Journal of Implementation Science
Advancing the science of translating evidence into practice across health systems, public health programs, and policy environments worldwide.
Bridging Research and Real-World Health Systems
The Journal of Implementation Science (JIS) serves as a premier forum for research that examines how evidence-based interventions, strategies, and policies are successfully adopted, integrated, and sustained within healthcare delivery systems and public health settings. Our mission centers on understanding the complex mechanisms that either facilitate or impede the translation of research findings into routine practice.
JIS publishes rigorous, peer-reviewed scholarship that identifies barriers and enablers to effective health programming and policymaking. From healthcare quality improvement initiatives to large-scale public health interventions, we spotlight research that moves beyond efficacy testing to address the practical challenges of implementation in diverse contexts.
As an open access publication, JIS ensures that implementation science insights reach health system administrators, policy makers, quality improvement specialists, health informaticists, program evaluators, and health services researchers globally—accelerating the pathway from discovery to impact.
Implementation science represents a critical discipline within health services research, examining the "how" of translating evidence into practice. JIS prioritizes research that advances theoretical understanding and practical methodologies for implementing, evaluating, and sustaining health interventions within real-world settings.
We publish studies that investigate implementation strategies across multiple levels—from individual provider behavior change to organizational transformation and health system policy reform. Our scope encompasses both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, mixed-methods designs, systematic reviews, implementation frameworks, and pragmatic trial designs that test implementation approaches in authentic practice environments.
JIS welcomes submissions across the implementation science spectrum, with particular emphasis on health services and systems research that addresses:
Implementation of quality metrics, patient safety protocols, care pathway optimization, and continuous quality improvement methodologies within health systems.
System-level interventions addressing workforce capacity, service delivery models, financing mechanisms, governance structures, and supply chain optimization.
Translation of health policies into practice, policy evaluation frameworks, regulatory implementation, and analysis of policy adoption barriers and facilitators.
Implementation of electronic health records, clinical decision support systems, telehealth platforms, health information exchanges, and data analytics infrastructure.
Scale-up and sustainability of evidence-based public health interventions, community health programs, population health management, and prevention strategies.
Development and testing of implementation science frameworks, measurement instruments, process evaluation methods, and implementation fidelity assessment tools.
Healthcare organizational transformation, leadership for implementation, workforce training, interprofessional collaboration, and organizational readiness assessment.
Implementation of innovative care models, integrated care systems, patient-centered medical homes, accountable care organizations, and value-based care approaches.
Analysis of contextual factors influencing implementation success, including organizational culture, resource availability, stakeholder engagement, and health system characteristics.
The Journal of Implementation Science offers distinct advantages for researchers committed to advancing the science-to-practice pipeline in health systems and public health:
- Rigorous Peer Review: Expert reviewers with implementation science expertise evaluate methodological rigor, theoretical grounding, and practical significance of submitted research.
- Global Health Systems Perspective: We publish implementation research from diverse health system contexts, recognizing that implementation challenges and solutions vary across settings and resource levels.
- Open Access Impact: Immediate, unrestricted access ensures your implementation research reaches health system decision-makers, policy officials, and practitioners who can apply findings.
- Multidisciplinary Community: JIS connects researchers across health services research, public health, health policy, health informatics, quality improvement, and health administration disciplines.
- Practical Relevance: We prioritize research that offers actionable insights for real-world implementation challenges facing health systems and public health programs.
- Methodological Innovation: JIS encourages novel approaches to implementation research, including pragmatic trials, hybrid effectiveness-implementation designs, and innovative evaluation methodologies.
We welcome original research articles, systematic reviews, implementation case studies, methodological papers, and commentaries that advance implementation science knowledge. All submissions should clearly articulate the implementation focus and demonstrate relevance to health systems or public health practice.
Authors should consult implementation science reporting guidelines appropriate to their study design, such as StaRI (Standards for Reporting Implementation Studies), TIDieR (Template for Intervention Description and Replication), or SQUIRE (Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence).
Manuscripts should be submitted through the online submission portal. For detailed formatting requirements, ethical standards, and submission procedures, please review our Instructions for Authors.
JIS operates under an open access model, making all published research freely available worldwide. Articles are published under Creative Commons licenses that permit broad reuse while ensuring proper attribution. This approach maximizes the dissemination and impact of implementation science research among the diverse stakeholders who can benefit from these insights.
Our open access policy aligns with funder mandates from major research agencies and ensures that implementation research findings are accessible to health system practitioners, policy makers, and program managers in resource-limited settings who need this evidence most.
Advance Implementation Science
Join the global community of researchers dedicated to bridging the research-practice gap in health systems and public health. Submit your implementation research to JIS and contribute to the growing evidence base on how to effectively translate research into practice.
