For studies that use at-home HIV self-testing (HIVST) kits distributed through vending machines (VMs), recruitment and educational materials must communicate study purpose and participation options clearly, minimize confusion and stigma, and provide actionable next steps for participants who test outside of clinical settings.

Person standing on a digital foot scanner, with an inset image showing foot pressure distribution
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are a leading cause of hospitalizations, amputations, and health care costs among individuals with diabetes, often due to delayed detection and treatment. Early identification of skin changes is critical for preventing ulcer progression, yet daily visual foot self-inspections are often limited by impaired mobility, visual deficits, and poor compliance. Although some foot-focused remote patient monitoring technologies are in use, most of these approaches do not provide standardized, full-color visual documentation, which can affect clinicians’ ability to interpret findings using familiar visual cues.

Volunteers sort canned goods and food donations for a community food drive.
Research Letter

Higher levels of human flourishing were moderately associated with helping strangers and volunteering time but showed little association with financial donations.

Man reaching into container of colorful candy next to snacks and orange drink
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Snacks contribute 19% to 34% of daily energy intake, yet studying snacking behaviors faces challenges due to self-report biases. The SnackBox, an automated dietary assessment tool, enables structured measurement of snacking in seminaturalistic settings.

Laptop screen displays AI brain graphic and code, person typing.
Research Letter

We describe the adoption of AI software among commercially insured adults from 2018 to 2023 and find rapid growth but variable use across patients, plans, and regional characteristics, highlighting the need for research and policy to support equitable and beneficial adoption.

Young female doctor smiling, with medical team in background
Pilot studies (non-ehealth)

The global adoption of English-medium instruction (EMI) in higher education has introduced complex implementation challenges, the severity of which often depends on the resources available within specific educational contexts. Evidence remains limited in public medical schools in under-resourced, non-Anglophone countries, which serve a socioeconomically and educationally diverse student population. In such settings, the direct transfer of existing EMI integration models presents significant practical challenges.

Elderly woman with gray hair on a phone call in a blue armchair
Development and Evaluation of Research Methods, Instruments and Tools

Conversational voice AI assistants can automate postoperative follow-up calls in high-volume, low-complexity pathways such as cataract surgery but may widen health inequalities if language access and inclusive design are not built in. This patient and public involvement focus group was conducted to inform the Turkish-language adaptation of Dora ahead of a forthcoming multilingual clinical trial at Moorfields Eye Hospital.

Nutritionist shows personalized nutrition plan on tablet, with weight prognosis and energy intake.
Development and Evaluation of Research Methods, Instruments and Tools

Dietary counseling is an essential complement to the growing use of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) to achieve sustainable weight loss. Diverse patient needs, the demand for ongoing support, and limited resources underscore the potential of using digital support tools.

Mother and child drawing together, with an abacus nearby
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects 6.3% of Chinese children, but only 10% are diagnosed, as diagnosis is hindered by low awareness and lack of culturally adapted, objective tools. Existing continuous performance tests are unimodal and lack validity.

Mobile app displaying drug compatibility network graph with Dopamine, Dobutamine, Phentolamine, Amiodarone
Formative Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

Intravenous drug incompatibility is a significant medication safety hazard, particularly in complex multidrug regimens. Traditional text-based, pairwise query methods are inefficient and impose a substantial cognitive load on clinicians. While network visualization has the potential to address these challenges, its application in drug compatibility queries remains underexplored.

Preprints Open for Peer Review

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