JMIR Research Protocols

Ongoing trials, grant proposals, and methods.

Editor-in-Chief:

Amaryllis Mavragani (Acting Editor-in-Chief), Scientific Editor at JMIR Publications, Canada


Impact Factor 1.7

 JMIR Research Protocols  (JRP, ISSN 1929-0748, Impact Factor: 1.7) is a unique Pubmed- and (new!) Scopus-indexed journal, publishing peer-reviewed, openly accessible research ideas and grant proposals, study and trial protocols, reports of ongoing research, current methods and approaches, and preliminary results from pilot studies or formative research informing the design of medical and health-related research and technology innovations.

In 2023, JMIR Research Protocols received an inaugural Journal Impact Factor™ of 1.7 (Source: Journal Citation Reports™ from Clarivate, 2023).

While the original focus was on eHealth studies, JMIR Res Protoc now publishes protocols and grant proposals in all areas of medicine, and their peer-review reports, if available (preliminary results from pilot studies, early results, and formative research should now be published in JMIR Formative Research).

While the original focus was on the design of medical and health-related research and technology innovations, JRP publishes research protocols, proposals, feasibility studies, methods and early results in all areas of medical and health research.

JMIR Res Protoc is fully open access, with full-text articles deposited in PubMed Central.

Publishing research protocols, grant proposals, pilot/feasibility studies and early reports of ongoing and planned work encourages collaboration and early feedback, and reduces duplication of effort.

JMIR Res Protoc is compatible with the concept of "Registered Reports" and since May 2018, published protocols receive a Registered Report Identifier (What is a Registered Report Identifier?) and acceptance of the subsequent results paper is "in principle" guaranteed in any JMIR journal and partner journals - see What is a Registered Report?

JMIR Res Protoc will be a valuable resource for researchers who want to learn about current research methodologies and how to write a winning grant proposal.

JMIR Res Protoc creates an early scientific record for researchers who have developed novel methodologies, software, innovations or elaborate protocols.

JMIR Res Protoc provides a "dry-run" for peer-review of the final results paper, and allows feedback/critique of the methods, often while they still can be fixed.

JMIR Res Protoc faciliates subsequent publication of results demonstrating that the methodology has already been reviewed, and reduces the effort of writing up the results, as the protocol can be easily referenced.

JMIR Res Protoc demonstrates to reviewers of subsequent results papers that authors followed and adhered to carefully developed and described a-priori methods.

Studies whose protocols or grant proposals have been accepted in JMIR Res Protoc are "in principle accepted" for subsequent publication of results in other JMIR journals as long as authors adhere to their original protocol - regardless of study results (even if they are negative), reducing publication bias in medicine.

Authors publishing their protocols in JMIR Res Protoc will receive a 20% discount on the article processing fee if they publish their results in another journal of the JMIR journal family (for example, JMIR for ehealth studies, i-JMR for others).

Need more reasons? Read the Knowledge Base article on "Why should I publish my protocol/grant proposal"!

 

Recent Articles

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RCTs - Protocols/Proposals (funded, already peer-reviewed, eHealth)

To end the HIV epidemic by 2030, we must double down on efforts to tailor prevention interventions to both young men who have sex with men and transgender and nonbinary youth. There is an urgent need for interventions that specifically focus on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake in sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) populations. There are several factors that impact the ability of SGMY to successfully engage in the HIV prevention continuum, including uptake of PrEP. Patient activation, having the knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy to manage one’s health, is an important indicator of willingness and ability to manage one’s own health and care autonomously. Patient navigation also plays an important role in helping SGMY access PrEP and PrEP care, as navigators help guide patients through the health care system, set up medical appointments, and get financial, legal, and social support.

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RCTs - Protocols/Proposals (eHealth)

Suicide attempts and suicide death disproportionately affect sexual and gender minority emerging adults (age 18-24 years). However, suicide prevention strategies tailored for emerging adult sexual and gender minority (EA-SGM) groups are not widely available. The Safety Planning Intervention (SPI) has strong evidence for reducing the risk for suicide in the general population, but it is unclear how best to support EA-SGM groups in their use of a safety plan. Our intervention (Supporting Transitions to Adulthood and Reducing Suicide [STARS]) builds on content from an existing life skills mobile app for adolescent men who have sex with men (iREACH) and seeks to target core risk factors for suicide among EA-SGM groups, namely, positive affect, discrimination, and social disconnection. The mobile app is delivered to participants randomized to STARS alongside 6 peer mentoring sessions to support the use of the safety plan and other life skills from the app to ultimately reduce suicide risk.

