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Call for papersMedical education

Call for Papers: Gamification and virtual reality in medical education and related healthcare professions - Part II (BMC Medical Education)

BMC Medical Education’s collection “Gamification and virtual reality in medical education and related healthcare professions - Part II” covers digital and immersive teaching methods, continuing an earlier collection. This guide outlines topic areas consistent with that scope, fit checks and how to position a submission.

Pubrica InsightsEditorial team, reviewed by a subject specialist
Deadline
11 January 2027
Last checked
10 November 2026
Reading time
5 min
Sources
1
Submit through the official call

Key dates

Manuscript deadline
11 January 2027
Details last checked
10 November 2026
Open the official call

About the journal

Journal
BMC Medical Education
Publisher
BMC, part of Springer Nature
Call type
Call for papers
Scope
Digital and immersive teaching methods, continuing an earlier collection.
Guest editors
Listed on the official collection page
Access and fees
Open access; an article processing charge normally applies on acceptance
Originality
Original work, not under review elsewhere; confirm on the official page

Topics consistent with the call

  • Educational intervention studies of virtual reality for clinical and procedural skills
  • Evaluation of serious games and gamified learning in health professions curricula
  • Studies comparing immersive methods with conventional teaching on learning outcomes
  • Augmented and mixed reality applications in anatomy and surgical training
  • Learner engagement, cognitive load and acceptability of digital teaching tools
  • Implementation, cost and scalability of immersive education in training programmes

Based on the published scope; the full list of themes is on the official call page.

Is your work a fit? Check before you write

  1. The manuscript evaluates or develops gamified, virtual reality or other immersive teaching methods for health professions education.
  2. The learners are students, trainees or practising professionals in medicine or related healthcare professions.
  3. The design suits BMC Medical Education, such as a curriculum evaluation, intervention study, qualitative or survey study.
  4. The work adds to, rather than repeats, evidence already published, including the earlier collection on this theme.
  5. The manuscript is complete, approved by all co-authors and submitted before 11 January 2027, with article types confirmed on the official call page.

Why This Call Is a Priority Now

Digital and immersive technologies are increasingly used to teach clinical reasoning, procedural skills and teamwork, offering safe repetition and standardised practice. Questions remain about which methods improve learning and patient care, for whom, and at what cost. As a continuation of an earlier collection, this second part offers authors a chance to build on established work, report more rigorous evaluations and address implementation, giving educators a cumulative evidence base in one journal.

Who Should Submit

Academic backgrounds

  • Medical and health professions education
  • Surgery and procedural specialties
  • Educational technology and learning sciences
  • Nursing and allied health education
  • Anatomy and basic medical sciences

Institutions and sectors

  • Medical schools and universities
  • Teaching hospitals and simulation centres
  • Educational technology companies
  • Postgraduate training bodies

Article types commonly published in BMC Medical Education

  • Curriculum development and evaluation studies
  • Educational intervention studies
  • Qualitative and mixed-methods studies
  • Survey and assessment studies

What the Editors Typically Value

  1. Controlled or comparative evaluations that measure skill transfer or performance, not only satisfaction.
  2. Studies that explain why and for whom immersive methods work, drawing on educational theory.
  3. Evidence on implementation, cost and sustainability that helps institutions make adoption decisions.
  4. Work that extends the evidence beyond the topics and settings covered in the earlier collection.

Paper Ideas You Could Develop

VR procedural training trialA randomised educational study comparing virtual reality training with standard instruction for a procedural skill, assessed by blinded observers.
Serious game for clinical reasoningA mixed-methods evaluation of a serious game designed to teach diagnostic reasoning, covering performance, engagement and cognitive load.
Implementation across programmesA multi-site study of the costs, barriers and facilitators of integrating immersive simulation into a training curriculum.

Your Plan to the Deadline

A suggested schedule working back from 11 January 2027. Adjust it to the stage your work has reached.

  1. By 27 Nov 2026

    Open the official collection page and the BMC Medical Education submission guidelines; confirm the scope, article types and guest editors.

