Submission Guidelines

When preparing manuscripts for submission in The Sport Psychologist, authors should follow the guidelines in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition), 2009 (www.apa.org). Manuscripts must be submitted in English. All manuscripts must be preceded by an abstract of no more than 150 words. If footnotes are used, they should be as few as possible and should not exceed 6 lines each. Figures should be created in Excel or saved as TIFF or JPEG files. All tables, figure captions, and footnotes must be grouped together on pages separate from the body of the text. Reference citations in the text must be accurate concerning dates of publication and spelling of author names, and they must cross-check with those in the reference list. Manuscripts will be summarily rejected if they do not follow the APA guidelines.

Manuscripts submitted will be judged primarily on their substantive content, but writing style, structure, and length are very important considerations. Poor presentation is sufficient reason for the rejection of a manuscript. When first received, manuscripts will be evaluated by the editor in terms of their contribution-to-length ratio. Thus, manuscripts should be written as simply and concisely as possible. Papers should be no longer than 40 double-spaced pages (using one-inch margins and Times New Roman 12-point font), inclusive of references, tables, figures and appendixes. However, we recognize that in rare circumstances, papers intended to make very extensive contributions may require additional space. Prior to submitting a manuscript, authors sholuld consider the contribution-to-length ratio and ask themselves: 'is the paper long enough to cover the subject while concise enough to maintain the reader's interest'? [This paragraph is based on the Information for Contributors of the Academy of Management Review.]

Authors should submit their manuscript through Manuscript Central, the online submission system for The Sport Psychologist at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/hk_tsp. Manuscript Central manages the electronic transfer of manuscripts throughout the article review process while providing step-by-step instructions and a user-friendly design. Please access the site and follow the directions for authors submitting manuscripts. Any problems that may be encountered can be resolved easily by selecting "Get Help Now" in the upper-right corner of any Manuscript Central screen. Please note that a blind review process is used to evaluate manuscripts. As such, any clues to the author's identity should be eliminated from the manuscript. The first page of the manuscript must not include author names or affiliations, but it should include the title of the paper and the date of submission. Please activate continuous line numbering (in Word software, see Page Layout > or Page Setup > Layout > Line Numbers > Continuous).

Manuscripts must not be submitted to another journal while they are under review by The Sport Psychologist nor should they have been previously published. Manuscripts are read by reviewers, and the review process generally takes approximately 12 weeks. Manuscripts will be evaluated in terms of topical relevance, theoretical and methodological adequacy, and clarity of explanation and analysis. Authors should be prepared to provide the data and/or research instrument(s) on which the manuscript is based for examination if requested by the editor. Comments from reviewers concerning manuscripts along with the editorial decision are made available to authors. Submit Applied Research manuscripts to i.w.maynard@shu.ac.uk and Professional Practice manuscripts to shanton@uwic.ac.uk.

Questions about the journal or manuscript submission should be directed to the Editor of the journal: Ian Maynard i.w.maynard@shu.ac.uk

If it is impossible to submit manuscripts electronically, mail one copy of the original copy and a disk version of original and blind copies of the manuscript in Microsoft Word or Word Perfect (for PC, preferably). Applied Research manuscripts should be sent to Ian Maynard, PhD, Director of the Centre for Sport and Exercise Science, Sheffield Hallam University, Collegiate Crescent Campus, Collegiate Hall, Sheffield S10 2BP United Kingdom.  Professional Practice manuscripts should be sent to Sheldon Hanton, PhD, School of Sport, PE & Recreation, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, Cyncoed Road, Cardiff, CF23 6XD, United Kingdom.

Manuscripts must not be submitted to another journal at the same time.  Authors are advised to check carefully the typing of the final copy and to retain a copy of the manuscript to guard against loss.  Manuscripts will not be returned to authors.  Manuscripts are read by two reviewers, with the review process taking 8-12 weeks.  There are no page charges to contributors.  Authors of manuscripts accepted for publication must transfer copyright to Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc.

Copyright Assignment Form

Brief reports are limited to 7 pages.  Articles in the Applied Research and Professional Practice categories generally should not exceed 25 pages, including figures, tables, and references.  They will be judged according to their applied focus, contributions to knowledge, presentation of information, appropriateness of the discussion, interpretation of ideas, and clarity of writing.  In addition, Applied Research articles will be judged on their methodology/design and data analysis.  Authors are expected to have their raw data and descriptive statistics available throughout the editorial review process and are responsible for providing elaboration upon request.

Editorial Ethics Policy