Journal profile · Medicine-Medicine (miscellaneous)
JMIR Formative Research
ISSN 2561-326X · JMIR Publications Inc. · Canada
JMIR Formative Research: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.4 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 2,500; median 162 days to acceptance (144 articles, last 24 months); 931 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
JMIR Formative Research is published by JMIR Publications Inc. and is in Zone 4 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Mobile Health and mHealth Applications, Digital Mental Health Interventions and Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation, together about 44.8% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
JMIR Formative Research (JFR, ISSN 2561-326X) publishes peer-reviewed, openly accessible research 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, JFR 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. This journal 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 JFR (and their evaluation protocols in JMIR Research Protocols). Need help choosing a journal? Use our Journal Finder tool to find the perfect match for your manuscript. Get Started
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Medicine-Medicine (miscellaneous)
Editor-in-chief Proposals Theme IssuesPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Italy 2, United States 1, Canada 1, New Zealand 1 (5 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Mobile Health and mHealth ApplicationsHealth Professions19.8%
- Digital Mental Health InterventionsPsychology19%
- Telemedicine and Telehealth ImplementationMedicine5.9%
- Health Literacy and Information AccessibilityHealth Professions5.1%
- Mental Health via WritingPsychology4.3%
- Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and EducationMedicine4.3%
- Electronic Health Records SystemsHealth Professions4.1%
- Social Media in Health EducationSocial Sciences4.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Medical Informatics | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Medical Informatics | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINEPMCPublisher website
Other: EBSCO
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 4.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.76LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.85LetPub ·
- h-index
- 57OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,439OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.85OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 98.91%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 911LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,952 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 714 | 714 | 213 |
| 2025 | 931 | 931 | 2,364 |
| 2024 | 792 | 792 | 4,377 |
| 2023 | 751 | 751 | 6,787 |
| 2022 | 832 | 832 | 11,429 |
| 2021 | 545 | 545 | 9,132 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with PubMed · to
162 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 115 days – 243 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 37 days (144 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 211 days
- Sample
- 144 articles with submission and acceptance dates (1,909 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 18 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | USD 2,500 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 1,900 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 2,500 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship
ORCID required for all authors/coauthors at time of publication Model summary
JMIR Publications requires that all authors / coauthors have an ORCID (a unique researcher identifier) at the time of publication.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Preprints Open for Peer Review
No prior publication or simultaneous consideration elsewhere Model summary
2026-08-26 | Share on Bluesky Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Culturally Adapted Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Depressive Symptoms Among Nigerian University Students: Pilot Pre-Post Study Open Peer Review Period: September 11, 2026 - November 06, 2026 Peer Review Me 2026-08-25 | Share on Bluesky Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Therapist-…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints Open for Peer Review
2026-08-26 | Share on Bluesky Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Culturally Adapted Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Depressive Symptoms Among Nigerian University Students: Pilot Pre-Post Study Open Peer Review Period: September 11, 2026 - November 06, 2026 Peer Review Me 2026-08-25 | Share on Bluesky Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Therapist-…
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- JMIR Publications Inc.
- Country or region
- Canada
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2561-326X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about JMIR Formative Research
What CAS zone is JMIR Formative Research in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, JMIR Formative Research is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Health Care Sciences & Services / Medical Informatics. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of JMIR Formative Research?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 2.4 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 4.2, h-index 57.
How long does peer review take at JMIR Formative Research?
Based on the dates recorded on 144 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 162 days (interquartile range 115–243 days); authors report an average review time of about 12 weeks. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
Where are the editorial board members of JMIR Formative Research based?
Of the 5 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Italy (2), United States (1) and Canada (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index JMIR Formative Research?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, JMIR Formative Research is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE and PMC; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is JMIR Formative Research open access, and what is the APC?
JMIR Formative Research is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,500.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, Publisher website; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-25). Last updated: .