I take great pride in taking up the role of Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. I have been fortunate to follow the progress of the journal over its first 11 volumes through contributing as an author as well as through reading many of its articles on a regular basis. I can truly say that the journal has risen rapidly through the ranks of the increasing number of publications in this area to stamp its mark as a well-respected international journal. This is evidenced by the large number of submissions from across the world by both expert and early career researchers and practitioners. Many milestones along the journey have contributed to the journal's success. Significant achievements such as Medline indexing and the publishing acumen of Elsevier have contributed to the continual improvement and reach of the journal.
A major part of the success of the journal over the past 7 years has been the dedication and unrelenting standards that Caroline Finch has contributed as Editor-in-Chief. Caroline has ensured the high quality of papers accepted for publication, as well as the mix of papers in the various domains of sports medicine and sports science. Of course Caroline has been supported by a team of highly competent Assistant Editors, Editorial Board members, and reviewers, and their contributions should not go unmentioned. That the journal has been so well developed and handled provides me with a strong platform from which to take over as Editor-in-Chief and add my contributions over the coming years. Whilst there is clearly no need for any major changes, we all need to work towards further improving the reach and impact of the journal. Whilst on a formal level the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport sits around the top half of all sports science journals according to impact factor, its reach is highlighted by the large number of media that it is indexed, abstracted and/or published in online. These include AMED, CISTI, CSA Physical Education Index, EMBASE, EMCARE, PEDro, SCI Expanded, SIRC, SPORT Database/Discus, Scisearch, Thomson Scientific Focus on Sport Science & Medicine, ISI, Medline, PsychINFO, and of course ScienceDirect and Scopus. Of particular note, is that in 2008 approximately 15,000 full-text articles from the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport were downloaded from ScienceDirect each month. With this reflecting close to a 600% increase on the previous year, it is likely that article downloads in 2009 and beyond will also rise steeply.
Part of the attraction of the journal is the broad although highly related areas that it covers. Whilst many journals in this field focus on single discipline or professional areas, or even narrow areas of the body, the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport takes an approach of covering sports science (and its many sub-disciplines), sports medicine (with it sub-disciplines), and the rapidly expanding area of physical activity and health. A benefit of this approach is the journal's utility for a range of sports medicine and sports science practitioners and researchers. The international attraction of the journal is also no surprise with each issue containing papers from authors representing many countries around the world. With the benefits of the broad discipline coverage of the journal, we will aim to increase the number of papers we publish in the more “clinical” areas of sports medicine, including those in disciplines such as physiotherapy, podiatry, and nutrition and dietetics. Significant research is being undertaken in these areas and we will find ways of attracting such manuscripts to our journal.
With the success of the journal over past years comes a significant increase in the number of papers submitted for publication. What many of our readers will not know, is that of all papers submitted to the journal only approximately 26% make it through the rigorous process of peer review and revision to the final publication stage. The popularity of the journal in recent years has meant a longer than desirable wait between acceptance of a paper and final publication in the hard copy journal. Whilst we are addressing this matter over the coming year (including the publication of this bumper issue more than double the size of our normal issues), you should be aware of other ways to access accepted papers before hard copy publishing. In working with Elsevier, all papers are available as full text after acceptance and typesetting through ScienceDirect, and are able to be downloaded and cited.
This first issue of volume 12 of the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport contains a massive 40 papers covering a range of areas. We include three review papers covering areas such as shoulder pain in water polo players and epidemiology of injury in rugby league. Under Biomechanics we have several papers covering areas such as muscle recruitment differences between novice and elite cyclists, whole body vibration and knee extensor strength, and neuromuscular electrical stimulation and postural control. Our section on Exercise Physiology includes research reports on a range of populations such as surf lifesavers and soccer players. Under the heading of Physical Activity, the papers in this issue address important topics such as coronary heart disease risk factors in adolescent girls, social influences on physical activity, health promotion strategies within sport and recreation organisations, and the validation of physical activity measurement methods in children. Papers in the Sports Injury section cover the risk of falling and injury in older people playing ball sports, and safety assessment of sports grounds. Under the Sports Medicine heading we have included a paper on the oral contraceptive cycle phase and performance in team sports, and a paper on Achilles tendon injuries. Finally, in our Sport Science section there is a paper on the physiological demand of goalkeeping in water polo, a study of compression garments, a paper focusing on female athletic talent, and one on the reactive agility of rugby league players.
As we celebrate the journal's past and future, please enjoy this bumper issue which I am sure contains interesting material for our large readership of both researchers and sports medicine and sports science practitioners.
FULL TEXT