Instructions for Authors

Please read these instructions carefully and follow them closely to ensure that the review and publication of your paper is efficient and quick. To download a PDF version of these instructions, click here.

Any manuscript submitted to IJSPT for peer review must be original work, have been written by the stated authors, and have not been submitted or published elsewhere. Manuscripts must not be under simultaneous consideration by any other publications before or during the peer review process. Articles, or contents of articles, such as tables, figures, or appendices published in IJSPT fall under the Creative Commons License CC BY-NC and resue of material should follow regulations noted here:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. All copyright of material is maintained with the authors.

Only manuscripts that meet the aims and scope of IJSPT are reviewed. IJSPT utilizes a double-blind peer review process for new submissions, which includes at least two referees and the Editor-in-Chief. Revised manuscripts are reviewed by either of the original reviewers and/or the assigned

Associate Editor, who evaluates the revision and decides whether the authors have responded adequately to the reviewers’ comments and whether further revisions are required before the submission can be considered acceptable. These criteria are used in evaluating all manuscripts: study design, quality of execution, quality of writing, contribution to knowledge, acknowledgment of study limitations, support of the Journal’s mission, and compliance with COPE and ICMJE guidelines for ethical publication. All manuscript decisions are approved by the Editor-in-Chief, who may request additional changes or modify the decision.

All reviewers must update their disclosures each year to minimize potential reviewer bias.

As part of the submission process, you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights to the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal, that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere, has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copywritten works not owned by you. IRB approval must be obtained where appropriate.

All submissions must be accompanied by a General Manuscript Submission Checklist to ensure all components of the submission are assembled. The following items are required on submission:

1. Blinded manuscript including abstract, images, figures, and tables with appropriate labels and footnotes. No identifying information should appear in the uploaded manuscript. Please remove author names, initials, and institutions.
2. Journal Contributor Copyright/Publishing Agreement and ICMJE Author Disclosure Statement. These forms are available for download from the Author Area of the website. The corresponding author must complete/collect the forms on behalf of all coauthors and upload them as supporting documents during the submission process. Manuscripts will not be processed without the presence of these files.
3. IRB or other agency approval (or waiver) is required for human subjects, tissue, or health information used. You must be able to provide a copy if requested and need to acknowledge that you have this completed on the required manuscript checklist at the time of submission.
4. The original study protocol for all registered clinical trials must be included and can be uploaded as a supporting document. The protocol information from the registration site or the formal protocol for the study design are acceptable. Use of a CONSORT flow diagram is required to illustrate the grouping and flow of patients for all randomized clinical trials. This diagram should be included as an image in your manuscript. The CONSORT checklist must also be completed and uploaded as a supporting document.
5. Cover letter, acknowledgments, and suggested reviewers are optional.

Manuscripts submitted to the IJSPT are reviewed under one of the following categories:

• Original Research
  • Clinical Outcome Studies (RCT and Cohort)
  • Measurement Studies (validity, reliability, diagnostics)
  • Epidiemiology/Normative Studies
• Systematic Review of the Literature/Scoping Review/ Meta-Analysis
• Clinical Commentary/Current Concept Review
• Case Reports (Differential Diagnosis/Critical
  Decision Diagnosis / Critical Decision Making, Musculoskeletal Imaging, Innovative Interventions, Unique Pathological Presentations)
• Case Series
• Clinical Suggestion/Unique Practice Technique Technical Note/Tips from the Field
• Invited Commentary
  • International Perspective
  • Clinical Viewpoint

Original Research
Original research relevant to the practice of sports physical therapy, randomized controlled trials, inter vention studies, cohort studies, case-control studies, epidemiologic assessments, other observational studies, surveys, and studies of screening and diagnostic tests will be accepted. Original Research requires the manuscript to be divided into five sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion.

Systematic Review of Literature/Scoping Review/Meta-Analysis
A comprehensive and systematic or scoping review of the literature that addresses a topic of interest and is relevant to sports physical therapy. This may or may not include a meta analysis of statistical outcomes.

