A very warm welcome to the first issue of 2018 of the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. This editorial offers a brief note to signpost some changes to the guidelines for submitting work to the journal. From 2018, authors are requested to include a 50-word lay summary directly after the abstract in their manuscript. Lay summaries provide a simple and effective means to increase the visibility, impact, and transparency of scientific research (cf. Fischhoff, & Davis, Citation2014), and should focus on the significance of the research undertaken with respect to the central or fundamental questions in the field (i.e., the “why and so what?” rather than the “how?”).
An additional amendment to the journal submission guidelines is a change to the permitted manuscript page length. In order to reflect the methodological diversity of articles the journal receives, the maximum length for quantitative and qualitative submissions will be 30 and 35 double-spaced pages respectively (including tables, figures and references). Authors seeking to submit qualitative manuscripts are guided to ensure that within their methodology the epistemological underpinning of the work is clearly stated and the subsequent procedures consider the rigor of the data collection process. Further assistance can be found in recent commentaries upon rigor in qualitative approaches in sport psychology (e.g., Smith, & McGannon, Citation2017).
I am also delighted to announce the journal will be introducing a number of initiatives for the upcoming year, including the publication of a Special Issue entitled “Organizational Psychology in Sport.” A call is also currently open for a Special Issue of the journal entitled “Psychology of the Sports Coach.” The deadline for expressions of interest for this call is 12th January 2018 (please refer to the journal's website for further details). Upcoming issues will also include an invited article from eminent and upcoming scholars focusing on prominent topics in the field of applied sport and exercise psychology.
The Editorial Board is welcoming some new members for 2018 including: Lindsey Blom (Ball State University), Luc Martin (Queens University), Scott Pierce (Illinois State University) and Robin Vealey (Miami University). I would personally like to thank all of the existing Editorial Board members for their hard work and contribution to the journal over the past 12 months and also to all those individuals who have undertaken reviewing duties for the journal in this time. Your hard work continues to ensure that the journal is able to publish work that significantly advances thought, theory, and research on applied aspects of sport and exercise psychology.
On behalf of myself and the Editorial Board we hope you enjoy the latest issue of the journal. If you are undertaking high quality research within our field, especially work that is applied in nature or explores professional practice, then the journal offers a very receptive audience for the dissemination of your findings and we welcome your submissions.
References
- Fischhoff, B., & Davis, A. L. (2014). Communicating scientific uncertainty. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111 (Supplement 4), 13664–13671. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1317504111
- Smith, B., & McGannon, K. R. (2017). Developing rigor in qualitative research: Problems and opportunities within sport and exercise psychology. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2017.1317357