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RCTs - Protocols/Proposals (non-eHealth)

Low- and middle-income countries are facing the emerging burden of chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Apart from loss of human lives and premature deaths, NCDs result in huge costs for treatment to individuals and the health system. Although NCDs develop in later life, the risk factors begin at an early age. The key to the control of the global epidemic of NCDs is primary prevention based on comprehensive community-based programs.

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RCTs - Pilots/Feasibility Studies (eHealth)

Evidence indicates participation in a diabetes self-management education and support program improves self-care behaviors and hemoglobin A1c. Language and cultural differences may be barriers to program participation resulting in ineffective self-management, but these factors can be addressed with appropriate interventions. Given the high health care costs associated with diabetes complications, we developed a multicomponent, culturally tailored Self-Management Mobile Health Intervention for US Vietnamese With Diabetes (SMart-D).

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NIH mHealth - funded projects

Chronic pain and early cognitive decline, which are costly to treat and highly prevalent among older adults, commonly co-occur, exacerbate one another over time, and can accelerate the development and progression of Alzheimer disease and related dementias. We developed the first mind-body activity program (Active Brains [AB]) tailored to the needs of older adults with chronic pain and early cognitive decline. Results from our previous study strongly supported the feasibility of conducting AB remotely and provided evidence for improvements in outcomes.

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Non-randomized Protocols and Methods (ehealth)

 The internet of things (IoT) is recognized as a valuable approach to supporting health care to achieve quality and person-centered care. This study aims to identify the facilitators and barriers associated with implementing IoT solutions in health care within a Scandinavian context. It addresses the pressing need to adapt health care systems to the demographic changes occurring in Scandinavia. The vision of “Vision eHealth 2025,” a long-term strategic direction for digitalization in Sweden, serves as the background for this project. The implementation of IoT solutions is a crucial aspect of achieving the vision’s goal of making Sweden a global leader in using digitalization and eHealth opportunities by 2025. IoT is recognized as a valuable approach to supporting health care to achieve quality and person-centered care. Previous research has shown that there is a gap in our understanding of social and organizational challenges related to IoT and that the implementation and introduction of new technology in health care is often problematic.

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NIH funded proposals with peer-review reports (USA)

Just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs) are designed to provide support when individuals are receptive and can respond beneficially to the prompt. The notion of a just-in-time (JIT) state is critical for JITAIs. To date, JIT states have been formulated either in a largely data-driven way or based on theory alone. There is a need for an approach that enables rigorous theory testing and optimization of the JIT state concept.

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Non-Randomized Studies (funded, non-eHealth)

The toll associated with suicide goes well beyond the individual who died. This study focuses on a risk factor for veteran suicide that has received little previous empirical attention—exposure to the suicide death of another person.

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Non-randomized Protocols and Methods (ehealth)

The clinical usefulness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for patients with depression who do not remit with pharmacotherapy has been recognized. However, the longer time burden on health care providers associated with conducting CBT and the lack of a system for providing CBT lead to inadequate CBT provision to patients who wish to receive it.

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Non-Randomized Study Protocols and Methods (Non-eHealth)

The US overdose epidemic is an escalating public health emergency, accounting for over 100,000 deaths annually. Despite the availability of medications for opioid use disorders, provider-level barriers, such as negative attitudes, exacerbate the treatment gap in clinical care settings. Assessing the prevalence and intensity of provider stigma, defined as the negative perceptions and behaviors that providers embody and enact toward patients with substance use disorders, across providers with different specialties, is critical to expanding the delivery of substance use treatment.

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Non-randomized Protocols and Methods (ehealth)

Ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) and digital wearables (DW) are commonly used remote monitoring technologies that capture real-time data in people’s natural environments. Real-time data are core to personalized medical care and intensively adaptive health interventions. The utility of such personalized care is contingent on user uptake and continued use of EMA and DW. Consequently, it is critical to understand user preferences that may increase the uptake of EMA and DW.

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Formative Studies and eHealth/mHealth Development

Hepatitis C is a disease with a strong social component, as its main transmission route is via blood, making it associated with lifestyle. Therefore, it is suitable to be worked on from the perspective of public health policy, which still has a lot of room to explore and improve, contrary to diagnoses and treatments, which are already very refined and effective.

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Preprints Open for Peer-Review

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