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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or RTF document file format.
  • Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  • The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.

Author Guidelines

Information for Authors

You may choose to submit your manuscript as a single Word to be used in the refereeing process. Only when your paper is at the revision stage, you will be requested to put your paper into a 'correct format' for acceptance and provide the items required for the publication of your article. The corresponding author was requested to give full contact details of all authors. Contact details are helpful.

To expedite the review process, authors will also be prompted to nominate 2 potential referees, who are not at the same institute, to serve as potential referees. The referee detail contains the full name, designation, institute/ university details, present email id, web link address and area of expertise.

Manuscripts must be submitted through Publisher template. Please consult all of the instructions in this section before beginning your submission.

Document Templates

The templates for Publishers are available below. While authors are encouraged to use an template, it is not mandatory. The template facilitates the peer review process by allowing authors to place figures and tables close to the point where they are discussed within the text.

Authors are encouraged to use the Document Template (Template) for preparing manuscripts for submission as well as for preparing final, accepted manuscripts.

A DOI can be used to cite and link to electronic articles where an article is in-press and full citation details are not yet known, but the article is available online.

Please adhere to the instructions in the following documents before submitting your manuscript.

Types of papers

Original research article, Case study & Review articles

All manuscripts should be concisely written, stressing the motivation for, and the novel aspects of, the work. Contributions should contain an Abstract (not more than 300 words) and a Conclusions section, which particularly in the case of theoretical papers translates the results into terms readily accessible to most readers.

There is no page limit for manuscript and also for figures and tables.

Priority communications

For priority communication (letters) is dedicated to publishing novel, cutting edge reports of broad interest to the sports community (must be accompanied by a statement regarding the "prime novelty"). The manuscript submitted for review should not exceed 3000 words, 5 figures (resolution at least 300 dpi in TIF image format) and 3 tables. This includes everything: the title, authors, affiliations, abstract, keywords, the body of the manuscript, conclusion, acknowledgments, references, figure captions, tables, etc. 

Priority communications should be submitted to the Editor-in-chief of respective journal and will be given priority in both the refereeing and production processes.

Submission checklist:

You can use this list to carry out a final check of your submission before you send it to the journal for review. Please check the relevant section in this Guide for Authors for more details.

All necessary files have been uploaded for manuscript:

  1. Abstract
  2. Include keywords
  3. All figures (include relevant captions)
  4. All tables (including titles, description, footnotes)
  5. Ensure all figure and table citations in the text match the files provided

Further considerations:

  1. Manuscript has been 'spell checked' and 'grammar checked'
  2. All references mentioned in the Reference List are cited in the text, and vice versa
  3. Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet)
  4. Relevant declarations of interest have been made
  5. Journal policies detailed in this guide have been reviewed
  6. Referee suggestions and contact details provided, based on journal requirements

Essential title page information

Title: Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.

Author names and affiliations: Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lowercase superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.

Corresponding author: Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author.

Present/permanent address: If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.

Cover letter guidance

A cover letter (sometimes referred to as a justification or letter to reviewers) is an excellent opportunity for you to promote your work to the editor and reviewers. This is a chance for you to explain the importance of the work submitted and why it is most suitable for the journal.

Things to consider:

  • Make sure you state the correct journal name
  • Address your letter to the relevant Editor in chief or Associate Editor
  • Include a succinct statement about the importance and/or impact of your work
  • Avoid repeating information that is already in your abstract or introduction
  • Check your spelling
  • Don’t include preferred/non-preferred reviewers in your letter as these should be entered in the manuscript submission system only
  • Don’t refer to themed issue invitations or invited articles as these should be entered in the manuscript submission system only

Declaration of interest:

All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work.

Changes to authorship

Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed. Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement ofauthors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.

Contact Details for manuscript submission:

Authors should submit their article via editor-in-chief email. Corresponding authors should give all authors contact details while submitting.

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