Clinical Commentary/Current Concepts Review A description of a specific rehabilita tion protocol, exercise progression or a related sequencing of interventions, a unique musculoskeletal or medical topic related to sports physical therapy, that can assist the physical therapist in returning an athlete to full sports competition. The rationale for the progression through the pro tocol must be based on current evi dence.

Clinical
Commentaries will require a variety of headings dependent on the information pre sented. The headings should relate to the progression of the patient or diagnostic / treatment process throughout the rehabilitation or exercise protocol.

Case Report
A detailed description of interesting, new, and unique cases. Includes an in-depth description of a patient’s condition related to: differential diag nosis/critical decision making, musculoskeletal imaging, innovative interventions, and unique pathologi cal presentations, and response to intervention using outcome meas ures. Elements of the treatment plan should be delineated and expecta tions should be presented as justifica tion for the treatment approach chosen. Where relevant, evidence from the literature should be cited to support the rationale for treatment. Case Reports require the manuscript be divided into four sections: Intro duction, Case Description, Outcome, including examination/evaluation and diagnosis, and Discussion. Addi tional sections may apply including Clinical Impression, and Conclusions.

Case Series
A descriptive study that tracks patients with a similar diagnosis or treatment over a certain period.

Clinical Suggestion/Unique Practice Technique
A description of a unique intervention, technique, or examina tion procedure, and their use by clinicians. The manuscript should not only describe the innovator’s clinical suggestion, but the author should describe the clinical problem that the suggestion would solve. Photographs clarifying the innova tive suggestion are encouraged. Clinical Suggestions require the manuscript to be divided into three sections: the Problem, the Solution, and Discussion.

Technical Note/Tips from the Field
The presentation of a new instru ment or technology application rele vant to the practice of sports physical therapy. This can also describe apply ing a known treatment method in a novel manner. Technical notes must include these four sections: Back ground, Description, Outcomes, and Discussion.

Review articles, which should be a maximum of 5000 words in length, excluding references, are generally solicited by the editorial staff. However, the Editors are happy to receive ideas and suggestions from potential authors, although would request a synopsis of no more than 250 words submitted for consideration before writing was begun. All review articles will undergo peer review. To suggest a potential review article please contact the Managing Editor Ashley Campbell directly at acampbell@ijspt.org.

Manuscripts must be written in English and edited by an English speaking author if English is not the primary language of the manuscript’s authors. If English is not your first language, you may wish to use an English language editing service before submission. This may help to ensure that the academic content of your paper is fully understood by the journal editors and reviewers. Several specialist language editing companies offer this service and authors are liable for all costs associated.

Please note that a one-time, non-refundable, fee of $100 will be collected at the time of submission. This will cover the manuscript processing from submission through any revision process. This is separate from any Article Processing Charges (APCs).
**Note – Reciepts for this fee are processed and avaialble though the ScholasticaHQ system.
Instructions can be found here**

Layout: Manuscript pages should be double-spaced with consecutive page numbers and continuous line numbers. The abstract should be included with the manuscript as well as being entered in the Metadata section.

Figure/Table Limits: Generaly the IJSPT limits figures and tables to 7-10 per paper. We encourage authors to submit manuscripts with all images they feel relevant and we will determine apporpriateness in the editorial process.

The IJSPT Editorial team will make final decisions with the authors on tables and figures based on relevance to the paper and impact on the final publication.

• All manuscripts should be written in accordance with the recommendations found in the “Uniform Requirements for

Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomechanical Publication” by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors link: http://www.icmje.org/index.html.

All submissions should be formatted according to AMA style guidelines utilizing superscripted numbers to identify references within the text. All citations belong after punctuation.

