Author Guidelines
These guidelines for authors are based on the White Paper of the Council of Scientific Editors on the Compliance of the Principles of Integrity of Publications in Scientific Journals, Updated Version 2012 and the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, December 2016.
The aim of the journal «Sports medicine: research and practice» - to provide information for physicians (team physicians, prevention medicine doctors, pharmacists, cardiologists, orthopaedic traumatologists, psychologists, physiotherapists, functional diagnosticians) based on native and foreign experience and scientific achievements in sports medicine, doping studies and rehabilitation programs for athletes.
The objectives of the journal «Sports medicine: research and practice» are providing the advanced world experience in the field of science among disciplines related to sports medicine (sports physiology and biochemistry, sports traumatology and rehabilitation, sports nutrition and pharmacological support, the use of doping and others) as well as highlighting the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to the physical and psychological health of athletes and establishing international cooperation on the exchange of scientific experience in the field of sports medicine.
The journal accepts for publication original articles, reviews and clinical cases.
The journal accepts materials from graduate students, doctoral candidates, specialists and experts in the field.
Author’s Check-list:
In order to improve the quality of publications from August 10th, 2023, all submitted articles must have a strictly defined structure:
- The title of the article in Russian and English languages. The title should convey the main topics of the study.
- Structured abstract in Russian and English languages (no more than 250 words), with the following sections: the purpose of the study, materials and methods, results and conclusions.
- Keywords in Russian and English (not less than 5, but not more than 7 words)
- Introduction (relevance, analysis of previous studies, purpose of the study)
- Materials and methods (study design, participants, research methods and statistical analysis used, permission from the ethical committee if necessary)
- Results
- Discussion (discussion of the results obtained, comparison of the results of the study with those previously conducted, limitations of the study, directions for future research on the topic)
- Conclusions (short summary of the study)
- References
- Disclosure of conflict of interest
- Acknowledgements (optional)
The word count of submitted articles should not exceed:
- 3500 words for clinical studies
- 2500 words for clinical cases
- 3500 words for literature reviews
- 4000 words for systematic reviews and meta-analyses
An abstract, tables, figures and references are not included in the word count.
The number of tables should not exceed three (except for systematic reviews and meta-analyses) and the number of (figures) should not exceed five. The total number of figures and tables should not exceed six.
Authorship criteria:
The authors are those people whom the research group have identified as the main participants in the presented work, and who have agreed to take responsibility for their work. In addition to taking responsibility for their part of the work, authors should indicate how each of the co-authors is responsible for other parts of the work.
The journal «Sports medicine: research and practice» follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) criteria of authorship:
- Substantial contribution to the conceptualisation and research design, data collection, analysis or interpretation; AND
- Preparation of the article or its critical revision in terms of meaningful intellectual content; AND
- Final approval of the submitted article.
I. Recommendations for authors prior to submitting an article
The submission of an article to the journal «Sports medicine: research and practice» implies that:
- the article has not been previously published in another journal;
- the article is not submitted or pending publication in another journal;
- all co-authors agree with the publication of the present version of the article.
Prior to submitting an article for review, please ensure that the file(s) contain(s) all the necessary information in Russian and English, the sources of information placed in the figures and tables are indicated and all citations have been correctly formatted.
The editors of «Sports medicine: research and practice» recommend that authors use the following checklists and reporting guidelines developed by international organisations in the field of health research (EQUATOR, Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of Health Research) during preparation of their studies:
“CONSORT 2010 checklist of information to include when reporting a randomised trial” - for randomised clinical trials;
“Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) Statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies” - for non-experimental studies;
“PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses)" - for systematic reviews and meta-analyses;
“CARE Guidelines: Consensus-based Clinical Case Reporting Guideline Development" - for clinical cases;
“SRQR (Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research)"" - for qualitative research;
"STARD 2015: Updated List of Essential Items for Reporting Diagnostic Accuracy Studies"" - for predictive research;
Manuscript organisation:
- Article title
The title of the article should convey to the content of the article. Title should be presented both in English and Russian languages
- Abstract
The limit of the abstract is 250 words. Abstract should be presented both in English and Russian languages.
