Instructions for Authors
All journals published by JMIR Publications, including the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) and affiliated sister journals, are innovative, international, peer-reviewed health science journals that aim to publish articles relevant for health care professionals, system developers, and system users alike.
Manuscripts are considered with the understanding that they have not been published previously in print or electronic format and are not under consideration by another print or electronic publisher. A complete report following a presentation at a meeting or the publication of preliminary findings elsewhere (e.g., in an abstract) will be considered. Material that has been published on the Internet (including Preprint servers) can also be considered, but any previous or simultaneous publication on the Internet must be disclosed in the cover letter. Include copies of potentially duplicative material that has been previously published or is currently being considered elsewhere and provide links to duplicative material on the Internet. Point out possible overlaps with previously published or simultaneously submitted articles in your cover letter. Note that "duplicate submission or publication is not necessarily unethical, but failure to disclose the existence of duplicate articles, manuscripts, or other related material to editors and readers (covert duplication) is unethical and may represent a violation of copyright law." (AMA Manual of Style, 10th edition, p. 148). A content overlap of just 10% may be considered duplicative.
JMIR Publications requires that all authors / coauthors have an ORCID (a unique researcher identifier) at the time of publication. Application for an ORCID is free of charge and only takes a few minutes - please go to ORCID.org to apply for one. We also recommend that corresponding authors contact all of their coauthors and encourage them to obtain an ORCID during the manuscript preparation process. While they can be added after submission, ORCIDs are required in case of acceptance.
Please review our Fee Schedule prior to submission to confirm which JMIR journals charge fees.
Our requirements for submitted manuscripts are in accordance with the recommendations drawn up by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. For general information about the structure and content of a biomedical manuscript, authors should become familiar with the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals before reading our specific instructions for authors below.
The following instructions for authors are valid for all JMIR journals. Additional journal-specific instructions may also apply so please also be sure to look for those below. Author instructions are subject to revision so please refer to them frequently before submitting your manuscript.
A Word-template of an article compatible with journals from JMIR Publications can be downloaded from https://asset.jmir.pub/assets/public/InstructionsForAuthorsOfJMIR.docx.
Papers should be written in accordance with the American Medical Association Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors, 11th Edition (Oxford University Press; 2020)
Format for Original Papers (for other paper types see What are the article types for JMIR journals?)
The following format ("IMRAD Format") must be used for the paper:
Title
Abstract (not exceeding 450 words for structured abstracts)
Keywords
Introduction (e.g. theory, hypotheses, prior work)
Methods (e.g. with the subheadings "Recruitment", "Statistical Analysis", etc.)
Results (e.g. user statistics, evaluation outcomes). If your study consists of different stages/parts, subheadings in this section should mirror subheadings in the methods section to describe these parts.
Discussion (e.g. with the subheadings "Principal Results", "Limitations", "Comparison with Prior Work", "Conclusions")
Acknowledgements
Conflicts of Interest
[optional] Multimedia Appendix of supplementary files (e.g. a PowerPoint presentation of a conference talk about the study, additional screenshots of a website, mpeg/ Quicktime video or audio files, or Excel, Access, SAS, or SPSS files containing original data)
References
Abbreviations
Please use further subheadings within the main "Introduction," "Methods," "Results," and "Discussion" sections. For example, if you describe three different methods, use three subheadings within the "Methods" section. Also, use matching subheadings in the "Results" section if you report the results from each of the described methods.
Please read this article regarding the reporting of P values.
Authors who are not sure how to report their quantitative results should consult this book:
How to Report Statistics in Medicine: Annotated Guidelines for Authors, Editors, and Reviewers, Second Edition (American College of Physicians, 2006)
To submit your paper, create a user account as author and submit the paper in the author section of your user homepage. Note that the references can be in any format, as long as the in-text citations are sequentially numbered in the manuscript with square brackets and as long as the reference at the end has a PMID in the format PMID:123456.
As a service to our authors, we now offer the possibility to have a submission considered in partner journals, which means that the manuscript and peer-review reports may be transferred to a JMIR sister/partner journal if the paper is not found suitable for publication in JMIR but is publishable in another journal. The transfer of the peer-review reports may mean that the paper does not have to be re-reviewed. Authors will be able to identify their journal transfer preferences should their manuscript be declined for their original journal and pursue publication in a sister/partner journal. If authors do NOT wish an automatic transfer to an alternative journal after rejection from their original journal of submission, this should be noted in the cover letter.
For any addtional information, please consult our Author Hub for Author-related FAQs.
For any additional assistance or information, you can also file a ticket with the Helpdesk.