About the Journal
Publisher
The African Journal for Physical Activity and Health Sciences (AJPHES) is a refereed journal published quarterly (March, June, September and December) by LAM Publications Limited.
Publication Scheduling
AJPHES is published quarterly, i.e., in March, June, September and December.
Supplements/Special editions are also published periodically. Specific details about the publication of a supplement/special issue are obtainable from the Editor-In-Chief upon request.
EDITORIAL POLICY
AJPHES publishes research papers that contribute to knowledge and practice, and also develops theory either as new information, critical reviews, confirmation of previous findings, application of new teaching/coaching techniques and research notes. Letters to the editor, relating to the materials previously published in AJPHES, could be submitted within 3 months after publication of the article in question. Such letters will be referred to the corresponding author and both the letter and response will be published concurrently in a subsequent issue of the journal.
Manuscripts are considered for publication in AJPHES based on the understanding that they have neither been published nor submitted for publication in any other journal. Corresponding authors should make such declarations in submitting papers for publication. Where a paper has been partly or wholly published or presented at congresses, seminars or symposia, reference to that publication should be made in the acknowledgement section of the manuscript.
AJPHES is published quarterly, i.e., in March, June, September and December. Supplements/Special editions are also published periodically. Specific details about the publication of a supplement/special issue are obtainable from the Editor-In-Chief upon request.
MANUSCRIPT REVIEW POLICY
AJPHES’ review process normally takes about 8 weeks and authors will be advised about the decision on submitted manuscripts within 90 days. In order to ensure anonymity during the review process, authors are requested to avoid self-referencing or keep it to the barest minimum. AJPHES adheres strictly to the ethical principle of responsible publishing and relies on expert opinions of specialists in the various fields of physical activity and health sciences to guide its decisions on acceptance or rejection of papers submitted.
Guided by the Editor and the editorial board, AJPHES adopts a blind review process in which manuscripts submitted are evaluated by at least two specialist reviewers (who may or may not be members of the editorial board). In circumstances where two reviewers give inconsistent recommendations on the acceptance of a paper or otherwise, the Editor nominates a third reviewer to resolve the disagreement. However, if the discrepancy is not resolved even after the appointment of a third reviewer, the Editor adjudicates on the matter. In this regard, the Editor’s adjudication is based on the principle of consensus building on specific areas of contention between reviewers.
Manuscripts submitted to AJPHES are reviewed based on a four-step assessment procedure. STEP 1 involves the editor undertaking an initial screening of the manuscript to determine whether or not it fits the scope of AJPHES as well as its overall potential contribution to knowledge and practice in physical activity and health sciences. A manuscript which does not fit the scope of the journal or is not of topical interest, is declined within one week of its submission, and the Editor promptly notifies the corresponding author.
In STEP 2, a specialist reviewer is assigned a potentially suitable paper for review and undertakes the review by thoroughly reading the article and rating each of the following 11-point criteria as appropriate: Relevance to AJPHES in terms of scope/focus, approach and content; (1) Manuscript’s title and introduction (Background, problem statement, aim/purpose, objectives, research question and hypotheses as applicable); (2) Scientific merit of the manuscript; (3) Theoretical basis/conceptual framework as appropriate and relevant to the topic, results and discussion; (4) Structure/organisation/presentation of material – logical flow and with clarity; (5) Methodology – Study design/approach-appropriate, adequate in terms of procedures, methods and analysis, and relevance in line with recent trends, and (6) Results – Clarity and consistency with aims, objectives, research question and hypothesis, and accuracy of presentation. Other criteria include: (7) Discussion and Conclusions – Critically appropriate, reflective and focused; (8) Recommendation – Practical and strategic, rather than operational, contain policy implications as appropriate; (9) References – Significant updated publications in the field, adequacy of spread of authors and up-to date citations; (10) Abstract – Concise and reflective of manuscript and appropriate keywords; and (11) Technical aspects – Font, outlay, language, referencing and formatting. The reviewer’s rating of each of the above guidelines is based on the following qualities: inadequate, marginal, adequate or excellent.
After the evaluation in STEP 2, the reviewer then ranks the manuscript’s overall contribution to knowledge and practice in physical activity and health sciences (STEP 3). The reviewer’s evaluation in STEP 3 is based on a ten-point scale designed to indicate his/her final ranking of the overall contribution and potential impact of the paper, ranging from 1=Little or no contribution to 10=Outstanding/cutting edge innovation and state of the art contribution.
STEP 4, the final stage of the evaluation process, concerns reviewer’s recommendation regarding acceptance of paper for publication or otherwise. This aspect has the following dimensions: Acceptable for publication in AJPHES (with little or no revision); Acceptable for publication with minor editorial or technical revisions; Acceptable for publication with major revisions/rewrite; Acceptable for publication with major revisions/rewrite and resubmit for another round of review and Rejected (Not acceptable for publication). Based on our reviewers’ recommendations and once editorial decisions have been reached, corresponding authors are promptly notified by the Editor. Accepted manuscripts are generally published within 6 to 8 months of acceptance.
SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPT
Original manuscript and all correspondence should be addressed to the
Editor-In-Chief: Professor A.L. Toriola
E-mail: abel.toriola2015@gmail.com
Tel: +27 12 3825806
Cell phone: +27 82 5451852
Department of Sport, Rehabilitation and Dental Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology,
P. Bag X680, Pretoria 0001, Republic of South Africa
Articles should be submitted electronically, i.e., via e-mail attachment, directly to the Editor. However, the corresponding author should ensure that such articles are virus free.
PROOFREADING
Manuscript accepted for publication will be returned to the corresponding author for final correction and proofreading. Corrected proofs should be returned to the Editor-In-Chief electronically within 48 hours of receipt. It will be assumed that there are no further revisions and the paper should be published, if no response is received from the corresponding author within 72 hours. Minor editorial corrections are handled by AJPHES.
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
LAM Publications Ltd. holds the copyright for AJPHES. In keeping with copyright laws, authors will be required to assign copyright of accepted manuscripts to LAM Publications Ltd. This ensures that both the publishers and the authors are protected from misuse of copyright information. AJPHES is not yet an open access journal, but intends to adopt this platform in the future. Requests for permission to use copyright materials should be addressed to the Editor-in-Chief.
COMPLIMENTARY COPY OF AJPHES AND ORDER INFORMATION
Principal authors will receive a maximum of three (3) complimentary hard copies of the journal. In case of two or more joint authors, the principal author distributes the copies received to the co authors. After publication, pdfs of published articles are sent to corresponding authors for distribution to the co-authors. Electronic copies can be ordered from SABINET at www.sabinet.co.za or AJOL at www.ajol.info or EBSCO at www.ebscohost.com. Requests for AJPHES’ subscription should be addressed to the Editor-In-Chief. Specific subscription information are contained in the preliminary pages of every published issue of the journal.