• A Copyright Release and Financial Disclosure Document, located on the forms page, must be signed by all authors and uploaded as a supporting file.
• Tables, figures, and images may be embedded within the manuscript file. Please be sure that all tables are formated according to Scholastica guidelines and that images are jpeg files while tables are fomatted in word/docx. Authors may choose to also upload tables and images as supporting files in case an editor needs to assist in making adjustments or edits to a file.
• Include patient consent/photo releases as needed. The IJSPT Photo Release can be downloaded on the forms page.
• All manuscripts dealing with the study of human subjects must include a statement that the subjects gave informed consent to participate in the study and that the study has been approved by an institutional review board or similar committee. Please keep the details of this blinded in the files until the final edits for publication.
• All case reports must include a statement that each subject was informed that the data concerning the case would be submitted for publication. Patient confidentiality must be protected according to the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA). Submissions that do not meet the above essential requirements will be returned to the author without review.

The Editors reserve the right to return manuscripts that are not in accordance with these instructions.
*Manuscripts sent back for formatting/lack of following author instructions more than 3 times are subject to rejection without review.*

All material to be considered for publication in the International Journal of Sport Physical Therapy should be submitted in electronic form via the Journal’s online submission system. Once you have prepared your manu script according to the instructions below, a guide on how to submit your manuscript online can be found by clicking here.

Questions regarding manuscript sub mission should be directed to Ashley Campbell at acampbell@ijspt.org.

The manuscript should be provided as a Microsoft Word document (docx) with all tables, figures, and images embedded in the text with appropriate labels/footnotes. Please review the technical specifications for table formatting and image requirements.

Manuscripts submitted to the IJSPT must be double-spaced, using 12-point Times New Roman font. Pages should be consecutively numbered starting with the title page; one-inch margins should be used on all sides of the page. All pages should be con tinuously line numbered, starting with line one on the title page.

Please also include the files for any other supplementary material to be submitted with your manuscript (this material is published online only). It is recommended that authors spell-check all files before submission.

Please use short, simple filenames when saving all your documents, and avoid special characters, punctuation marks, symbols (such as &), and spaces.

Research articles should not be more than 5000 words in length, excluding references.

Their format will generally be as follows

• Abstract (maximum 300 words)
• Key words (maximum five) – Introduction Materials and Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Acknowledgements
• References

Headings should be to journal style. Compound words should be hyphenated.
Authors are responsible for checking the accuracy of all footnotes and references.

Tables should be typed with double spacing, but minimizing redundant space, and each should be placed on a separate page. Each table should be numbered in sequence.

Tables should also have a title above and an explanatory footnote below, if required. Tables should be created as word files NOT JPEG.

The manuscript should be arranged as follows :
Title page (PLEASE PROVIDE TWO)
Note: Do not capitalize the entire title.

The FIRST title page should be formatted as an anonymous title page and included as the first page of the manuscript. This page should list only the title because all manu scripts are blinded to reviewers. Please include no identifying features in the body of the text, e.g., an author’s initials, the names of institutions where the study was done, or a phrase such as “the current study,” that when followed by a citation, reveals authorship of the present manuscript in the reference list.

The SECOND title page should be a single supporting file as in structed in this paragraph. The title should be short, specific and inform ative. The first name, initial(s), and surname of each author should be followed by his or her department, institution, city with postcode, and country. The fax, telephone number and email address of the corresponding author should also be provided. It is Editorial policy to list only one author for correspondence.

Any deletions or additions to the author list after acceptance of the paper must be submitted in writing, signed by all authors, to the appropriate Editorial office.

It is important that authors ensure the following

• All names have the correct spelling and are in the correct order (first name, then family name)
• Initials are correct. Occasionally, the distinction between surnames and forenames can be ambiguous, and this is to ensure that the authors’ full surnames and forenames are tagged correctly for accurate indexing online.

