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Instructions to Authors—The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

Updated: 09/2007

The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (JSCR) is the official research journal of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). Membership in the NSCA is not a requirement for publication in the journal. It publishes original investigations, reviews, symposia, research notes, and technical and methodological reports contributing to the knowledge about strength and conditioning in sport and exercise. All manuscripts must be original works and present applications to the strength and conditioning professional or provide the basis for further applied research in the area. Manuscripts are subjected to a “double blind” peer review by at least two reviewers who are experts in the field. Editorial decisions will be based on the quality, clarity, style, and importance of the submission relative to the goals and objectives of the NSCA and the journal. Tips for writing a manuscript for the JSCR can be found at http://www.nsca-lift.org/publications/JSCRtips.shtml. Please read this document carefully prior to preparation of a manuscript.

Important Notice: Manuscripts not formatted according to author guidelines will be returned to the corresponding author.

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Editorial Mission Statement

The editorial mission of the JSCR, formerly the Journal of Applied Sport Science Research (JASSR), is to advance the knowledge about strength and conditioning through research. Since 1978 the NSCA has attempted to “bridge the gap” from the scientific laboratory to the field practitioner. A unique aspect of this journal is that it includes recommendations for the practical use of research findings. While the journal name identifies strength and conditioning as separate entities, strength is considered a part of conditioning. This journal wishes to promote the publication of peer-reviewed manuscripts that add to our understanding of conditioning and sport through applied exercise and sport science.

Original Research

JSCR publishes research that addresses a wide variety of questions concerning conditioning, sport, and exercise demands. This ranges from research on the effects of training programs on physical performance and function to the underlying biological basis for exercise performance. Research is appropriate from a number of disciplines attempting to gain insights about sport, sport demands, conditioning, and exercise such as biomechanics, exercise physiology, motor learning, nutrition, and psychology. A primary goal of JSCR is to provide an improved scientific basis for conditioning practices.

Symposia

JSCR publishes symposia that are related to the journal’s mission. A symposium is a group of articles by different authors that address an issue from various perspectives.

Brief Reviews

JSCR publishes brief reviews by scientific experts in the field. The reviews should provide a critical examination of the literature and integrate the results of previous research in an attempt to educate the reader as to the basic and applied aspects of the topic. We are especially interested in applied aspects of the reviewed literature.

Scientific Comments, Methodological Reports, and Research Notes

JSCR also publishes short research reports, technical reports and short research communications, and strongly encourages the submission of manuscripts detailing methodologies that help to advance the study of strength and conditioning.

Manuscript Clarifications

Manuscript Clarifications will be considered and will be published “on-line” if accepted. Not all requests for manuscript clarifications will be published due to costs or content importance. Each will be reviewed by a specific sub-committee of Associate Editors to determine if it merits publication. A written review with needed revisions will be provided if it merits consideration. Clarifications questions are limited to 400 words and should only pose professional questions to the authors and not editorial comments (as of 19.2). If accepted, a copy will be sent to the author of the original article with an invitation to submit answers to the questions in the same manner again with a 400 word limit.

Submissions should be sent to the JSCR Editorial Office

Editorial Office

William J. Kraemer, Ph.D., CSCS
Editor-In-Chief,
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
Department of Kinesiology, Unit 1110
2095 Hillside Road, Gampel Pavilion
The University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT 06269-1110
Phone: (860) 486-6892
FAX: (860) 486-6898
Email: william.kraemer@uconn.edu

Manuscript Submission Guidelines

  1. Authors should submit the original and three (3) copies and either a PC-formatted CD, a PC-formatted 100 MB zip disk, or a PC-formatted high density 1.44 MB 3.5” floppy diskette to the editorial office. The file should be in one of the following formats: Microsoft® Word® (.doc, .rtf, .txt), Corel® WordPerfect® (.wpd, .rtf, .txt), or Adobe® Acrobat® (.pdf).

    2. If submitting by email:


  2. A cover letter must accompany the manuscript and state the following:

    “This manuscript contains material that is original and not previously published in text or on the Internet, nor is it being considered elsewhere until a decision is made as to its acceptability by the JSCR Editorial Review Board.”

