About the Journal

The editorial mission of the Scientific Journal of Sport and Performance (SJSP) is to advance knowledge of physical activity and sport performance through high-quality research, as well as research addressing related areas in which physical exercise and sport play a central role. The journal primarily promotes the publication of peer-reviewed manuscripts that contribute to the understanding of physical activity and sport performance through rigorous and relevant scientific research.

SJSP also aims to provide a scientific platform for outstanding early-career and emerging researchers to disseminate their research findings and contribute to the development of knowledge in sport and exercise sciences.

The journal welcomes submissions from early-career and emerging researchers, including research arising from undergraduate, master's, and doctoral projects, as well as research conducted in emerging research environments and regions with developing research infrastructures. Where appropriate, authors may be asked to provide institutional documentation solely for the purpose of verifying information voluntarily provided during submission. Such documentation does not form part of the editorial evaluation process and does not influence editorial decisions.

Importantly, early-career or emerging researcher status does not alter the journal's scientific, methodological, ethical, or editorial standards. All manuscripts are evaluated according to the same criteria of originality, scientific quality, methodological rigour, ethical conduct, transparency, and relevance, regardless of the authors' career stage or institutional context.

Where appropriate, the Editorial Team may provide constructive guidance to authors during the editorial process to facilitate the clear presentation and reporting of their research. Such guidance does not replace peer review, does not guarantee acceptance, and does not influence the final publication decision.

Scope

SJSP advances knowledge in sport and exercise sciences through the publication of high-quality, peer-reviewed research that contributes to the understanding of physical activity, exercise, sport performance, and related disciplines.

The journal welcomes original research, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, methodological studies, and other scholarly contributions in areas including sport performance, physical conditioning, biomechanics, exercise physiology, physical education, sport and exercise psychology, sport medicine, sport history, and emerging technologies applied to sport and human performance.

SJSP also encourages interdisciplinary research addressing health, coaching, athlete development, sport participation, performance analysis, and evidence-based practice in sport and exercise settings.

All submissions are expected to demonstrate scientific rigour, methodological quality, ethical integrity, transparency, and relevance to researchers and practitioners in the sport and exercise sciences.

Sections

SJSP has the following double-blind peer-reviewed indexed sections:

Performance Analysis of Sport and Physical Conditioning.

Physical Education.

Sport and Physical Activity Psychology.

Sport Medicine.

Sport History.

Reviews.

Peer Review Process

All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial assessment by the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors, and/or Section Editors. During this stage, manuscripts are evaluated for compliance with the journal's aims and scope, ethical requirements, reporting standards, and author guidelines.

Manuscripts that do not meet the journal's basic editorial, scientific, or ethical requirements may be returned to the authors for correction or rejected without external review.

Manuscripts that successfully pass the initial editorial screening are submitted to at least two independent external reviewers and evaluated through a double-blind peer-review process, in which both authors and reviewers remain anonymous.

SJSP uses the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform, which provides a secure, transparent, and auditable record of all editorial and peer-review activities.

Reviewers evaluate manuscripts according to the following criteria:

  • Originality and contribution to knowledge.
  • Scientific relevance and significance.
  • Methodological rigour.
  • Ethical integrity and transparency.
  • Clarity of presentation.
  • Quality and validity of the conclusions.

Based on the reviewers' reports and the editors' assessment, manuscripts may receive one of the following decisions:

  • Accept
  • Minor Revision
  • Major Revision
  • Reject

Manuscripts requiring major revisions may be returned to one or more of the original reviewers for further evaluation before a final editorial decision is made.

Current editorial performance indicators, including review and publication timelines, are available in the Editorial Statistics section and are updated monthly.

Accepted articles are published online immediately after completion of the editorial and production process and are subsequently assigned to the appropriate issue of the journal.

Average values calculated from manuscripts processed during the previous 12 months and updated monthly. Last update: 01 October 2026.

  • Average time to initial editorial screening: 3 days
  • Average time from submission to first peer-review decision: 30 days
  • Average time from submission to acceptance: 54 days
  • Average time from acceptance to publication: 5 days

Acceptance Rate (last 12 months): 60%

Editorial statistics methodology

Initial editorial screening refers to the preliminary assessment performed by the Editorial Team to verify scope, ethical requirements, completeness of submission files, and compliance with journal guidelines.

First peer-review decision refers to the first editorial decision issued after external peer review.

Acceptance time refers to the period between initial submission and final acceptance.

Publication time refers to the period between final acceptance and online publication.

Authors retain copyright of their work and grant Scientific Journal of Sport and Performance (SJSP) the right of first publication.

Submission of a manuscript implies that all authors:

  • have substantially contributed to the work;
  • approve the submitted version of the manuscript;
  • agree to its submission to SJSP;
  • confirm that the manuscript is original;
  • confirm that the manuscript has not been previously published, except where explicitly disclosed and permitted by the journal's policies;
  • confirm that the manuscript is not under consideration by another journal.

Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission to reproduce any copyrighted material, including figures, tables, images, questionnaires, or substantial text excerpts previously published elsewhere. Evidence of such permission must be provided when required.

The authors are solely responsible for the content of their manuscripts and for compliance with all ethical, legal, and copyright requirements. The opinions and statements expressed in published articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of SJSP, its editors, editorial board, publisher, or affiliated institutions.

All articles published in SJSP are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Authors may share, archive, distribute, and deposit the published version of their work in institutional repositories, personal websites, and academic platforms, provided that appropriate citation to the original publication in SJSP is included.

SJSP is committed to maintaining the highest standards of transparency and research integrity.

All authors must disclose any financial or non-financial competing interests that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, the conduct, interpretation, or reporting of the research.

Competing interests may include, but are not limited to:

  • employment relationships;
  • consultancies;
  • stock ownership or equity interests;
  • patents or licensing agreements;
  • research funding or sponsorship;
  • professional or institutional affiliations;
  • personal relationships or academic commitments that may create a potential conflict of interest.

Authors are required to provide a Competing Interests Statement at the time of submission. If no competing interests exist, authors should state:

The authors declare no competing interests.

Reviewers and editors are also expected to disclose any conflicts of interest and, where appropriate, withdraw from the evaluation of a manuscript.

All funding sources supporting the research must be disclosed in the Funding Statement included in the published article.

Publication Frequency

Once accepted, all articles are published immediately, and with all of them, each year, a single volume is published in electronic version with four quarterly numbers. The publication dates of each issue are as follows:

No. 1 - January, 01.
No. 2 - April, 01.
No. 3 - July, 01.
No. 4 - October, 01.

Open Access Policy

Scientific Journal of Sport and Performance is a fully open access journal published by the Asociación Española de Análisis del Rendimiento Deportivo (AEAREDO).

All content is freely available immediately upon publication without subscription fees or access restrictions. Readers may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, and share published articles in accordance with the terms of the journal's license.

SJSP supports the principles of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) and promotes the unrestricted dissemination of scientific knowledge.

All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Article Processing Charges (APCs)

SJSP does not charge authors any fees for manuscript submission, peer review, editorial processing, or publication.

No article processing charges (APCs), submission fees, or publication fees apply at any stage of the editorial process.

Archiving and Digital Preservation

SJSP participates in the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN), which provides long-term digital preservation of journal content published through Open Journal Systems (OJS).

The PKP PN is based on the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) preservation model and ensures secure, distributed, and perpetual access to the journal's published content.

This archiving policy helps guarantee the long-term preservation, integrity, and accessibility of all articles published in SJSP.

LOCKSS

LOCKSS system has permission to collect, preserve, and serve this Archival Unit.