**NOTE: All author names and information should be entered in the scholastica system at the time of submission and match the submitted manuscript/title page.**

Abstract
The second page of the manuscript should contain the Abstract, which must not exceed 300 words. The Abstract should be comprehensible to readers before they have read the paper, and reference citations must be avoided. The Abstract must clearly states the biological impor tance of the work described in the paper. The abstract should be struc tured to include the following sections:

• Background: In one or two sentences, summarize the scientific body of knowledge surrounding your study and how this led to your investigation.
• Hypothesis/Purpose: State the theory(ies) that you are attempting to prove or disprove by your study, or the purpose if no hypothesis exists. This statement should be identical in the body of the manuscript.
• Study Design: Identify the overall design of your study. See list below.
• Methods: Succinctly summarize the overall methods you used in your investigation. Include the study population, type of intervention, method of data collection, and length of the study.
• Results: Report the most important results of your study. Only include positive results that are statistically significant, or important negative results that are supported by adequate power. Report actual data, not just P values.
• Conclusion: State the answer to your original question or hypothesis. Summarize the most important conclusions that can be directly drawn from your study.
• Level of Evidence: If the study is on humans, use the levels of evidence published on the following website:link>https://www.cebm.ox.ac.uk/ resources/levels-of-evidence. We recognize that all forms of studies cannot be classified and may not have a descriptive level of evidence.
• Key Terms: Provide at least four key words for indexing in alphabetical order; a maximum of ten.
• Clinical Relevance: If yours was a laboratory study, describe its relevance to clinical sports medicine.
• What is known about the subject: Please state what is currently known about this subject to place your study in perspective for the reviewers.
• What this study adds to existing knowledge: Please state what this study adds to the existing knowledge.

The last three items are for reviewers only and are not included in the word count, but should appear at the end of the abstract in the up loaded text.

• Abstracts for Case Reports and Clinical Commentaries should reflect the section headings noted in manuscript categories.
• An abstract is required for Clinical Commentary, Clinical Suggestion, and Technical Note, but there is no standardized format.

Study Designs

• Meta-analysis: A review of studies that includes pooled statistical results of three or more studies to obtain an overall answer to a question or interest, in addition to the components of a systematic review outlined below. Summarizes quantitatively the evidence regarding a treatment, procedure, or association.
• Systematic or Scoping Review: An analysis that examines published material (three or more studies) on a clearly described subject in a systematic way.
  There must be a description of how the evidence on this topic was obtained, from what sources, and with what inclusion and exclusion criteria. The review must contain an analysis of quality and/or risk of bias of the included papers, using an accepted system (e.g. PEDRO, Modified Downs and Black, etc.) The IJSPT suggests registration with PROSPERO but is not required.
• Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial: A group of patients is randomized into an experimental group (or groups) and a control group. These groups are followed up for the variables/outcomes of interest.

NOTE: All clinical trials must be prospectively registered at Clinical Trials.gov or a similar database recognized by the ICMJE to be considered for publication. See list of ICMJE- acceptable registries at link> http://www.icmje.org/about- icmje/faqs/clinical-trials-registration/.

Crossover Study Design: The administration of two or more experimental therapies one after the other in a specified or random order to the same group of patients.

• Cohort Study: Involves one or more groups (cohorts) of patients and compares outcomes of subjects that did or did not recieve an exposure of interest.
• Case-Control Study: A study that involves patients who have the condition or outcome of interest (cases) and patients without the same condition or outcome (controls).
• Cross-Sectional Study: The observation of a defined sample or population at a single point in time or time interval. Exposure and outcome are determined simultaneously.
• Case Series: Describes characteristics of a group of patients with a particular disease or who have undergone a particular procedure. Design may be prospective or retrospective. No control group is used in the study, although the discussion may compare the results to other published outcomes.
• Case Report: Similar to the case series, except that only one or a small group of cases is reported.
  Descriptive Epidemiology Study: Observational study describing the injuries or conditions occurring in a particular group or sport.
• Controlled Laboratory Study: An in vitro or in vivo investigation in which one group receiving an experimental treatment is compared to one or more groups receiving no treatment or an alternate treatment.
• Descriptive Laboratory Study: An in vivo or in vitro study that describes characteristics such as anatomy, physiology, or kinesiology of a broad range of subjects or a specific group of interest. Authors should choosethe design that best fits the study.