    The National Strength and Conditioning Association must receive in writing the exclusive assignment of copyright from all authors at the time of manuscript submission. This form can be found at http://www.nsca-lift.org/Publications/JSCRCopyrightRelease.pdf. If only one author signs the copyright assignment form, such author warrants that he/she is the duly authorized agent of all other co-authors. Your manuscript will not be published if a signed copyright release form is not returned. Please return your original signed copyright assignment form to the editorial office at the time you submit your manuscript. Please keep a copy for your records. Manuscripts are considered for publication on the condition that they are contributed solely to the JSCR and, therefore, have not been and will not be published elsewhere, in part or in whole. Manuscripts containing data that have been posted to the Internet for public access will not be considered for publication.

  3. All authors should be aware of the publication and be able to defend the paper and its findings and should have signed off on the final version that is submitted. For additional details related to authorship, see “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals” at http://www.icmje.org/.
  4. The NSCA and the Editorial Board of the JSCR have endorsed the American College of Sports Medicine’s policies with regards to animal and human experimentation. Their guidelines can be found online at http://www.editorialmanager.com/msse/. Please read these policies carefully. Each manuscript must show that they have had Institutional Board approval for their research and appropriate consent has been obtained pursuant to law. All manuscripts must have this clearly stated in the methods section of the paper or the manuscript will not be considered for publication.
  5. All manuscripts must be double-spaced with an additional space between paragraphs on 8½ x11-inch paper. The paper should include a minimum of 1-inch margins and page numbers in the upper right corner next to the running head. Please use a font of at least 12. Authors must use terminology based upon the International System of Units (SI). A full list of SI units can be accessed online at http://physics.nist.gov/. Manuscript identification numbers (e.g., R-12034) will be assigned to each manuscript, and should be placed on all revised manuscripts and used along with the manuscript title for all communications with the Editorial Office. Any revision should have the revision number placed after the manuscript number, (e.g., R-12034, Revision 1).
  6. Again the JSCR endorses the same policies as the American College of Sports Medicine in that the language is English for the publication. “Authors who speak English as a second language are encouraged to seek the assistance of a colleague experienced in writing for English language journals. Authors are encouraged to use nonsexist language as defined in the American Psychologist 30:682-684, 1975, and to be sensitive to the semantic description of persons with chronic diseases and disabilities, as outlined in an editorial in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise®, 23(11), 1991. As a general rule, only standardized abbreviations and symbols should be used. If unfamiliar abbreviations are employed, they should be defined when they first appear in the text. Authors should follow Webster’s Tenth Collegiate Dictionary for spelling, compounding, and division of words. Trademark names should be capitalized and the spelling verified. Chemical or generic names should precede the trade name or abbreviation of a drug the first time it is used in the text.”

