Instructions to the Authors
The journal of Sport Sciences and Health Research (SSHR) is devoted to the rapid publication of original research works which are of great interest to the broad community of sport science. Manuscripts in all areas of sports science including sports injury and corrective exercise, adapted physical activity, sports rehabilitation, pathomechanics of sports injury and musculoskeletal disorder, Motor control, movement behavior and sports psychology, sports biomechanics, health and disease relating to sport, exercise and physical activity, and related fields will be considered for publication.
SUBMISSION
Submission of a manuscript to the journal of Sport Sciences and Health Research (SSHR) must constitute of original research not previously published, and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere. Manuscripts submitted under multiple authors are reviewed on the assumption that all listed authors have agreed on the submission and that a copy of the final manuscript has been approved by all authors. Manuscripts are first reviewed by the section editors to ensure their appropriateness relevance to the framework of the journal. The manuscript would be peer-reviewed by related specialists. If accepted, the article shall not be published elsewhere, without the consent of the Editors and Publisher.
Manuscripts of length up to a maximum of 6000 words will be considered for publication. Articles should be written in English, and double-spaced with wide margins. The layout and style should adhere strictly to the instructions given and in particular, the reference style of the journal of Sport Sciences and Health Research (SSHR). The author(s) must declare that all experiments on human subjects were conducted with the adequate understanding and written consent of the subjects. When experimental animals are used, the methods section must clearly indicate that adequate measures were taken to minimize pain or discomfort. All animal experiments must be approved by the local animal care and use committees.
ARTICLE TYPES
Instructions for the most frequent types of articles submitted to the journal.
Editorials. Commissioned by the Editor in Chief or the Managing Editor, editorials deal with a subject of topical interest about which the author expresses his/her personal opinion. The text must not be subdivided. No more than 1000 words (3 typed, double-spaced pages) and up to 15 references will be accepted.
Original articles. These should be original contributions to the subject. The text should be 3000-5500 words not including references, tables, and figures. The article must be subdivided into the following sections: introduction, materials (patients) and methods, results, discussion, and conclusions. The introduction should describe the theoretical background, the aim of the study and the hypothesis to be tested. The materials and methods section should describe in a logical sequence how the study was designed and carried out, how the data were analyzed (what hypothesis was tested, what type of study was carried out, how randomization was done, how the subjects were recruited and chosen, provide accurate details of the main features of treatment, of the materials used, of drug dosages, of unusual types of equipment, of the statistical method ...). In the results section, the answers to the questions posed in the introduction should be given. The results should be reported fully, clearly, and concisely supported, if necessary, by figures, graphs, and tables. The discussion section should sum up the main results, critically analyze the methods used, compare the results obtained with other published data, and discuss the implications of the results. The conclusions should briefly sum up the significance of the study and its future implications. For randomized controlled trials it is suggested to the authors to conform the structure of their paper to the checklist requirements of the following guidelines reported by the CONSORT statement: http://www.consort-statement.org.
Review articles. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses must be subdivided into the following sections: introduction, evidence acquisition, evidence synthesis, and conclusions. For systematic reviews and meta-analyses, it is suggested to the authors to conform the structure of their paper to the checklist requirements of the following guidelines reported by the PRISMA statement: http://www.prisma-statement.org. The text should be 3000-6000 words not including references, tables, and figures.
Case reports. These give a description of particularly interesting cases. The text should be 2000-4000 words not including references, tables, and figures. The article must be subdivided into the following sections: introduction, case report or clinical series, discussion, and conclusions. It is suggested that the authors conform the structure of their paper to the checklist requirements of the following guidelines reported by the CARE statement: http://www.care-statement.org.
Letters to the Editor. These may refer to articles already published in the journal or to particularly interesting observations or scientific data that the authors wish to present to readers in a concise form. The text must not be subdivided and should be 500-1500 words not including references, tables, and figures.
Authors should submit their manuscript through the online submission process of the journal of Sport Sciences and Health Research (SSHR) website: https://sshr.ut.ac.ir/
And for further information please get in touch with us at the journal of Sport Sciences and Health Research (SSHR) mailbox: jsshr@ut.ac.ir.
Submission items include Cover Letter, Reviewer Suggestions (at least 3), Manuscript including Title Page, Abstract, Main text (Original Paper: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion), Acknowledgements, References and Tables/Figure Legends, Tables and Figures. Text files (double-spaced) of the manuscript should be supplied in Microsoft Word format.
PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPT
Title Page: This page should contain the following items: (i) complete title (preferably no chemical formulas or arbitrary abbreviations); (ii) full names of all authors; (iii) complete affiliations of all authors; (iv) the number of text pages of the whole manuscript (including figures and tables) and the number of figures and tables; (v) running title; (vi) the name and complete address of the corresponding author (as well as telephone number, facsimile number and E-mail address, and if available URL address) to whom correspondence and proofs should be sent.
Running title: A maximum of 40 characters with spaces should be provided.
Abstract: An Abstract of up to 250 words describing the purpose of the study, the methods, the results, and the conclusion should precede the main text.
Keywords: A maximum of 6 keywords or phrases should be provided; preferably, these should be selected from the body of the text.
Main text: In general, the main text of the manuscript should be organized as follows: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements, and References.
References: The authors are responsible for the accuracy of bibliographic information. Citations in the text should conform to the referencing style used by the last version of the Vancouver reference style.
In addition, all references cited in the text should be listed at the end of the manuscript on a separate page in alphabetical order by authors’ last names. All items in the list of references should be cited in the text and, conversely, all references cited in the text must be presented in the list.
