Journal of Medical Internet Research

The leading peer-reviewed journal for digital medicine and health and health care in the internet age. 

Editor-in-Chief:

Gunther Eysenbach, MD, MPH, FACMI, Founding Editor and Publisher; Adjunct Professor, School of Health Information Science, University of Victoria (Canada)


Impact Factor 7.4

The Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) (founded in 1999, now in its 24th year!), is the pioneer open access eHealth journal and is the flagship journal of JMIR Publications. It is a leading digital health journal globally in terms of quality/visibility (Journal Impact Factor™ 7.4 (Clarivate, 2023)) and is also the largest journal in the field. The journal focuses on emerging technologies, medical devices, apps, engineering, telehealth and informatics applications for patient education, prevention, population health and clinical care.

JMIR is indexed in all major literature indices including MEDLINEPubMed/PMCScopus, Psycinfo, SCIE, JCR, EBSCO/EBSCO Essentials, DOAJ, GoOA and others. As a leading high-impact journal in its disciplines, ranking Q1 in both the 'Medical Informatics' and 'Health Care Sciences and Services' categories, it is a selective journal complemented by almost 30 specialty JMIR sister journals, which have a broader scope, and which together receive over 6.000 submissions a year. 

As an open access journal, we are read by clinicians, allied health professionals, informal caregivers, and patients alike, and have (as with all JMIR journals) a focus on readable and applied science reporting the design and evaluation of health innovations and emerging technologies. We publish original research, viewpoints, and reviews (both literature reviews and medical device/technology/app reviews). Peer-review reports are portable across JMIR journals and papers can be transferred, so authors save time by not having to resubmit a paper to a different journal but can simply transfer it between journals. 

We are also a leader in participatory and open science approaches, and offer the option to publish new submissions immediately as preprints, which receive DOIs for immediate citation (eg, in grant proposals), and for open peer-review purposes. We also invite patients to participate (eg, as peer-reviewers) and have patient representatives on editorial boards.

As all JMIR journals, the journal encourages Open Science principles and strongly encourages publication of a protocol before data collection. Authors who have published a protocol in JMIR Research Protocols get a discount of 20% on the Article Processing Fee when publishing a subsequent results paper in any JMIR journal.

Be a widely cited leader in the digital health revolution and submit your paper today!

Recent Articles

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Web-based and Mobile Health Interventions

Owing to structural-level, interpersonal-level, and individual-level barriers, Latino men have disproportionately high rates of physical inactivity and experience related chronic diseases. Despite these disparities, few physical activity (PA) interventions are culturally targeted for Latino men.

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Generative language models including ChatGPT

Despite recent significant strides toward acceptance, inclusion, and equality, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community still face alarming mental health disparities, being almost 3 times more likely to experience depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts than their heterosexual counterparts. These unique psychological challenges are due to discrimination, stigmatization, and identity-related struggles and can potentially benefit from generative conversational artificial intelligence (AI). As the latest advancement in AI, conversational agents and chatbots can imitate human conversation and support mental health, fostering diversity and inclusivity, combating stigma, and countering discrimination. In contrast, if not properly designed, they can perpetuate exclusion and inequities.

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Electronic/Mobile Data Capture, Internet-based Survey & Research Methodology

Existing health care research, including serious illness research, often underrepresents individuals from historically marginalized communities. Capturing the nuanced perspectives of individuals around their health care communication experiences is difficult. New research strategies are needed that increase engagement of individuals from diverse backgrounds.

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Clinical Informatics

Electronic health records (EHRs) in unstructured formats are valuable sources of information for research in both the clinical and biomedical domains. However, before such records can be used for research purposes, sensitive health information (SHI) must be removed in several cases to protect patient privacy. Rule-based and machine learning–based methods have been shown to be effective in deidentification. However, very few studies investigated the combination of transformer-based language models and rules.

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Web-based and Mobile Health Interventions

The promotion of mobile health (mHealth) and eHealth technologies as tools for managing chronic diseases, particularly diabetes mellitus, is on the rise. Nevertheless, individuals with diabetes frequently face a literacy gap that hinders their ability to fully leverage the benefits offered by these resources. Enhancing technology literacy to facilitate the adoption of mobile eHealth services poses a significant challenge in numerous countries.

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Theme Issue 2022: Chatbots and COVID-19

People who consume tobacco are at greater risk of developing severe COVID-19. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the accessibility of tobacco cessation services as a result of necessary social restrictions. Innovations were urgently needed to support tobacco cessation during the pandemic. Virtual humans are artificially intelligent computer agents with a realistic, humanlike appearance. Virtual humans could be a scalable and engaging way to deliver tobacco cessation information and support. Florence, a virtual human health worker, was developed in collaboration with the World Health Organization to remotely support people toward tobacco cessation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Florence delivers evidence-based information, assists with making quit plans, and directs people to World Health Organization–recommended cessation services in their country. In this viewpoint, we describe the process of developing Florence. The development was influenced by a formative evaluation of data from 115 early users of Florence from 49 countries. In general, Florence was positively perceived; however, changes were requested to aspects of her design and content. In addition, areas for new content were identified (eg, for nonsmoker support persons). Virtual health workers could expand the reach of evidence-based tobacco cessation information and personalized support. However, as they are a new innovation in tobacco cessation, their efficacy, feasibility, and acceptability in this application needs to be evaluated, including in diverse populations.

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Viewpoints and Perspectives

Large language models (LLMs) are exhibiting remarkable performance in clinical contexts, with exemplar results ranging from expert-level attainment in medical examination questions to superior accuracy and relevance when responding to patient queries compared to real doctors replying to queries on social media. The deployment of LLMs in conventional health care settings is yet to be reported, and there remains an open question as to what evidence should be required before such deployment is warranted. Early validation studies use unvalidated surrogate variables to represent clinical aptitude, and it may be necessary to conduct prospective randomized controlled trials to justify the use of an LLM for clinical advice or assistance, as potential pitfalls and pain points cannot be exhaustively predicted. This viewpoint states that as LLMs continue to revolutionize the field, there is an opportunity to improve the rigor of artificial intelligence (AI) research to reward innovation, conferring real benefits to real patients.

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Telehealth and Telemonitoring

Several studies have demonstrated the efficacy and user acceptance of telehealth in managing patients with chronic conditions, including continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). However, the rates of telehealth service use in various patient groups have been low and have declined over time, which may affect important health outcomes. Telehealth service use in patients undergoing CAPD has been recognized as a key challenge that needs to be examined further.

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Viewpoints and Perspectives

Regulatory sandboxes offer an alternative solution to address regulatory challenges in adopting disruptive technologies. Although regulatory sandboxes have been widely implemented in the financial sector across more than 50 countries, their application to the health sector remains limited.

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E-Health / Health Services Research and New Models of Care

People with a low socioeconomic position (SEP) are less likely to benefit from eHealth interventions, exacerbating social health inequalities. Professionals developing eHealth interventions for this group face numerous challenges. A comprehensive guide to support these professionals in their work could mitigate these inequalities.

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Web-based and Mobile Health Interventions

According to the World Health Organization, implementing mobile health (mHealth) technologies can increase access to quality health services worldwide. mHealth apps for smartphones, also known as health apps, are a central component of mHealth, and they are already used in diverse medical contexts. To benefit from health apps, potential users need specific skills that enable them to use such apps in a responsible and constructive manner.

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Preprints Open for Peer-Review

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Open Peer Review Period:

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