The Editor will make the final determination of the study design and level of evidence based on the Center for Evidence Based Medicine guidelines.

In general, follow the standard IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Re sults, Discussion) format for writing scientific articles. The author is responsible for all statements made in the work, including copyeditor changes, which the author will have an opportunity to verify. Authors with limited fluency in English should have the paper reviewed or edited by a native English speaker to ensure clear presentation of the work.

Papers including human subjects must include a statement of approval by appropriate agencies in the text, and a copy of the approval letter must be uploaded with the submission. If approval was not required, authors must upload a waiver statement from the appropriate agency. The institution should not be mentioned in the blinded manuscript, but should be added on acceptance. Additionally, all studies with human subjects must include the date range for enrollment in the study. For retrospective studies, please include the date of treatment. For human cadaveric specimens, please provide source (e.g., donation to university anatomy program) and state if permission was obtained for use. For case reports, a letter from the patient granting permission for his/her information to be included in the publication is required.

Use generic names of drugs or devices. If a particular brand was used in a study, insert the brand name along with the name and location of the manufacturer in parentheses after the generic name when the drug or device is first mentioned in the text.

Abbreviations should be used sparingly. When abbreviations are used, give the full term followed by the abbreviation in parentheses the first time it is mentioned in the text, such as femur-ACL-tibia complex (FATC).

Statistical methods should be described in detail.
Authors are encouraged to report confidence intervals, effect sizes, and minimal clinical diferences.

Introduction:
State the problem that led to your undertaking the study, including a concise review of only the relevant literature. Conclude the introduction by restating the purpose of the study and stating your hypothesis (when appropriate). The purpose statment should be identical to the statement in the abstract.

For submissions other than original research, summarize the background, problem, or gap in the evidence that led to the case re port, literature review, commentary, or suggestion.

Methods:
For original research, describe the study design in detail using standard methodologic terms, such as retro spective or prospective cohort study, prospective randomized trial, case control, cross-sectional, etc.
Reports of RCTs should follow the checklist developed by the CONSORT group. Submissions reporting cohort, case control, and cross-sectional studies should conform to the format sug gested by the STROBE panel. Studies reporting diagnostic accuracy should conform to the STARD checklist. Systematic reviews and meta-analy ses should conform to the PRISMA Statement Criteria. Case Reports should conform to the CARE submission checklist for a case report.

Other types of submissions will have few methods, but may describe likely populations for utilization of exercises and materials.

Statistical Methods (Original research and meta- analyses only):

Statistical analysis must be described in detail, and be related to original hypotheses as stated in the introduc tion. Complex statistical strategies and their justification should be described in detail. P-values are re quired to support any statements indicating significant differences, while meta-analyses must include a description of how data were pooled and details of any sensitivity analyses that were performed. Ninety-five percent confidence intervals should accompany all estimates appearing in text or graphs.

Results (Research reports) or Outcomes (Clinical Case reports):
Provide a detailed summary of descriptive and statistical data obtained during the study, or the Outcomes, Diagnosis, Presentation, or illuminating information that is illustrated in a case report.

Discussion:
Succinctly describe the outcomes of your study, systematic review, or case report. Discuss the strength, weaknesses, and limitations of the study. Suggest recommendations for fututure research. Especially important is a scholarly, critical, and referenced analysis of the outcomes or sugges tions related to previous evidence and clinical practice.

Conclusion:
A concise summary of the findings of the study, followed by a brief summary of why the research study, case report, or clinical commentary is important, including clinical relevance.

References should be numbered in order of appearance in the text (in superscript) and must be listed numerically in the reference list. Journal titles and author initials should be properly abbreviated and punctuated. All references in the Reference section should be cited in the text using the reference number in superscript.

• The citation of journals, books, multi-author books and articles published online should conform to the following examples.