Illustrations: Illustrations will appear either across a single column (8 cm) or a whole page (15 cm). The illustrations should be numbered in Arabic numerals according to the sequence of appearance in the text, where they are referred to as Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc. Figure legends should be concise and clear and should not duplicate the body of the text. Each illustration must have a title and an explanatory legend. The title should be part of the legend and not be reproduced on the figure itself. The legends should be placed on a separate page at the end of the manuscript and begin with the number of the illustrations they refer to. All symbols and abbreviations used in the figure must be explained. Also, please indicate their appropriate locations in the manuscript.
Tables: Tables should be so constructed that they, together with their captions and legends, will be intelligible with minimal reference to the text. Tables of numerical data should each be typed (with double-spacing) on a separate page, numbered in sequence in Arabic numerals (Table 1, 2, etc.), and referred to in the text as Table 1, Table 2, etc. The title of the table should appear above it. A detailed description of its contents and footnotes should be given below the body of the table. Also, please indicate their appropriate locations in the manuscript.
Proofs: Authors will receive proofs by email. Only printer errors may be corrected; no change in, or additions to, the edited manuscript will be allowed at this stage. The corrected proofs must be returned within 72 hours after receipt by email. If the Publisher receives no reply, the assumption will be made that there are no errors to correct and the article will be published.
Highlights
In the Highlights part, you have to provide a summary of the key points of your article in the form of a BULLET. Highlights are three to five result-oriented points that provide readers with an at-a-glance overview of the main findings of your article. Think of them as a quick snippet of the results—short and sweet. Each Highlight must be 85 characters or fewer, including spaces, and the Highlights together must clearly convey only the results of the study.
Plain Language Summary
In this section, you have to provide a Plain Language Summary of the article in 200-300 words. Consider that Plain Language Summary is different from abstract and it has to be written for non-specialists. To provide it, consider the following points: 1. think about your audience (e.g. journalists, science-interested public), 2. Get rid of jargon, 3. Explain what the study is about. Remember, others will need more context about what you studied, 4. Explain what you found, 5. Explain why this matters. Discuss the importance of these findings not just in terms of their implications for your field but in terms of their relevance to the public.
Authors’ contribution
In this section, you have to provide the contributor role of each author on these divisions:
Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data Curation, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project Administration, Funding Acquisition.
The example below shows the Author's Contributions:
Author Contributions: Conceptualization, Author names [A, B, C, or all authors]; Methodology, Author names [A, B, C, or all authors]; Investigation, Author names [A, B, C, or all authors]; Writing – Original Draft, Author names [A, B, C, or all authors]; Writing – Review & Editing, Author names [A, B, C, or all authors]; Funding Acquisition, Author names [A, B, C, or all authors]; Resources, Author names [A, B, C, or all authors]; Supervision, Author names [A, B, C, or all authors]
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
The journal of Sport Sciences and Health Research (SSHR) is committed to applying ethics of publication, based on the COPE’s Code of Conduct and Best Practices. Also, in medical studies, the journal of Sport Sciences and Health Research (SSHR) has engaged to apply ethics of research, based on the Declaration of Helsinki: Statement of Ethical Principles for Medical Research. In addition, the journal of Sport Sciences and Health Research (SSHR) has promised to apply ethics of research, based on the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, in psychological studies. So, the research’s ethical considerations must be addressed in the Materials and Methods section. For more information on the journal’s ethical Principles, please refer to the following links: Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.
Plagiarism: The journal of Sport Sciences and Health Research (SSHR) as a member of the University of Tehran, has followed up on all terms and conditions of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) on plagiarism. So, in any case of plagiarism, which is brought to the journal’s editors' attention and accompanied with convincing evidence, we act based on flowcharts and workflows determined in COPE. Meanwhile, to detect and prevent plagiarism in the journal articles, all submissions will be checked by iThenticate (https://www.ithenticate.com/) and Sinaweb (Hamyab) (https://hamyab.sinaweb.net/) in both stages of submission and acceptance.
Conflicts of interest: The journal of Sport Sciences and Health Research (SSHR) as a member of the University of Tehran, published by the University of Tehran Press for Scientific Communication, is committed to applying the COPE in authors’ conflict of interest issues.
Authors should disclose, at the time of submission, information on financial conflicts of interest or other interests that may influence the manuscript. Authors should declare sources of funding for the work undertaken, too. So, completing and signing the COPE is necessary for all authors and the articles submission won’t be accepted without filling this form.
At the same time as submitting the original file of the article based on the publication format and without the authors' names, Authors should also upload the file of the authors' details, conflict of interest, authors' commitment, the certificate of originality of the work, and the code of ethics.
Article processing charges (APCs): As the University of Tehran has supported most of the publishing costs of the journal of Sport Sciences and Health Research (SSHR) , also according to the decision of the Editors' Council of the Journal of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports Sciences of the University of Tehran, it was decided that the author will pay 2,000,000 Rials for article processing charge and 4,000,000 Rials for publication fees.
Article submission is free of charge.
Required files to upload: Authors must submit the following five essential files through the manuscript submission system: 1. Main Manuscript File (without the author details and prepared based on the provided template. 2. Title Page, 3. Authorship Form (must include the article title, full names of all authors, and be signed by all authors), 4. Conflicts of Interest Form (must be signed by the Corresponding Author and uploaded with the Main Manuscript File), and 5. Cover Letter (Please include any necessary information in the cover letter).