ISSN 1645-0523
[ printed version]

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

• Scope and policy
• Form and preparation of manuscripts
• Editorial plan

Original investigation: The PJSS publishes original papers related to all areas of Sport Sciences.

Reviews of the literature (state of the art papers): State of the art papers or critical literature reviews are published if, and only if, they contribute to the generalization of knowledge. Meta-analytic papers or general reviews are possible modes from contributing authors. This type of publication is open only to invited authors.

Commentaries: Commentaries about published papers or literature reviews are highly recommended by the editorial board and accepted.

Case studies: Highly relevant case studies are favoured by the editorial board if they contribute to specific knowledge within the framework of Sport Sciences research. The meticulous control of research methodology is a fundamental issue in terms of paper acceptance.

Essays: The PJSS shall invite highly regarded specialists to write essays or careful and deep thinking about several themes of the sport sciences mainly related to philosophy and/or strong argumentation in sociology or psychology.

Book reviews: the PJSS has a section for book reviews.

General publication rules: all papers submitted to the PJSS are obliged to have original data, theoretical or experimental, within the realm of Sport Sciences. It is mandatory that the submitted paper has not yet been published elsewhere. If a minor part of the paper was previously published, it has to be stated explicitly in the acknowledgments section.
All papers are first evaluated by the editor in chief, and shall have as initial criteria for acceptance the following: fulfilment of all norms, clear relationship to Sport Sciences, and scientific merit. After this first screening, and if the paper is firstly accepted, two independent referees shall evaluate its content in a “double blind” fashion. A third referee shall be considered if the previous two are not in agreement about the quality of the paper.
After the referees receive the manuscripts, it is hoped that their reviews are posted to the editor in chief in no longer than a month.

General aspects:
The first page of the manuscript has to contain:
- Title and author(s) name(s)
- Declaration that the paper has never been published
Format:
- All manuscripts are to be typed in A4 paper, with margins of 3 cm, using Times New Roman style size 12 with double space, and having no more than 20 pages in length.
- Pages are to be numbered sequentially, with the title page as n.1.
- It is mandatory to send 4 copies;
- One of the copies is the original that has to have original illustrations.
Size and style:
- Papers are to be written in a very precise and clear language. No place is allowed for speculation without the boundaries of available data.
- If manuscripts are highly confused and written in a very poor Portuguese or English they are immediately rejected by the editor in chief.
- All abbreviations are to be used according to international rules of the specific field.
Title page:
- Title page has to contain the following information:
- Specification of type of manuscript (but see working materials-manuscripts).
- Brief and highly informative title.
- Author(s) name(s) with first and middle names (do not write academic degrees)
- Running head with no more than 45 letters.
- Name and place of the academic institutions.
- Name, address, Fax number and email of the person to whom the proof is to be sent.
Abstract page:
- The abstract has to be very precise and contain no more than 200 words, including objectives, design, main results and conclusions. It has to be intelligible without reference to the rest of the paper.
- Portuguese and English abstracts are mandatory.
- Include 3 to 6 key words.
- Do not use abbreviations.
Introduction:
- Has to be highly comprehensible, stating clearly the purpose(s) of the manuscript, and presenting the importance of the work.
- Literature review included is not expected to be exhaustive.
Material and methods:
- Include all necessary information for the replication of the work without any further information from authors.
- All applied methods are expected to be reliable and highly adjusted to the problem.
- If humans are to be used as sampling units in experimental or non-experimental research it is expected that all procedures follow Helsinki Declaration of Human Rights related to research.
- When using animals all ethical principals related to animal experimentation are to be respected, and when possible submitted to an ethical committee.
- All drugs and chemicals used are to be designated by their general names, active principles and dosage.
- Confidentiality of subjects is to be maintained.
- All statistical methods used are to be precisely and carefully stated.
Results:
- Do provide only relevant results that are useful for discussion.
- Results appear only once in Tables or Figures.
- Do not duplicate information, and present only the most relevant results.
- Importance of main results is to be explicitly stated.
- Units, quantities and formulas are to be expressed according to the International System (SI units).
- Use only metric units.
Discussion:
- New information coming from data analysis should be presented clearly.
- Do no repeat results.
- Data relevancy should be compared to existing information from previous research.
- Do not speculate, otherwise carefully supported, in a way, by insights from your data analysis.
- Final discussion should be summarized in its major points.

Acknowledgements:
- If the paper has been partly presented elsewhere, do provide such information.
- Any financial support should be mentioned.
References:
- Cited references are to be numbered in the text, and alphabetically listed.
- Journals´ names are to be cited according to general abbreviations (ex: Index Medicus).
- Please write the names of all authors (do not use et al.).
- Only published or “in press” papers should be cited. Very rarely are accepted “non published data”.
- If non-reviewed papers are cited may cause the rejection of the paper.
Examples:
Peer-review paper
1 Pincivero DM, Lephart SM, Kurunakara RA (1998). Reliability and precision of isokinetic strength and muscular endurance for the quadriceps and hamstrings. In J Sports Med 18:113-117
Complete book
Hudlicka O, Tyler KR (1996). Angiogenesis. The growth of the vascular system. London:Academic Press Inc. Ltd.
Book chapter
Balon TW (1999). Integrative biology of nitric oxide and exercise. In: Holloszy JO (ed.). Exercise and Sport Science Reviews vol. 27. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 219-254
Figures
- Figures and illustrations should be used only for a better understanding of the main text.
- Use sequence arabic numbers for all Figures.
- Each Figure is to be presented in a separated sheet with a short and precise title.
- In the back of each Figure do provide information regarding the author and title of the paper. Use a pencil to write this information.
- All Figures and illustrations should have excellent graphic quality I black and white.
- Avoid photos from equipments and human subjects.
Tables
- Tables should be utilized to present relevant numerical data information.
- Each table should have a very precise and short title.
- Tables should be presented within the same rules as Legends and Figures.
- Tables´ footnotes should be used only to describe abbreviations used.

General address of the Portuguese Journal of Sport Sciences
Revista Portuguesa de Ciências do Desporto
Faculdade de Desporto da Universidade do Porto
Rua Dr. Plácido Costa, 91
4200-450 Porto
PORTUGAL