The abstract should contain the following sections: Aim, Methods, Results, Conclusions.
The abstract should not include abbreviations (except for generally well-known) or references to literature.
- Keywords
Keywords should consist of five to seven terms relevant to the topic of the article.
- Acknowledgments
This section indicates all sources of research funding, as well as acknowledging people who participated in the work on the article, but are not its authors. Participation in the work on the article implies: recommendations for improving the research, providing space for research, departmental control, obtaining financial support, singular analyses, provision of reagents / patients / animals / other materials for research.
- Conflict of interest
Conflict of interest is defined as the condition under which people come into internal conflict or when there are competing interests that can influence the adoption of the editorial decision. Conflicts of interest can be potential or conscious, as well as actually existing. Objectivity can be affected by personal, political, financial, scientific or religious factors.
Author are obliged to notify the editor about any real or potential conflict of interest by including information on the conflict of interests in the relevant section of the article.
If there is no conflict of interest, this must also be explicitly stated by the author(s). For example: “The authors declare no conflict of interest.”
- Article text
The journal implemented the IMRAD format (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion).
- Figures
Figure captions consist of name and legend (explanations figure parts, symbols, arrows and other details). Legends to photomicrographs should indicate the magnification level. Figure captions should be placed in a single file with the article after the list of references.
The caption includes the serial number of the figure and its name The caption must be duplicated in Russian and English
- Tables should be placed in the text of the article, they should have title and clearly marked columns, convenient and understandable for reading. These tables should correspond to the figures in the text, but should not duplicate the information provided therein. References to tables in the text are obligatory.
Tables provided should be of good quality and at a resolution suitable for printing. It is preferred tables that tables be presented in a form suitable for editing (Microsoft word formats).
All tables must have appropriate titles.
The title and content of the table must be duplicated in Russian and English.
Tables should be numbered in Arabic numerals according to the order they appear in the text.
References to the tables are made as follows: “Table 3 indicates that ...” or “It is indicated that ... (Table 3)”.
- Screenshots and photographs
Photos, screenshots and similar illustrations should be uploaded separately in a special section of the form for submitting an article in following formats: *.jpeg, *.bmp, *.gif format; *.doc or *.docx formats should be used if notes are attached to the additional images. The image resolution should be 300 dpi or greater. Images should be numbered in Arabic numerals according to the order they appear in the text. Image files should have title. In the description of the file, a separate caption should be provided, which should match the name of the photo placed in the text.
- Footnotes
Footnotes are numbered with Arabic numerals, and positioned at the bottom of the page. Footnotes can include: links to anonymised sources on the Internet, links to textbooks, tutorials, GOSTs, statistical reports, articles in social and political newspapers and magazines, author’s abstracts, dissertations (if there is no way to quote articles published on the results of a dissertation study) as well as author’s comments.
- Bibliography
The journal uses the Vancouver (AMA 11th) citation format, according to which the source is referred to square brackets; subsequent reference to sources in the bibliography is made in the order in which they were mentioned in the text.
The bibliography should only include peer-reviewed sources (i.e. articles from scientific journals and monographs) mentioned in the text of the article. Abstracts of dissertations, dissertations, textbooks, teaching aids, methodological aids, abstracts, collections of scientific papers, GOSTs, information from sites, statistical reports, articles in socio-political newspapers and on websites and blogs should not be included in the bibliography. If it is desired to refer to such information, this should be done via a footnote.
Include DOI (digital object identifier) if available.
References to articles accepted for publication but not yet published should be marked with the words “in press”; authors must obtain written permission to refer to such documents and confirm that they have been accepted for publication. Information from unpublished sources should be marked with the words “unpublished data / documents”; the authors must also obtain written confirmation for the use of such materials. Include each author of the reference source.
The links should be verified and the output data checked on the official website of the journals and / or publishers.
References examples
Journal article:
- Author(s). Article title. Journal Name (abbreviated). Year; Volume(Issue):page range. DOI.