Manuscript Section Order

1. Title Page
The title page should include the manuscript title, brief running head, laboratory(s) where the research was conducted, authors’ full name(s) spelled out with middle initials, department(s), institution(s), full mailing address of corresponding author including telephone and fax numbers, and email address.
2. Blind Title Page
A second title page should be included that contains only the manuscript title. This will be used for reviewer copies.
3. ABSTRACT and Key Words
On a separate sheet of paper, the manuscript must have an abstract with a limit of 275 words followed by 3 – 6 key words not used in the title. The abstract should have sentences (no headings) related to the purpose of the study, brief methods, results, conclusions and practical applications. Do not end with statements such as “will be discussed.”
4. Text
The text must contain the following sections with titles in ALL CAPS in this exact order:
A. INTRODUCTION
This section is a careful development of the hypotheses of the study leading to the purpose of the investigation. Limit information that is “chapter like” in nature as this is not an exhaustive review of the topic. Focus the studies lending support to your hypothesis(es) and giving the proper context to the problem being studied. In most cases use no subheadings in this section and try to limit it to 4 – 6 concisely written paragraphs.
B. METHODS
Within the METHODS section, the following subheadings are required in the following order: “Approach to the Problem,” where the author(s) show how their study design will be able to test the hypotheses developed in the introduction and give some basic rationales for the choices made for the independent and dependent variables used in the study; “Subjects,” where the authors include the Institutional Review Board or Ethics Committee approval of their project and appropriate informed consent has been gained. All subject characteristics that are not dependent variables of the study should be included in this section and not in the RESULTS; “Procedures,” in this section the methods used are presented with the concept of “replication of the study” kept in mind. After reading this section another investigator should be able to replicate your study. Under this subheading you can add others but please limit their use to that which makes the methods clear and in order of the investigation (e.g., Biochemical Assays or EMG Analyses); “Statistical Analyses,” here is where you clearly state your statistical approach to the analysis of the data set(s). It is important that you include your alpha level for significance (e.g., P < 0.05). Please place your statistical power in the manuscript for the n size used and reliability of the dependent measures with intra-class correlations (ICC Rs). Additional subheadings can be used but should be limited
C. RESULTS
Present the results of your study in this section. Put the most important findings in Figure or Table format and less important findings in the text. Do not include data that is not part of the experimental design or that has been published before. Place descriptive data about subjects in the METHODS section under the subheading of Subjects. Make sure that you cite each Figure and Table, and in space between paragraphs indicate roughly where you want each Figure or Table to appear (e.g., Table 1 about here)
D. DISCUSSION
Discuss the meaning of the results of your study in this section. Relate them to the literature that currently exists and make sure that you bring the paper to completion with each of your hypotheses. Limit obvious statements like, “more research is needed.”
E. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
In this section, tell the “coach” or practitioner how your data can be applied and used. It is the distinctive characteristic of the JSCR and supports the mission of “Bridging the Gap” for the NSCA between the laboratory and the field practitioner. This section of the paper should speak directly to this audience and not to the exercise or sport scientist.
5. References
All references must be alphabetized by surname of first author and numbered. References are cited in the text by numbers [e.g., (4,9)]. All references listed must be cited in the manuscript and referred to by number therein. For original investigations, please limit the number of references to fewer than 40 or explain why more are necessary. The Editorial Office reserves the right to ask authors to reduce the number of references in the manuscript. Please check references carefully for accuracy. Changes to references at the proof stage, especially changes affecting the numerical order in which they appear, will result in author revision fees. Below are several examples of references:
Journal Article
HARTUNG, G.H., R.J. BLANCQ, D.A. LALLY, and L.P. KROCK. Estimation of aerobic capacity from submaximal cycle ergometry in women. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 27:452 – 457. 1995.
Book
LOHMAN, T.G. Advances in Body Composition Assessment. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1992.
Chapter in an edited book
YAHARA, M.L. The shoulder. In: Clinical Orthopedic Physical Therapy. J.K. Richardson and Z.A. Iglarsh, eds. Philadelphia: Saunders, 1994. pp. 159 – 199.
Software
HOWARD, A. Moments [software]. University of Queensland, 1992.
Proceedings
VIRU, A., M. VIRU, R. HARRIS, V. OOPIK, A. NURMEKIVI, L. MEDIJAINEN, AND S. TIMPMANN. Performance capacity in middle-distance runners after enrichment of diet by creatine and creatine action on protein synthesis rate. In: Proceedings of the 2nd Maccabiah-Wingate International Congress of Sport and Coaching Sciences. G. Tenenbaum and T. Raz-Liebermann, eds. Netanya, Israel, Wingate Institute, 1993. pp. 22 – 30.
Dissertation/Thesis
BARTHOLMEW, S.A. Plyometric and vertical jump training. Master’s thesis, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1985.
6. Acknowledgements
In this section you can place the information related to Identification of funding sources; Current contact information of corresponding author; and gratitude to other people involved with the conduct of the experiment. In this part of the paper the conflict of interest information must be included. Authors are required to state in the acknowledgments all funding sources, and the names of companies, manufacturers, or outside organizations providing technical or equipment support. In particular, authors should: 1) Disclose professional relationships with companies or manufacturers who will benefit from the results of the present study, and 2) State that the results of the present study do not constitute endorsement of the product by the authors or the NSCA. Failure to disclose such information could result in the rejection of the submitted manuscript.
7. Figures
First create a page entitled “Figure Legends” in which each of the figure legends are listed. Next, place each of the figures on separate pages that follow. All figures should be professional in appearance. They should also be viable for size reductions to fit manuscript space allocations. One set of figures should accompany each manuscript. Use only clearly delineated symbols and bars.

