Submissions

Author Guidelines

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Sport Science Training and Research (STAR) only accepts manuscripts submitted thru its web platform. Authors must register as users on the platform to submit their manuscripts and track the status of their article. To submit a manuscript, you must log in to an existing account or register to create a new one.

Shipping Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to verify that their submission meets all of the elements listed below. Submissions that do not comply with these guidelines will be returned to the authors.

Checklist for Preparing Submissions
As part of the submission process, authors are required to verify that their submission meets all of the elements listed below. Submissions that do not comply with these guidelines will be returned to the authors.
The author form is fully completed and signed by the corresponding author, ready to be submitted along with the cover letter and the article.
The corresponding author has provided the author metadata required when registering their submission on the OJS platform: First name and last name, email address, institutional affiliation, ORCID.
The submission has not been previously published nor is it under consideration by any other journal (or an explanation has been provided in the comments to the editor).
The file containing the article’s text was prepared using the provided template in Microsoft Word format; the tables are editable and the figures are high-quality image files.

General publication guidelines for authors

Originality: Authors must ensure that manuscripts are original works. Special attention is given to plagiarism and self-plagiarism. Articles with plagiarism of 30% or more will be rejected. During the evaluation process, plagiarism detection software will be used. Authors who violate this rule will be sanctioned with a five-year suspension from submitting articles to the STAR journal. Additionally, those who use artificial intelligence must specify the tools used and the sections in which they were applied, under penalty of article withdrawal.
Confirmation of prior publication: Authors must certify that the manuscript has not been previously published and is not under consideration for publication in any other journal.
Peer-review process: Authors must actively participate in the peer-review process and respond appropriately to reviewers’ comments and suggestions. Furthermore, they are obligated to correct errors and issue retractions if necessary.
Authors’ contributions: All authors mentioned in the article must have contributed significantly to the research. The authors must declare that all data presented are real and authentic.
Conflicts of interest: Authors must inform the editors of any conflicts of interest.
Sources consulted: It is mandatory to identify all sources consulted in the creation of the manuscript.
Post-publication errors: Authors must notify the editors of any errors discovered after the article has been published.

Manuscript submission

Submission platform: STAR only accepts manuscripts submitted thru its web platform. Paper submissions and email submissions are not accepted. Authors must register as users on the platform to submit their manuscripts and track the status of their article.
Authors’ form: Along with the manuscript, an author form signed by the corresponding author must be submitted, including:
Confirmation that all authors have read and approve the text.
Corresponding authors’ details (name, address, phone number, email address) and confirmation that the principal author will be responsible for communication regarding the manuscript.
Confirmation that artificial intelligence has not been used in the development of the article, and the plagiarism percentage (must not exceed 5%).

Specific publication guidelines

Scope of publication: STAR publishes rigorous scientific papers that contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the field of Sport Sciences in the following categories

1. Scientific disciplines applied to sports science
2. Long-term training and sports development processes Long-term sports training and development processes
3. Directions, control, and evaluation of sports training Directions, control, and evaluation of sports training
4. Directions, control, and evaluation of sports training 5. Management, administration, and technological innovation in the sports field Management, administration, and technological innovation in the sports sector
5. Social, recreational, and spectator sports Social, recreational, and spectator sport
6. Adapted and Paralympic sport Adapted and Paralympic sport The accepted sections are:
Basic or applied research.
Quantitative systematic reviews or meta-analyses (excluding simple bibliometric analyses).
Proportion of theoretical and empirical articles: No more than 40% of the total published articles should be theoretical, with at least 60% being original research articles presenting research results.
Authors’ responsibility: Authors must assume responsibility for the accuracy of quotations and the proper use of the sources consulted. A certification signed by the corresponding author confirming originality and compliance with publication guidelines will be required.
Manuscript format: Manuscripts must be typed on DIN-A4 paper, in 11-point Times New Roman font, single-spaced, with 2 cm margins, and page numbers centered at the bottom of the page. The length should be approximately 7,500 words (guideline), and may be longer with prior authorization.
Manuscript content:
Title: In the original language, in English, and, if necessary, in Spanish.
Summary: Between 150 and 250 words in the original language, English, and Spanish (if applicable).
Keywords: 5 to 8 words, in the original language and in English.
Full text: It should include the sections: introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusions, and acknowledgments.
Tables and figures:
They should be inserted into the text at the appropriate place, numbered, and titled according to APA 7th edition guidelines.
Tables should have an italicized title; figures should be numbered and titled in bold.
Photographs: Photographs must be submitted in JPG or similar format, with a width of 8.25 or 17 cm and a maximum height of 20 cm. The people in the photos must be unrecognizable.
Manuscript structure: The structure of the manuscript will depend on the section it is intended for. Below are the most common sections:

Scientific in nature: Basic and/or applied research papers. The manuscript will consist of the following sections:

Introduction: Brief, including the purpose of the study, an overview of the topic, the state of the art or literature review, knowledge gaps, objectives, and justification.
Materials and Methods: Presentation of the materials used, their characteristics, selection criteria, and techniques employed. Additionally, the tools, procedures, and limitations of the methodology employed are explained so that the reported experience can be replicated.
Results: An account of the observations made without interpretation. The results may be presented in tables, figures, graphs, maps, etc., always with justification.
Discussion: Presentation of opinions on the results obtained, comparing them with other similar studies, suggestions for future work, and possible applications of the results.
Conclusions.
Acknowledgments (optional)
Bibliographic references.

Theoretical reviews: The text will be divided into the necessary sections for a perfect understanding of the topic at hand. For reference, it may contain:

Introduction: Background and current status of the topic.
Methodology employed.
Results.
Discussion.
Conclusions.
Practical applications.
Future research directions.
Acknowledgments.
References.
Tables/Graphs.
APA guidelines: All manuscripts must comply with the citation and reference guidelines of the APA 7th edition.

APA Style; the 20 most common errors in an article.

1st) When citing two or more authors in parentheses in the text, use "&" before the last author, not "y" or ", y".

2nd) "et al." is not used. but rather ", et al.", which is never italicized.

3rd) The surnames of cited authors are always capitalized, and only the first surname is given (not the first name or initial), unless the original author himself writes them hyphenated. Authors’ initials are only included in the final list of references, not in the text.

4th) Within a parenthetical citation, each “et al.” is always preceded by a comma. In the text, outside of parentheses, "et al." is not preceded by a comma. Additionally, to cite a work with one or two authors, include the author’s name(s) in each citation. For a work with three or more authors, include only the first author’s name plus “et al.” in each citation, including the first citation. From the second citation onward, include the first author’s last name followed by “et al.”

5th) In the reference list, provide the author’s last name and initials for up to and including 20 authors. When there are 21 or more authors, include the names of the first 19 authors, insert an ellipsis (but no ampersand), and then add the name of the final author.

6th) In the text (not in tables or mathematical expressions), the numbers from zero to nine are written out in words, not as numerals. For example: you don’t write “from 4 to 18 years,” but “from four to 18 years.”

7th) "kg", "km", "h", etc., being abbreviations, never end with a period.

8th) The number zero before a decimal point should be written for numbers less than 1 when the statistical result may exceed 1. Otherwise, do NOT write the number zero before a decimal fraction when the statistical result cannot exceed 1. For example, correlation coefficients, proportions, or statistical significance levels.

9th) Try to use only well-known abbreviations, and don’t overuse them in the text. Make sure that the first time you use an abbreviation, you have already indicated its meaning in the text.

10) When citing two works by the same author in parentheses, the years are separated by a comma, not by “and.”

11th) The table number should appear above the table in bold, without a period (e.g., Table 3). The table title should appear below the table number, written in italics. Do NOT put a period at the end of the title. The figure titles are written in the same way.

12th) In the final list of references, even if there are only two, before the last author you always write ", &", not "y" or ", y".