  2. By 11 Dec 2026

    Write a one-paragraph statement of your research question, design and the contribution your paper makes to the collection.

  3. By 21 Dec 2026

    Complete the analysis and agree the key findings, figures and tables with your co-authors.

  4. By 1 Jan 2027

    Draft the full manuscript to the BMC Medical Education article type and the relevant reporting guideline.

  5. By 6 Jan 2027

    Circulate the draft to co-authors and an independent reader; revise for clarity, accuracy and completeness.

  6. By 9 Jan 2027

    Complete final checks: formatting, references, declarations, data availability statement and cover letter.

  7. By 11 Jan 2027

    Submit through the journal’s online system, selecting the collection, after re-checking the official call page.

What you gain from publishing here

  • Publication in BMC Medical Education, reaching readers working on this topic.
  • A themed collection that groups your paper with related work.
  • Editorial and peer feedback that can strengthen the work, whatever the decision.
  • A peer-reviewed output for your CV, thesis or grant reporting.

What happens after you submit

  1. Submission: upload through the BMC Medical Education online system and select the collection.
  2. Editorial screening: the editors check fit with the collection; papers outside its scope may be returned without review.
  3. Peer review: suitable papers are sent to reviewers under the journal’s review model.
  4. Revision and decision: respond to each reviewer comment and keep a record of the changes.
  5. Production: accepted papers move to proofs and open access publication, with the article processing charge set out by the publisher.

What the Collection Is Looking For

The collection seeks research on gamified, virtual reality and other immersive teaching methods across medicine and related healthcare professions, building on an earlier collection. In line with BMC Medical Education’s remit, it is likely to value rigorous evaluations with meaningful educational outcomes, studies grounded in learning theory and work on implementation and scalability. Manuscripts that clearly state what they add to existing evidence are well placed.

Read the call itselfThis guide summarises the call. Open the official collection page before you plan a submission, and record the date you checked it and the guest editors listed.Open the official call

Expert help

How Pubrica Can Help With This Submission

Pubrica’s subject specialists can review, write, edit, format and prepare your manuscript for this call, planned back from the deadline. You remain the author of your work.

Original research article writingManuscript writing from your data, structured to the journal’s article type and reporting guideline. Biostatistics and statistical programmingStatistical analysis plans, analysis, simulation code and statistical review of results. Manuscript editingLanguage and technical editing to prepare the manuscript for submission. Journal formattingFormatting of the manuscript, references, figures and tables to the journal’s guidelines. Cover letterA cover letter that explains how the manuscript fits the collection and the journal’s scope. Journal submissionPreparation of submission files and completion of the journal’s online submission system.
Go to the official call

FAQs

Questions Authors Ask

The published deadline is 11 January 2027. Collections can close early or be extended, so confirm the date on the official call page before you plan your submission.

The guest editors are listed on the official collection page. Check their research interests, as they help to judge whether your manuscript fits the collection.

A usability study may fit if it is set within health professions education and reports outcomes relevant to learning. Studies that also assess educational effectiveness are likely to be stronger, and authors should confirm accepted article types on the official call page.

BMC journals publish articles open access, and an article processing charge normally applies on acceptance. Check the journal’s fees and funding page, and whether your institution has an agreement that covers the charge, before you submit.

Sources

  1. BMC Medical Education. (2026). Gamification and virtual reality in medical education and related healthcare professions - Part II [Collection call for papers]. BMC, part of Springer Nature. Retrieved 10 November 2026, from https://link.springer.com/collections/fdccffagib

How to cite this page

Pubrica Insights. (2026). Call for Papers: Gamification and virtual reality in medical education and related healthcare professions - Part II (BMC Medical Education). Pubrica. https://pubrica.com/insights/calls-and-conferences/gamification-and-virtual-reality-in-medical-education-and-related-heal/

  • Virtual reality
  • Gamification
  • Medical education
  • Simulation
  • Digital learning

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Gamification and virtual reality in medical education and related healthcare professions - Part II (BMC Medical Education)Deadline 11 January 2027

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