Call for Papers: Theme Issue: Participatory Methods in Rehab Interventions and Assistive Technologies

JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies is inviting submissions to a new theme issue titled “Incorporating Participatory Methods in Developing, Implementing, and Evaluating Rehab Interventions and Assistive Technologies.” The journal is indexed in PubMed and PubMed Central, SCOPUS, DOAJ, Web of Science, Sherpa Romeo, and EBSCO and EBSCO Essentials. 

This call aims to highlight research that meaningfully engages relevant knowledge users, such as patients, caregivers, and decision makers, as part of the development, implementation, or evaluation of rehabilitation interventions.

The scope of this call for papers includes, but is not limited to the following: 

  • Patient involvement in the development and/or evaluation of rehabilitation programs or assistive devices and their subsequent impact on the device or study*
  • Experiences of relevant knowledge users with participatory research and associated outcomes
  • Novel methods used in the context of participatory approaches
  • Design of participatory research involving specialized rehabilitation populations
  • Ethical considerations for participatory research involving specialized rehabilitation populations

*Please ensure to include a dedicated section within the manuscript addressing the involvement of patients or individuals with lived experiences, as well as other relevant knowledge users in the study. We highly encourage co-authorship with patients, individuals with lived experiences, and/or other pertinent knowledge users.

Submissions may encompass a range of research methodologies, such as qualitative studies, process evaluations, mixed methods designs, and the application of implementation science frameworks, alongside the incorporation of suitable patient engagement outcome measures. 

In recognition of the increasing significance of engaging individuals with lived experiences, JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies seeks to showcase the collaborative efforts of researchers and those with lived experiences. Our objective is to shed light on the methods used to engage relevant knowledge users and the resultant outcomes from such engagement efforts.


How to Submit

To submit an article to JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies, please visit the submission page. Consult our Instructions for Authors for more information on how to submit a manuscript.

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Submission Guidelines

We will not accept articles that are solely written by generative artificial intelligence (AI) or other AI tools. For more information, please refer to the JMIR Publications editorial policy and this knowledge base article. 

All submissions will undergo a rigorous peer-review process, and accepted articles will be published as part of the theme issue, providing authors with increased visibility within the field of rehabilitation research.


All articles will be shared and published rapidly through the following mechanisms:

  • All peer-reviewed articles will be immediately and permanently made open access. This is the standard for all titles within the JMIR Publications portfolio.
  • Articles can be made immediately available in JMIR Preprints (with a DOI) after submission if authors select the preprint option at submission to enable this service.

Submissions not reviewed or accepted for publication in JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies may be offered cascading peer review or transfer to other JMIR Publications journals, according to standard JMIR Publications policies. Authors are encouraged to submit study protocols or grant proposals to JMIR Research Protocols before data acquisition to preregister the study (Registered Reports; subsequent acceptance in one of the JMIR Publications journals is then guaranteed).