Electronic photographs copied and pasted into Word and PowerPoint will not be accepted. Images should be scanned at a minimum of 300 pixels per inch (ppi). Line art should be scanned at 1200 ppi. Please indicate the file format of the graphics. We accept TIFF or EPS format for both Macintosh and PC platforms. We also accept image files in the following Native Application File Formats:
  • Adobe Photoshop (.psd)
  • Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) (use Press setting under Job Option)
  • Illustrator (.ai)
  • Macromedia FreeHand (.fh)
  • Corel Draw (.cdr)
  • Canvas (.cvs)
  • PowerPoint (.ppt)
  • Word (.doc)
  • Excel (.xls)
  • InDesign (.id)
  • PageMaker (.pmd)
  • QuarkXPress (.qxd)

If you will be using a digital camera to capture images for print production, you must use the highest resolution setting option with the least amount of compression. Digital camera manufacturers use many different terms and file formats when capturing high-resolution images, so please refer to your camera’s manual for more information.

8. Tables
Tables must be double-spaced on separate sheets and include a brief title. Provide generous spacing within tables and use as few line rules as possible. When tables are necessary, the information should not duplicate data in the text. All figures and tables must include standard deviations or standard errors.

Author Fees

JSCR does not charge authors a manuscript submission fee or page charges. However, once a manuscript is accepted for publication and sent in for typesetting, it is expected to be in its final form. If excessive revisions (more than 5) are made at the proof stage, the corresponding author will be billed $3.75 per revision. In addition, the following charges will apply to figure revisions: $25.00 per Halftone (B&W) Figure Remake, $19.00 per Line Art (B&W) Figure Remake, and $150.00 per Color Figure Remake. Please note that the most common cause for excessive revisions is the renumbering of references. If one change to a single reference causes other references to be renumbered, it affects both the reference section and each citation for those references in the text. Each one of these changes is counted as an author revision so please check your references carefully.

Manuscript Format Checklist

Manuscript Submission Checklist

___ Cover Letter

___ Completed Copyright Assignment Form

___ Original Manuscript + 3 copies (including figures)

___ CD, zip disk, or 3.5” floppy diskette containing the manuscript and figures

Terminology and Units of Measurement

Per the JSCR Editorial Board and to promote consistency and clarity of communication among all scientific journals authors should use standard terms generally acceptable to the field of exercise science and sports science. Along with the American College of Sports Medicine’s Medicine and Science ins Sport and Exercise, the JSCR Editorial Board endorses the use of the following terms and units.

The units of measurement shall be Système International d’Unités (SI). Permitted exceptions to SI are heart rate—beats per min; blood pressure—mm Hg; gas pressure—mm Hg. Authors should refer to the British Medical Journal (1:1334 – 1336, 1978) and the Annals of Internal Medicine (106:114 – 129, 1987) for the proper method to express other units or abbreviations. When expressing units, please locate the multiplication symbol midway between lines to avoid confusion with periods; e.g., mL·min-1·kg-1.

The basic and derived units most commonly used in reporting research in this Journal include the following:

mass—gram (g) or kilogram (kg); force—newton (N); distance—meter (m), kilometer (km); temperature—degree Celsius (°C); energy, heat, work—joule (J) or kilojoule (kJ); power—watt (W); torque—newton-meter (N·m); frequency—hertz (Hz); pressure—pascal (Pa); time—second (s), minute (min), hour (h); volume—liter (L), milliliter (mL); and amount of a particular substance—mole (mol), millimole (mmol).

Selected conversion factors:

When using nomenclature for muscle fiber types please use the following terms. Muscle fiber types can identified using histochemical or gel electrophoresis methods of classification. Histochemical staining of the ATPases is used to separate fibers into type I (slow twitch), type IIa (fast twitch) and type IIb (fast twitch) forms. The work of Smerdu et. al (AJP 267: C1723, 1994) indicates that type IIb fibers contain type IIx myosin heavy chain (gel electrophoresis fiber typing). For the sake of continuity and to decrease confusion on this point it is recommended that authors use IIx to designate IIb fibers in theie manuscripts.

Smerdu, V., Karsch-Mizrachi I., Campione M., Leinwand L., Schiaffino S. Type IIx myosin heavy chain transcripts are expressed in type IIb fibers of human skeletal muscle. Am J. Physiol. 267 (6 Pt 1):C1723-1728, 1994.



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