Journal: Moore JH, Goss DL, Baxter RE, et al. Clinical diagnostic accuracy and magnetic resonance imagery of patients referred by physical therapists, orthopedic surgeons, and non-orthopedic providers. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2005;35:67-71.

Book: Reese NB. Muscle and Sensory Testing. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2005.101-114.

Chapter in a book: Soderberg GL. Handheld dynamometry for muscle testing. In: Reese NB. Muscle and Sensory Testing. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2005:473-515.

Organization as Author and Publisher: American Physical Therapy Association. Guide to Physical Therapy Practice. 2nd ed. Alexandria, VA: American Physical Therapy Association; 2003.

Website:
Living With Type 1 Diabetes. Diabetes.org. Published February 9, 2015. Accessed April 7, 2015. here.

Tables, Charts and Graphs

• All tables must be in Word Document format and follow the guidelines outlined by Scholastica.
• Original art, scatter plots and bar graphs must be uploaded as .jpg files.
• Place explanatory matter and write out definitions of all abbreviations used in tables, charts and graph in footnotes to go beneath the table. For footnotes use the following symbols, in sequence: *, †, ‡, §, **,
  ††, #
• Identify statistical measure of variation, such as standard deviation and standard error of the mean.
• Each table must be cited in the text.

Figures

• Figures and images should be withon the body of the manuscript document and lables accordingly.
• Photographic releases must be provided for all figures that show a patient’s or client’s face.
• As a rule of thumb, anything that is downloaded from a website will be at too low a resolution for use.
• All figures must be cited in the text.
• For any previously published material, written permission for both print and electronic reprint rights must be obtained from the copyright holder by the submitting author. All permissions that are granted must be forwarded by email or the discussion portal on ScholasticaHQ. The IJSPT will not assume any costs for reprints.

Permission to reproduce figures and extracts Permission to reproduce copyright material, for print and online publication in perpetuity, must be cleared, and, if necessary, paid for by the author; this includes applications and payments to DACS, ARS and similar licensing agencies where appropriate. Evidence in writing that such permissions have been secured from the rights-holder must be made available to the Editors. It is also the author’s responsibility to include acknowledgements as stipulated by the particular institutions. Please note that obtaining copyright permission could take some time

The IJSPT supports the protection of the rights of human subjects. Within the manuscript, statements must be included in the Methods Section that the study was approved by an Institutional Review Board (and the Board should be named) and that informed consent of subjects was obtained prior to the collection of data. For the purpose of review, these statements should be blinded and then changed if the paper is selected for publication.

(.mov), or Audio/Video Interface (.avi) formats. Maximum cumulative length of videos is five minutes. Each video segment may not exceed 50 MB, and each video clip must be saved as a separate file and clearly identified. All video clips must be accompanied by a “Video Legend” document that clearly states the title, purpose, and information to be gleaned by watching the video. A sound track is desirable and is requested.

Copyright of all video clips published on the IJSPT website will be held by the Authors per the CC BY-NC.

Only video submissions that meet the Journal’s formatting and image quality requirements will be accepted. Authors will be notified if there are any problems with submitted files and asked to resubmit modified files. Image editing and correct formatting are the author’s responsibility.

Once an article is accpeted for publication, the corresponding author will be communicated with to provide payment for the APC prior to the typesetting and final proofing stage. Current maximum APC is $1250.
Additional details avaialble on the APC page.

This journal is included or in the process of being included in the following abstracting and indexing databases.

• Clarivate Analytics: Emerging Citation Index Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
• Google Scholar
• National Library of Medicine PubMed ProQuest PubMed Central (PMC)
• SCOPUS

Important Notice on Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement
IJSPT take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of articles published in the Journal.

Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the Journal. Submitted articles may be checked using duplication- checking software. Where an article is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, where authorship of the article is contested, or where data or other in formation is found to be incorrect or falsified, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to, publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction), retracting the article, taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author’s institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies, banning the author from publication in the Journal, or appropriate legal action.