JMIR Mental Health (2024 Impact Factor 4.8) invites submissions for a theme issue on AI-Powered Therapy Bots and Virtual Companions, with a focus on next-generation research that moves beyond proof of concept and addresses the real-world challenges, risks, and opportunities these technologies present in the context of digital psychiatry and mental health.
Artificial intelligence (AI)–driven mental health tools—including chatbots, avatars, and virtual agents—have gained traction for their accessibility and scalability. However, most studies to date have focused on feasibility and acceptability. This theme issue seeks to spotlight rigorous, critical, and forward-looking research that explores how and why these tools work, their limitations, and their place within broader care models.
We are especially interested in submissions that tackle questions such as:
- Are therapy bots more effective than digital placebos or attention controls?
- What constitutes meaningful and sustained engagement, and how should it be measured?
- What are the unintended consequences, risks, or ethical implications of using AI companions for mental health?
- How do these tools perform across diverse populations, diagnoses, and contexts?
- What clinical or therapeutic mechanisms are actually at play?
How to Submit
To submit an article to JMIR Mental Health, please visit the submission page. Consult our Instructions for Authors for more information on how to submit a manuscript. Standard APF applies.
Submission Deadline: Oct 31, 2025
Submission Guidelines
We will not accept articles that are solely written using generative AI or other AI tools. For more information, please refer to the JMIR Publications editorial policy and this knowledge base article.
All submissions will undergo a rigorous peer-review process, and accepted articles will be published as part of the theme issue titled “AI-Powered Therapy Bots and Virtual Companions in Digital Mental Health.”
All articles will be shared and published rapidly through the following mechanisms:
- All peer-reviewed articles will be immediately and permanently made open access. This is the standard for all titles within the JMIR Publications portfolio.
- Articles can be made immediately available (with a DOI) in JMIR Preprints after submission if authors select the preprint option at submission to enable this service.
Submissions not reviewed or accepted for publication in JMIR Mental Health may be offered cascading peer review or transfer to other JMIR Publications journals, according to standard policies. Authors are encouraged to submit study protocols or grant proposals to JMIR Research Protocols before data acquisition to preregister the study (as a registered report; subsequent acceptance in one of the JMIR Publications journals is then guaranteed).