Book chapter:
Author(s). Title of chapter. In: Editor(s), editors. Title of book. Place of publication: Publisher; Year. Page range.
Website:
- Author(s). Title [Internet]. Year [cited Date]. Available from: URL
II. How to submit an article
The manuscript of the article must be sent to the editor via online form. The file with the article that is uploaded to the system should be presented in Microsoft Word format (having the extension * .doc, * .docx, * .rtf).
To send a manuscript, you must register on the website and in the profile of your personal account, be sure to tick the "Author" item - this will allow you to use the electronic system for submitting manuscripts. To send a manuscript for consideration, click on the "SEND MANUSCRIPT" banner in the right sidebar.
Sending of the manuscript can be done by any member of the team of authors of the manuscript. Correspondence of the editorial Board with the author's team goes only through the user who sent the manuscript to the editor.
III. Interaction between journal and author
The editorial staff of the journal will contact with corresponding author; however, if the authors wish, emails can be copied to all authors for whom an e-mail address is indicated.
All articles submitted to the journal «Sports medicine: research and practice» are preliminarily checked by the responsible secretary of the journal for their compliance with formal requirements. At this stage, the article can be returned to the author(s) for revision with a request to eliminate errors or add missing data. The article may also at this stage be rejected due to its inconsistency with the purposes of the journal, lack of originality or low scientific value.
Following the preliminary check, the responsible editor submits the article to the reviewers, specifying the timing of the review.
In borderline cases, the editor may involve several more specialists in the review process, as well as the editor-in-chief.
With a positive conclusion of reviewers, the article is transferred to the editor for the preparation for the press.
When making a decision on the completion of an article, the comments and remarks of the reviewer are transmitted to the author. The author is given 1 month to resolve issues raised in comments. If, during this period, the author has not notified the editorial board about the planned actions, the article will be removed from the publication queue.
Should a decision be taken to refuse publication of an article, the appropriate decision will be sent to the corresponding author.
The final (authoritative) version of the layout is sent to the responsible (corresponding) author of the article accepted for publication, who is obliged to verify it. A response is expected from the authors within a period of two days. Should no response be received from the author, the article is considered to have been approved.
IV. Procedure for reviewing the decisions of the editor / reviewer
If the author does not agree with the opinion of the reviewer and / or individual comments, he or she has the right to challenge the decision. In order to do this, the author must:
- correct the manuscript of the article according to the justified comments of reviewers and editors;
- clearly state his or her position regarding the issue under consideration.
The editors will facilitate the re-submission of manuscripts that could potentially be accepted, but have been rejected due to the need to make significant changes or to collect additional data; the editors are ready to explain in detail what needs to be corrected in the manuscript in order for it to be accepted for publication.
V. Editorial actions in case of detection of plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data
In case of detection of scientific misconduct, i.e. plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data on the part of the author, the editors are guided by COPE rules.
By “misconduct” journal «Sports medicine: research and practice» refers to any actions taken by individual scientists, including improper handling of objects of study or intentional manipulation of scientific information whereby it ceases to reflect the observed studies, as well as scientific behaviour that does not correspond to accepted ethical and scientific standards.
However, the journal «Sports medicine: research and practice» does not include under the term “misconduct” honest errors or discrepancies that have arisen during the process of carrying out, interpreting or evaluating research methods or results.
VI. Correction of errors and recalling of articles
If errors are found in the text that affect its perception but do not distort the stated results of the study, they can be corrected by replacing the pdf file of the article and pointing out the error in the article file and on the article page on the journal’s website.
If an error is found in the text that distorts the results of the research, or if plagiarism or misconduct is detected on the part of the author(s) that relates to the falsification and / or fabrication of data, the article can be withdrawn. Initiator of article reviews can include editorial staff, authors, organisations or private individuals.
A withdrawn article will be marked with the sign “Article withdrawn” and the article page will include information on the reason for recalling the article. Information about the recall of the articles will be sent to the databases in which the journal is indexed.
