Skip to main content

Call for papers - Rural health services research

Guest Editors

Birgit Abelsen, PhD, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway
Selina Taylor, PhD, James Cook University, Australia

Submission Status: Open   |   Submission Deadline: 20 September 2024

BMC Health Services Research is calling for submissions to our Collection on Rural health services research. This collection invites original research articles that advance our understanding of rural health services. Our goal is to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange among experts, researchers, and practitioners to drive meaningful improvements in rural healthcare outcomes and contribute to the overall well-being of rural communities. 

New Content ItemThis Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being.

Meet the Guest Editors

Back to top

Birgit Abelsen, PhD, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway

Dr Abelsen is Professor in Health Services research at Norwegian Centre for Rural Medicine at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. Her research is broadly oriented with a professional interest in the organization and financing of healthcare services, education, recruitment and retention of healthcare personnel, reforms in the healthcare system, teamwork and task division between different professions, as well as inequalities in health and healthcare access. Throughout her research career, Dr Abelsen had a particular interest in primary health care and aspects related to health services provision in rural areas.

Selina Taylor, PhD, James Cook University, Australia

Dr Taylor is currently the Pharmacy Academic at the Mount Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health, having worked in various roles in pharmacy in her home community of Mount Isa. Dr Taylor's role at MICRRH is broad and focuses on improving the rural pharmacy workforce through facilitation of student placements, education for rural and remote pharmacists and multidisciplinary education and teaching sessions for students and health professionals. As a remotely located person Dr Taylor knows too well the challenges of distance and understands the importance of advocacy and promotion to raise the voice for those living and working in the bush. 


About the Collection

BMC Health Services Research is calling for submissions to our Collection on Rural health services research.

Rural health services research is a dynamic and multifaceted field that aims to investigate, understand, and improve healthcare access, delivery, and quality in rural areas. Rural healthcare systems face unique challenges e.g. workforce shortages, financial and infrastructure strain, complex patient populations, that require in-depth study and analysis to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare services for residents in these often underserved regions.

This collection invites original research articles that advance our understanding of rural health services. Our goal is to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange among experts, researchers, and practitioners to drive meaningful improvements in rural healthcare outcomes and contribute to the overall well-being of rural communities. Through evidence-based insights and informed discourse, we aim to support the development of effective strategies and interventions that bridge the healthcare gap between rural and urban areas.

Potential topics can include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Rural health disparities
  • Organization and quality of healthcare services in rural settings
  • Primary care in rural settings
  • Rural health promotion and disease prevention
  • Mental health in rural populations
  • Out-of-hours and acute medicine conditions and services in rural healthcare
  • Rural hospital management and sustainability
  • Telehealth and artificial intelligence in rural healthcare
  • Chronic disease management in rural healthcare settings
  • Health workforce recruitment and retention in rural areas
  • Rural health policy and governance
  • Digital health innovations implementation in rural areas
  • Rural cooperation and management of (complex) patients
  • Education of rural practitioners

This collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3 Good Health & Well-Being.

Image credit: zeljkosantrac / Getty Images / iStock

  1. Rural populations consistently experience a disproportionate burden of cancer, including higher incidence and mortality rates, compared to the urban populations. Factors that are thought to contribute to these...

    Authors: Shin Chang, Michelle Liu, Christa Braun-Inglis, Randall Holcombe and Izumi Okado
    Citation: BMC Health Services Research 2024 24:518
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on healthcare services globally. In care settings such as small rural nursing homes and homes care services leaders were forced to confront, and adapt to, both new and ...

    Authors: Malin Knutsen Glette, Tone Kringeland, Lipika Samal, David W. Bates and Siri Wiig
    Citation: BMC Health Services Research 2024 24:442
    Content type: Research Published on:

Submission Guidelines

Back to top

This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines  to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Rural health services research" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.