JMIR Research Protocols

Protocols, grant proposals, registered reports (RR1)

Editor-in-Chief:

Amy Schwartz, MSc, Ph.D., Scientific Editor at JMIR Publications, Ontario, Canada


Impact Factor 1.5 CiteScore 2.4

JMIR Research Protocols  (JRP, ISSN 1929-0748) is a unique journal indexed in PubMed, PubMed Central (PMC), MEDLINE, Sherpa Romeo, DOAJ, Scopus, Web of Science(WoS)/ESCI, and EBSCO, publishing peer-reviewed, openly accessible research ideas and grant proposals, and study and trial protocols (also referred to as Registered Report Stage 1 papers). 

JMIR Research Protocols received a Journal Impact Factor of 1.5 according to the latest release of the Journal Citation Reports from Clarivate, 2025.

With a CiteScore of 2.4 (2024), JMIR Research Protocols is a Q2 journal in the field of General Medicine, according to Scopus data.

It should be stressed however that most authors do not publish their protocols for "impact" or citations, rather to document their ideas to how to design experiments, to document their successful grant proposals, or to publish (and maybe brag a little about) their already funded protocols (which do not require additional peer-review). We offer this platform for scientists to publish peer-reviewed protocols for a very low APF, and unfunded protocols for a reasonable fee that includes peer-review. 

While the original focus was on eHealth studies, JRP 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).

JRP is fully open access, with full-text articles deposited in PubMed Central.

Why should I publish my protocol? 

  • JRP publishes research protocols, grant proposals, pilot/feasibility studies and early reports of ongoing and planned work that encourages collaboration and early feedback, and reduces duplication of effort.
  • JRP will be a valuable educational resource for researchers who want to learn about current research methodologies and how to write a winning grant proposal.
  • JRP creates an early scientific record for researchers who have developed novel methodologies, software, innovations or elaborate protocols.
  • JRP 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.
  • JRP enhances rigor and demonstrates to reviewers of subsequent results papers that authors followed and adhered to carefully developed and described a-priori methods, rather than fishing for P-values (HARKing).
  • JRP facilitates and guarantees 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.
  • JRP is compatible with the concept of "Registered Reports" and since May 2018, published protocols receive an International 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?. We assign an IRRID (International Registered Report Identifier) to each published protocol, faciliating the linking between protocol and final study, and also indicating that results papers of studies are also "in principle accepted" for subsequent publication in other JMIR journals (or other members of the IRRID Registry Network) 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 JRP 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 e-health 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)

Young people with mobility disabilities have limited options to maintain their cardiometabolic health and cardiorespiratory fitness. Active video gaming using extended reality head-mounted displays is becoming increasingly common for promoting serious exergaming. However, there is a need to identify dosing protocols that can potentially lead to meaningful improvements in cardiometabolic health and cardiorespiratory fitness.

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

Latino men who have sex with men (LMSM) account for a disproportionate and growing number of HIV diagnoses in the United States. Intersectional stigma remains a key driver of HIV inequities; however, most quantitative intersectional stigma measures are limited and do not consider the larger social context.

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RCTs - Protocols/Proposals (non-eHealth)

Although a high intake of plant foods is often considered healthy, some plant foods can be detrimental to health. Reliable dietary assessment is crucial to examine the relationship between diet and disease. Current dietary assessment methods rely on self-reported intake data, which are subject to bias. Objective measurement using biomarkers of food intake could mitigate this problem. However, single biomarkers of food intake have limitations as well. Combining several biomarkers of food intake into a multibiomarker panel could attenuate these limitations and allow for an accurate, objective dietary assessment.

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NIH funded proposals with peer-review reports (USA)

Dental implants are a widely used therapeutic option for tooth replacement; however, biological and prosthetic complications may compromise implant success. While prior research has largely focused on academic or specialty settings, data on implant outcomes in community dental practices remain limited.

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RCTs - Protocols/Proposals (non-eHealth)

Individuals with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may exhibit thoracoabdominal asynchrony, which reduces ventilatory efficiency. A novel intervention using elastic tape (ET) applied to the chest wall has been shown to acutely reduce thoracoabdominal asynchrony and dyspnea during exercise among individuals with COPD. We hypothesize that using ET in pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) may increase the benefits of PR in this population.

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

Patients with immune-mediated inflammatory disease (IMID), including autoimmunity, fared substantially worse than the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic, both in terms of infection outcomes and disruption to daily life. Despite this, COVID-19 vaccine uptake has not been universal in this population. The absence of patients with IMID from clinical trials and the subsequent lack of precision in vaccine safety profiling have resulted in vaccine hesitancy in this high-risk group.

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

Sexual health is often underaddressed in cancer care, especially among survivors of breast and gynecological cancer. In Colombia, treatment side effects, cultural stigma, and limited training among health care providers affect well-being. Although international guidelines promote patient-centered and culturally sensitive approaches, few interventions have been implemented in low- and middle-income settings.

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RCTs - Pilots/Feasibility Studies (non-eHealth)

Humanoid robots are being used more frequently in health care: in geriatrics and pediatrics, robots such as “Pepper” and “Nao” have been shown to enhance communication, emotional well-being, and patient engagement. During the pandemic, their role expanded, for example, to include remote monitoring and reducing the risk of infection. Given these applications, our study examines the integration of 2 advanced humanoid robots, Pepper and Nao, within the reception area of a geriatric hospital.

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Non-randomized Protocols and Methods (ehealth)

Complications following abdominal surgery have a very significant negative impact on the patient and the health care system. Despite the spread of minimally invasive surgery, there is no automated way to use intraoperative video to predict complications. New developments in data storage capacity and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm creation now allow for this.

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

Diabetes-related foot ulcers (DFUs) are common in people with diabetes and a major cause of poor quality of life and disability. If not treated in a timely and appropriate way, DFUs may result in prolonged hospitalization and amputation. Currently, methods to predict the healing trajectory of DFUs lack accuracy. Thermal imaging has been proposed to overcome these limitations but has been unable to accurately predict delayed healing of DFUs in the early stages of ulcer management. This project aims to ascertain whether textural analysis of a thermal image can predict the healing trajectory of DFUs.

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Preprints Open for Peer Review

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