Peer Review Policy

Peer Review Policy

Peer Review is the process that determines whether or not a work is of sufficient quality to be published. To assist editors in deciding whether a submitted manuscript should be published in their journal, researchers working in the relevant study area evaluate the submissions for originality, validity, and significance. More information regarding the procedure of peer review can be found on this page.

The peer review process utilised by the International Journal of Sports, Yoga and Physical Activity (IJSYPA) is a double-blind process. This means that the reviewers are not aware of the names and affiliations of the authors; also, the reviewer reports that are sent to the authors are anonymous.

The advantage of using a style of peer review known as single-blind review is that it is the established model of peer review, which means that many reviewers are familiar with it, and it makes it easier to provide an objective evaluation of a paper.

In most cases, the submitted manuscripts will be evaluated by two or more specialists who will be asked to determine whether or not the manuscript is coherent and sound from a scientific standpoint, whether or not it duplicates other work that has previously been published, and whether or not the text is clear enough to be suitable for publication. Following consideration of these reports and, if required, discussion with other members of the Editorial Board, the Editors will come to a conclusion and announce their decision.

Research publications that cover a broad spectrum of scientific fields related to sports, yoga and physical activity are welcome to be submitted to IJSYPA for consideration. The fact that the results and conclusions are both scientifically valid and of an exceptional level of quality in terms of their technique and conceptualization is the unifying factor.

Editorial evaluation of an article in reference to the following three criteria is used as the basis for making all choices regarding whether or not to begin the process of peer review: 1) conformity to the scope of the journal (sports, yoga or physical activity and associated behaviours such as nutritional behaviour); 2) methodological rigour; and 3) originality of the research. There is no hard and fast rule about the length of the work in terms of the number of words, but we do encourage authors to keep in mind that articles should be as succinct as is reasonably possible, and we very rarely publish pieces that are more than 5500 words.