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Call for papersMedical education

Call for Papers: Programmatic assessment (BMC Medical Education)

BMC Medical Education’s collection on programmatic assessment concerns structured approaches to evaluating learner competencies. This guide covers topic areas consistent with that scope, fit checks for manuscripts and points to confirm before submission.

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

Key dates

Manuscript deadline
6 April 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
Structured approaches to evaluating learner competencies.
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

  • Design and implementation of programmatic assessment across health professions curricula
  • Studies examining how learners and faculty experience longitudinal assessment programmes
  • Use of portfolios, coaching and feedback within programmatic assessment
  • Decision-making by progress committees on competence and learner progression
  • Validity evidence for aggregating multiple low-stakes assessment data points
  • Programmatic assessment in postgraduate training and continuing professional development

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 addresses a structured, programme-level approach to assessing learner competencies.
  2. The educational context, learner group and assessment design are described clearly enough to be transferable.
  3. The methods suit the question, whether quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods.
  4. The work offers lessons for health professions educators beyond a single local setting.
  5. The work is complete, approved by all co-authors and ready to submit before the stated deadline.

Why This Call Is a Priority Now

Competency-based education has prompted many programmes to move from isolated high-stakes examinations towards assessment designed as a coherent system across training. Implementing this approach raises practical questions about feedback, data aggregation, committee decisions and the learner experience. A themed collection allows educators and researchers to compare implementation experiences and evidence across settings and professions, and gives authors a focused readership of educators who are designing or refining their own assessment programmes.

Who Should Submit

Academic backgrounds

  • Medical and health professions education
  • Educational psychology and psychometrics
  • Nursing and allied health education
  • Postgraduate medical training
  • Curriculum design and evaluation

Institutions and sectors

  • Medical, nursing and health sciences schools
  • Postgraduate training bodies and residency programmes
  • Professional regulators and accreditation bodies
  • Teaching hospitals

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. Evidence on the validity and fairness of decisions made from aggregated assessment data.
  2. Implementation studies that identify conditions supporting or hindering programmatic assessment.
  3. Qualitative insight into how learners and assessors use feedback within an assessment programme.
  4. Comparisons across institutions, professions or training stages that show what is transferable.

Paper Ideas You Could Develop

Progress committee decisionsA mixed-methods study of how progress committees interpret aggregated assessment data when deciding on learner progression.
Learner use of feedbackA qualitative study exploring how students engage with portfolio feedback in a programmatic assessment system.
Implementation across programmesA multi-institution evaluation comparing implementation of programmatic assessment in undergraduate and postgraduate training.

Your Plan to the Deadline

A suggested schedule working back from 6 April 2027. Adjust it to the stage your work has reached.

  1. By 20 Feb 2027

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

  2. By 6 Mar 2027

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

  3. By 16 Mar 2027

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

  4. By 27 Mar 2027

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

  5. By 1 Apr 2027

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

  6. By 4 Apr 2027

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

  7. By 6 Apr 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 is looking for research on structured approaches to evaluating learner competencies across the education of healthcare professionals. Consistent with BMC Medical Education’s remit, this may include curriculum development and evaluation, educational interventions, qualitative and mixed-methods studies, and survey or assessment studies at undergraduate, postgraduate or continuing education levels. Authors should confirm accepted article types and any guest editor priorities on the official call page.

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 6 April 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 qualitative study is likely to be suitable if it addresses how a structured assessment programme works in practice. BMC Medical Education publishes qualitative and mixed-methods research on assessment. Authors should confirm the scope and 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). Programmatic assessment [Collection call for papers]. BMC, part of Springer Nature. Retrieved 10 November 2026, from https://link.springer.com/collections/bhbighhgjd

How to cite this page

Pubrica Insights. (2026). Call for Papers: Programmatic assessment (BMC Medical Education). Pubrica. https://pubrica.com/insights/calls-and-conferences/programmatic-assessment/

  • Programmatic assessment
  • Competency-based education
  • Medical education
  • Feedback
  • Assessment validity

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