Implementation science: a reappraisal of our journal mission and scope.
The implementation of research findings into healthcare practice has become increasingly recognised as a major priority for researchers, service providers, research funders and policymakers over the past decade. Nine years after its establishment, Implementation Science, an international online open access journal, currently publishes over 150 articles each year. This is fewer than 30% of those submitted for publication. The majority of manuscript rejections occur at the point of initial editorial screening, frequently because we judge them to fall outside of journal scope. There are a number of common reasons as to why manuscripts are rejected on grounds of scope. Furthermore, as the field of implementation research has evolved and our journal submissions have risen, we have, out of necessity, had to become more selective in what we publish. We have also expanded our scope, particularly around patient-mediated and population health interventions, and will monitor the impact of such changes. We hope this editorial on our evolving priorities and common reasons for rejection without peer review will help authors to better judge the relevance of their papers to Implementation Science.
Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK. r.foy@leeds.ac.uk.
Robbie
R
Foy
VA Center for Clinical Management Research, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. salesann@umich.edu.|School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. salesann@umich.edu.
Anne
A
Sales
Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands. Michel.Wensing@radboudumc.nl.
Michel
M
Wensing
University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. gaarons@ucsd.edu.
Gregory A
GA
Aarons
Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services, Oslo, Norway. Signe.Flottorp@kunnskapssenteret.no.
Signe
S
Flottorp
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, Plymouth University, Plymouth, UK. bridie.kent@plymouth.ac.uk.
Bridie
B
Kent
Centre for Behaviour Change, Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK. s.michie@ucl.ac.uk.
Susan
S
Michie
School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. denise.oconnor@monash.edu.
Denise
D
O'Connor
National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (NIHR CLAHRC) Wessex, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK. A.E.Rogers@soton.ac.uk.
Anne
A
Rogers
Centre for Implementation Science, Health Service and Population Research Department, King's College, London, UK. nick.sevdalis@kcl.ac.uk.
Nick
N
Sevdalis
Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St Michael's, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. sharon.straus@utoronto.ca.
Sharon
S
Straus
Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. paul.wilson@mbs.ac.uk.
Paul
P
Wilson
D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D035081:Editorial Policies; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015397:Program Evaluation; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical / Q000379:methods