  Introduction: Internet technologies could strengthen data collection and
integration and have been used extensively in public health research. It is
necessary to apply this technology to further investigate the behaviour and
health of biomedical researchers. A browser-based extension was developed by
researchers and clinicians to promote the collection and analysis of
researchers' behavioural and psychological data. This protocol illustrates an
observational study aimed at (1) characterising the health status of biomedical
researchers in China and assessing work stress, job satisfaction, role
conflict, role ambiguity, and family support; (2) identifying the association
between work, behaviour, and health; and (3) investigating the association
between behaviour and mental status. Our findings will contribute to the
understanding of the influences of job, work environment, and family support on
the mental and physical health of biomedical researchers. Methods and analysis:
This is a prospective observational study; all candidates will be recruited
from China. Participants will install an extension on their Internet browsers,
which will collect data when they are accessing PubMed. A web-based survey will
be sent to the user interfaces every 6 months that will involve
sociodemographic variables, perceived stress scale, job satisfaction scale,
role conflict and ambiguity scale, and family support scale. Machine-learning
algorithms will analyse the data generated during daily access. Ethics and
dissemination: This study received ethical approval from the ethics committee
of the Shanghai Children's Medical Centre (reference number SCMCIRB-K2018082).
Study results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and
conference presentations.
