Rapid Reviews for Behavioral Health
A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Psychology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 2023
Special Issue Editors
Interests: health behaviors; evidence syntheses; study quality appraisal
Interests: health-related behavior change interventions
Interests: health promotion (especially self-regulation, mental health, exercise, HIV prevention, placebo effects); methods (especially “big data”, including meta-analysis and other large databases)
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Healthcare increasingly requires accelerated access to current literature to inform decision-making, policy and practice. Emerging and/or urgent health issues demand high-quality evidence syntheses in a timely fashion to guide health system responses. Systematic reviews are considered the gold standard for collating, summarizing and appraising available evidence, but they can take years to complete and publish. On the other hand, healthcare institutions, health professionals, policymakers, patient associations, as well as end-users, may require a synthesis of evidence within a few months or weeks. This was exemplified during the COVID-19 pandemic, when unprecedented health-related questions needed immediate answers.
In light of this changing landscape in healthcare, the present Special Issue aims to showcase health-related evidence syntheses that are completed in a timely and resource-efficient manner. We, therefore, look forward to receiving rapid reviews in any area of behavioral health.
Behavioral health emphasizes individual responsibility in the maintenance of health and the prevention of disease by means of self-initiated health behaviors, such as exercising, sleeping well, eating healthily, using condoms, abstaining from substance abuse, adopting a healthy mindset, etc.
Rapid reviews are evidence syntheses that expedite the process of traditional systematic reviews by streamlining or omitting various methods to produce a body of knowledge in a shortened timeframe. While rapid reviews may be completed in two months or less, they should still be rigorous. To be considered for publication in this Special Issue, rapid reviews must adhere to the core principles of systematic reviews to avoid bias in the inclusion, assessment and synthesis of evidence. To safeguard principles of transparency, reproducibility and quality in the rapid reviews, we expect that (1) the workflow/ protocol is captured within the Open Science Framework platform (https://osf.io/) or PROSPERO (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/); and (2) a PRISMA flowchart (http://prisma-statement.org/PRISMAStatement/FlowDiagram) is submitted with an explanation where the PRISMA criteria were omitted or adapted.
In addition to rapid reviews, we also invite opinion papers focusing on the methodological aspects of rapid reviews. The Opinion papers should also be reviews, highlighting the author(s)’ views. Information on article types accepted by MDPI can be found at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/about/article_types.
Dr. Cleo Protogerou
Dr. Mary Hassandra
Dr. Blair T. Johnson
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- rapid reviews
- evidence syntheses
- evidence-based healthcare
- policy and promotion
- decision-making
- behavioral health
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: Conceptualizing Sleep Satisfaction: A Rapid Review
Authors: Cleo Protogerou
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Crete, 74100 Rethymno, Greece.
Abstract: /
Title: A Rapid Review of the Effects of Physical Activity on Mental Health and Well-Being in People with Rheumatoid Arthritis
Authors: Mary Hassandra
Affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Thessaly, 42100 Trikala, Greece
Abstract: /
Title: Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Rapid Meta-Review of the First 424 Meta-Analyses
Authors: Blair T. Johnson
Affiliation: Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
Abstract: /
