Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Editorial
. 2017 Apr 25;14(4):e1002288.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002288. eCollection 2017 Apr.

Implementation science: Relevance in the real world without sacrificing rigor

Elvin H Geng  1 , David Peiris  2 , Margaret E Kruk  3
Affiliations
Editorial

Implementation science: Relevance in the real world without sacrificing rigor

Elvin H Geng et al. PLoS Med. .

Abstract

Three members of PLOS Medicine's editorial board who are leading researchers in implementation science define the characteristics of high-quality studies and invite their submission to the journal.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

EHG, DP, and MEK are members of the Editorial Board of PLOS Medicine.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. The Four Ps.
The vertical axis represents methodological rigor, and the horizontal axis represents relevance in real-world practice. Research low in both dimensions is “puerile.” Rigor without relevance is “pedantic,” while relevance without rigor is “populist.” Implementation research that strives to attain both rigor and relevance is “pragmatic” and the goal. Adapted from Anderson [2].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Eccles MP, Mittman BS. Welcome to implementation science. Implementation Science. 2006;1(1):1.
    1. Anderson N, Herriot P, Hodgkinson GP. The practitioner‐researcher divide in Industrial, Work and Organizational (IWO) psychology: Where are we now, and where do we go from here? Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. 2001;74(4):391–411.
    1. Green LW, Glasgow RE. Evaluating the relevance, generalization, and applicability of research: issues in external validation and translation methodology. Evaluation & the health professions. 2006;29(1):126–53. - PubMed
    1. Guyatt G, Oxman AD, Akl EA, Kunz R, Vist G, Brozek J, et al. GRADE guidelines: 1. Introduction-GRADE evidence profiles and summary of findings tables. J Clin Epidemiol. 2011;64(4):383–94. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2010.04.026 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Glasgow RE, Vogt TM, Boles SM. Evaluating the public health impact of health promotion interventions: the RE-AIM framework. American Journal of Public Health. 1999;89(9):1322–7. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources