Information for Authors

Information for Authors (PDF)

Scope of the Journal

The International Journal of Sports Medicine (IJSM) provides a forum for the publication of papers dealing with basic or applied information that will advance the field of sports medicine and exercise science. The following sections define the scope of the journal: training & testing; orthopedics & biomechanics; clinical sciences; nutrition; behavioral sciences; physiology & biochemistry; immunology.

General Policy

The journal publishes original papers, reviews, short communications and letters to the Editors. Manuscripts submitted to the journal must contain novel data on theoretical or experimental research or on practical applications in the field of sports medicine and exercise science. No substantial part of the submission should have been published elsewhere. If a part of the submission has been published or presented on a congress, symposium, or national meeting proceeding, the reference for that publication and/or presentation should be given in the manuscript acknowledgement section. Submitted papers undergo peer reviewing by two independent reviewers. Authors may suggest names and full addresses including telephone and FAX numbers of two reviewers but not from their own institution.

Authors are required to conduct their research ethically according to international standards and as required by the journal as described in Harriss DJ, Atkinson G. International Journal of Sports Medicine - Ethical Standards in Sport and Exercise Science Research. Int J Sports Med 2009; 30: 701-702. Authors are expected to clearly state in the Methods section - by citing the aforementioned publication - that the study meets the ethical standards of the journal.

Categories of articles accepted for review

Original articles: Theoretical or experimental (basic or applied) research or practical applications. Either original work or the replication of work that better establishes basic principles will be considered. Original articles should not exceed a total of 15,000 characters, including references.

Review articles: Review articles on topics of broad interest are desirable. Authors who wish to submit an unsolicited review article should correspond with the Editors-in-Chief to determine the timeliness of the proposed review article. The correspondence should include an abstract and a complete outline of the proposed review article, including figures and tables (if possible). Review articles should not exceed 30,000 characters, including references. Review articles are considered by the Editors and expert reviewers before a final decision regarding publication is made.

Rapid communications: Short manuscripts containing results of unusual scientific interest and importance, requiring rapid publication. Papers submitted for this accelerated process must require little or no revision. Accompanying the submission should be a letter from the authors stating why they feel the paper should be published as a rapid communication. The manuscripts must not exceed four journal pages (2500 words including figures, tables and references). The format is the same as for full papers. For articles submitted as Rapid Communications every effort will be made to make a decision within three weeks and publish it within two or three months. Manuscripts rejected as Rapid Communications are eligible for resubmission as regular articles.

Letters to the Editor are welcome and will be published if appropriate. Letters (maximum length 700 words) relating to material previously published in IJSM should be submitted within 6 months after publication of the material the letter is referring to. Such letters will be sent to the corresponding author for comment within six weeks. The original letter and any reply will be published concurrently. Letters to the Editor are excluded from online submission and should be sent to the Editorial Office at lehnen@online.de.

Submission of manuscripts

Manuscripts can be submitted exclusively via online submission at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/IJSM or via link at www.thieme.de/sportsmed. Hard copy submission and electronic submission via email are not accepted. See below under "Uploading files on submission" for further information on the online submission process.

Style: Manuscripts may be rejected without review on the basis of poor English or lack of conformity to stated standards of style.

Title: The title should be concise but informative.

First page: Names and addresses of the authors should not appear on the first page or elsewhere in the main document. These data are entered separately in the online submission system.

Abstract: The abstract should be informative. It should be self-explanatory without reference to the text of the manuscript. It should include essential significant results that support the conclusion of the work. Three to six key words not used in the title should also be provided (these can be entered during the online submission). Abbreviations should not be used in the abstract.

Introduction: Should be comprehensible to the general reader. Give a clear statement of the purpose of the paper and provide relevant context to support the basis for the paper and the significance of the work. Do not exhaustively review the literature.

Materials & Methods: Provide sufficient information in the text or by reference to other work to permit the submitted work to be repeated without the need to communicate with the authors. Relevant validity and reliability data should be provided for critical methods.
State the type of statistical tests used. Include the number of observations and the statistical findings when appropriate. Parametric and non-parametric statistics must be used as appropriate. Results: Should be presented precisely and should not contain material that is appropriate in the discussion. Units, quantities, and formulas should be expressed according to the Système Internationale (SI units). All measurements should be given in metric units.

Discussion: Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and conclusions derived from the study.

Acknowledgements: Financial support should be stated.

References: References should be cited in the text by number and compiled alphabetically at the end of the article and numbered accordingly. Titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the latest edition of Index Medicus. All authors should be named (do not use "et al."). Authors bear complete responsibility for the accuracy of the references.

Only published or "in press" papers or books may be cited in the reference list. Information from manuscripts submitted but not yet accepted should be cited in the text as "unpublished observations" in parentheses. Personal communications should be listed in the text in parentheses. Published abstracts must not be used as references. Use of a large number of abstracts or non peer-reviewed articles in the reference section will be grounds for rejection of the submission without review.

Examples of references

Journal article:
¹ Palmer GS, Dennis SC, Noakes TD, Hawley JA. Assessment of the reproducibility of performance testing on an air-braked cycle ergometer. Int J Sports Med 1996; 17: 293-298

Complete book:
¹ Dingle JT (ed). Lysosomes. New York: American Elsevier, 1972: 65

Chapter of a book:
¹ Zancetti A, Baccelli G, Guazzi M, Mancia G. The effect of sleep on experimental hypertension. In: Onesti G, Kim KE, Moyer JH (eds). Hypertension: Mechanisms and Management. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1973: 133-140

Figures: Before publication of any images in which the patient's identity may be recognized, the author of the article must provide the publisher with the patient's written consent to publication of the respective image. Standard letters for obtaining this consent are available on request from the publisher.
Figures, illustrations, or half-tones should be used when findings are best visually communicated. The use of photographs of equipment and experimental subjects should be avoided; good line drawings are more informative. Abbreviations used in the figure must be explained in the legend. Reference to the figure should be made in the text. Figures, illustrations or half-tones must be sharp and high-contrast. Uniform typographical setup (font style & size, line thickness) of all figures in a paper is highly desirable. Images should be provided as .tif or .jpg files in a resolution of 300 dpi. Color figures, illustrations or half-tones will not be published unless the author requires color in the publication. In this case the author will be charged with the additional cost of printing.

Tables: Tables should be used to communicate information that is hard to present visually. Results whose interpretation is more easily comprehended by knowing the means and SEM (or SD) may be presented in a table(s). Tables should be self-explanatory and bear a short title. Table legends should be typed on the same sheet as the table as a header. A footnote to the table should explain all abbreviations used in the table. Tables should be provided either as word or excel files.

Uploading files on submission

For submission of all manuscripts, follow the instructions of the online submission system at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/IJSM. Before submission, keep ready full metadata of the manuscript (title, full names referenced by Arabic superscripts with affiliation and addresses of all authors, and also, the complete list of references, footnotes, figure legends, and tables). The author submitting the manuscript will be corresponding author.

Upload as many files as needed for your manuscript. If you have updated a file, please delete the original version and upload the revised file. If you are submitting a revision, please include only the latest set of files. All files will be combined into a single PDF document for the peer review process.

When uploading your manuscript, you are required to select the File designation:
Main document. The main document should be in Word format. It should not include any figures or tables.

Figures and tables. Each one should be uploaded separately. Images should be uploaded as .tif or .jpg files in a resolution of 300 dpi. Tables should be uploaded either as word or excel files. When uploading, a form appears requesting the following information:

• File tags: Please enter the figure/table number e.g. Figure 1a, Table 1
• Caption/legend: Please enter the figure/table number plus legend

Figure legends should be brief, but must contain all the information to make the illustration comprehensible without taking recourse to the text.

Please do not upload PDFs! To designate the order in which your files appear, use the dropdowns in the "order" column.

Galley proofs and proof-reading

A pdf file of the Ggalley proofs will be sent via e-mail to the corresponding author for proof reading. Proof reading is for typesetting errors only. At this stage the manuscript cannot be changed. The galley proofs should be returned to the appropriate address within 48 hours so the publication of the submission is not delayed.

Page charge

Together with the galley proofs, if the manuscript is more than three printed pages, the corresponding author will be asked by the publisher to submit a check or purchase order to pay the cost of publication. Up to three printed pages of publication are without charge to the corresponding author. Each printed page beginning with the fourth printed page will carry a page charge of € 160.- (including 16% VAT).

PDF for personal use

The corresponding author will receive a pdf of the published article free of charge for personal, non-commercial use only.