13th) In the final list of references, there should be no space after the journal number and before the issue number. The journal and its volume number (in parentheses) are italicized; the issue number and page numbers are not.

14) The use of italicized words, as well as Latin expressions, should not be overused. Italics are only used the first time special words in another language are mentioned, such as the name of an instrument (questionnaire) or a title, for example: Spalding’s Official Basket Ball Guide.

15) You must not underline anything in the text.

16th) In the final list of references, when you add a reference to an electronic journal, at the end of the reference you should write: "Retrieved from" is used only when the retrieval date is also required. When writing a reference, the retrieval date should appear before the URL. For example: Retrieved May 21, 2021, from https://xxxx. Another example: Retrieved April 18, 2020, from https://xxxx.

17th) Thousands should be separated by commas. Use commas to separate groups of three digits in most numbers of 1,000 or more. Some exceptions are as follows: page numbers (page 1029), binary digits (00110010), serial numbers (29046694), temperature degrees (1440 °C), acoustic frequency designations (2000 Hz), and degrees of freedom (F(24, 1000)).

18th) "p" (significance) is always lowercase and italicized.

19th) You must indicate the exact page numbers of a quotation or reference, separated by a hyphen. To indicate multiple page numbers for a quotation, you should write "pp." and not "p." or "p.p.". When only one page is referenced, use "p." followed immediately by the page number.

20) To write quotations of fewer than 40 words in your text, enclose the quotation in double quotation marks. Provide the author, year, and specific page number of the quotation in the text, and include a full reference in the final reference list. Punctuation marks, such as periods, commas, and semicolons, should appear after the reference parenthesis. Question marks and exclamation points should appear inside the quotation marks and are part of the quotation, but after the reference parenthesis if they are part of your own text.

Examples:

* Short, verbatim, content-focused, one author.

"He wished he could die to get away from himself, to not be himself, to find peace in his empty heart, to remain open to the miracle thru pure thought" (Hesse, 1990, p. 12).

* Short, verbatim quote, emphasis on content, more than three to five authors.

"At all levels, the family is the most important institution thru which the class system is reproduced" (Worsley, et al., 1979, p. 147).

* Short, verbatim quotation, emphasis on content, six or more authors.

"At all levels, the family is the most important institution thru which the class system is reproduced" (Worsley, et al., 1979, p. 147).

* Short quote, emphasis on the author.

Rivas (1985) said: "When a man reasons about the principle of freedom and sees that his person is subject to intolerable norms of conduct, that is when he begins to rebel" (p. 175).

Some final considerations

The first comment refers to the fact that each section of an article should be written in a specific verb tense, as recommended by APA guidelines. The recommended verb tenses are illustrated below:

Introduction: It is common to use the past tense to describe previous research, as in "Pérez (2020) presented...". The present perfect can also be used to refer to studies that are currently relevant, for example, "Some researchers have used..."
Methodology: Here, the past tense should be used to describe the procedures and actions carried out, such as "The participants completed a survey..." In some cases, the present perfect can also be used to mention similar approaches used by other researchers, for example, "Others have used similar approaches..."
Results: The past tense is the most appropriate tense for presenting findings, as in "The results were significant..."
Discussion: In this section, the present tense is used to interpret the results and relate them to previous research, for example, "The results indicate..."
Conclusions: As in the Discussion section, the present tense is used to state the study’s conclusions, such as “The limitations of the study are…”

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The authors’ identities and contributions will be preserved by the editorial and scientific committee in the event that the article is rejected.

Articles that are under review or evaluation will not be shared until they are published. The information will be treated as confidential and will not be used for personal purposes.

The personal data of authors, committee members, and peer reviewers entered into this journal will be used exclusively for the purposes established by STAR and will not be provided to third parties or used for any other purposes.

Original research articles

Basic and/or applied research

Submit a new submission to the Original Research Articles section.

Theoretical reviews

Systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and literature reviews

Submit a new entry to the Theoretical Reviews section.