Research Groups
James Harwood
MSc, DPhil
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
- Member of UK EQUATOR
Metascience; Implementation science
I am an implementation scientist working to improve quality and transparency in healthcare research, both within Oxford University and globally.
I use mixed methods to understand how healthcare researchers work; to design interventions that promote excellent research design, conduct, and reporting; and to improve the uptake of those interventions.
As a member of UK EQUATOR, I am developing a web platform for disseminating reporting guidelines. This work builds upon my DPhil which used behaviour change theory to understand why researchers do not adhere to reporting guidelines, and to identify ways to increase adherence. This work involves collaborating with academic publishers and drawing upon my pre-DPhil experience as a software developer.
I won the 1st prize for excellence in doctoral research at the 2022 World Conference for Research Integrity. In 2018 I collaborated with other staff at the UK EQUATOR Centre to win the Cochrane REWARD prize for reducing research waste.
I have co-supervised students whose work includes qualitative methods, behaviour change, or software development, and have been a mentor for the Software Sustainability Institute.
Recent publications
Efficacy of behaviour change interventions to influence human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake: a systematic review and behaviour change techniques analysis.
Journal article
Bland H. et al, (2025), BMC Cancer, 25
Refining reporting guidelines using behaviour change theory
Thesis / Dissertation
Harwood J., (2025)
There is no reliable evidence that providing authors with customized article templates including items from reporting guidelines improves completeness of reporting: the GoodReports randomized trial (GRReaT).
Journal article
Struthers C. et al, (2025), BMC Med Res Methodol, 25
What facilitators and barriers might researchers encounter when using reporting guidelines? Part 1: A thematic synthesis
Preprint
Harwood J. et al, (2022)