Why BMJ HCI—the internal fear to find an appropriate academic journal

My article titled ‘Mixed methods protocol for a realist evaluation of electronic personal health records design features and use to support medication adherence (ePHRma)’ was published in BMJ HCI.1 I was in the third year of my PhD programme, coming from a technologically heavy background, and trying to publish a protocol for a mixed methodology mostly qualitative study in health informatics was intimidating.

Identifying and funding the publication in an appropriate academic journal posed two key problems: (1) My university required a sensible journal, either affiliated with BCS somehow or having a good impact factor; (2) The journal had to be open access, accept study protocols and accept interdisciplinary studies.

I was concerned about the interdisciplinary character of the research since I was fixated on the journal titles that included the word ‘medical’ and wondered how medical my non-medical study procedure was. This obstacle was quickly addressed when I discovered the ‘About’ pages of the journal websites, as I was able to find the journal’s aims and information about the people on the editorial board, whose research interests seemed relevant to mine, taken face value.

BMJ HCI is a journal with which my PhD supervisor is familiar; I am a member of BCS, and I noticed that BMJ HCI accepts study protocols rather than only randomised controlled trial protocols. Being under the BMJ umbrella and linked with BCS offered the opportunity to ‘tick all the boxes’ needed for my university to sponsor the publication.

The current initial impact factor of 4.1 further validated my journal selection. I intend to publish with BMJ HCI again in the future and will advise my PhD students on how to do so. Mostly due to the speedy turnaround of peer review input and the psychological aspect that one publishes under the BMJ umbrella. Submitting to the journal’s website was and continues to be simple, and the ORCID login authentication option is useful because it eliminates the need to remember additional passwords and login details.

I began reviewing articles for BMJ HCI in 2019 and continue to do so regularly. Reviewing is intriguing for me since it allows me to learn directly about the process of publishing in a peer-reviewed journal, fulfil my curiosity about what other researchers are writing and experience a sense of accomplishment that I helped a researcher publish a more comprehensive study. I encourage all of my PhD students to begin reviewing, and one of my PhD students is currently reviewing for BMJ HCI, where they discovered the process to be simple and rewarding.