NISR Journal of Sports Reform

The National Institute for Sports Reform (NISR) also supports a twice yearly peer reviewed publication entitled the Journal of Sports Reform (JSR). We welcome manuscripts for consideration which address issues surrounding the reform of sports in the United States. Articles for publication may be authored by either academic or nonacademic affiliated individuals. Importantly, the submission should contribute to the public debate regarding the reform of youth, scholastic, amateur, and collegiate sports in the United States. The first issue of JSR, to be published in July, 2004, will be a special inaugural theme issue devoted to an examination of why we need sports reform in our present culture.

Submission Guidelines

The Journal of Sports Reform is the official journal of the National Institute for Sports Reform (NISR). It publishes original articles, theoretical reviews, and topical special issues in the field of sports reform broadly defined. The journal’s scope includes the various issues of major concern in our sports culture including but not limited to: exploitation and academic corruption, commercialism, early professionalization and specialization, sports gambling, performance enhancing drugs and supplements, declining sportsmanship and elevated misbehavior and violence, unbalanced media coverage, unequal sports opportunities, escalating sports injuries, and declining health and fitness. Because these issues impact all levels of sport, the journal will consider manuscripts which have as their principle focus youth, amateur, scholastic, collegiate, and professional sports.

Submissions should be prepared according to the guidelines in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 4th Edition. Copies of this manual are found in most university libraries and examples of the format can be seen in articles from a number of journals (e.g., Sociology of Sport Journal, American Sociological Review, Psychological Review, Psychological Bulletin). Manuscripts must be double spaced including the abstract, all block quotations and field notes, references, and tables. Tables, figures and graphs must be clearly labeled and included on separate pages. All manuscripts must be preceded by an abstract of 75-125 words typed on a separate page. Footnotes should be limited in number and none may exceed 6 lines in length. Content footnotes should not be used and instead all important information should be included in the text and all incidental information should be omitted.

PC generated screens (i.e., dot patterns) do not reproduce well during printing and should not be used to create shading in figures. Figures can be submitted on disk if they are created by Adobe Illustrator or are saved as eps, tiff, or pict format.

Three copies of the manuscript should be submitted to the editor, Dr. Bruce Svare, Director, National Institute of Sports Reform, PO Box 128, Selkirk, New York 12158. If accepted, a disc version will be required at a later date. All copies should be laser printed on white 8 1/2 X 11 paper with 1 inch margins all around. Manuscripts should not be submitted to another journal at the same time. Authors should carefully proofread their manuscript before submission and carefully check the accuracy of references.

Manuscripts are read by two reviewers, with the review process taking 4 to 6 weeks. There are no page charges for contributors. Authors of manuscripts accepted for publication must transfer copyright to the National Institute for Sports Reform.

A blind review process is used to evaluate submitted manuscripts. With each copy of the manuscript, authors are requested to submit a separate cover sheet including the title of the manuscript, name of the author(s), institutional affiliations(s), running head, date of manuscript submission, and full mailing address, email address, fax number, and phone number of the author who is to receive the proofs. The first page of the manuscript would omit the author’s name and affiliation but include the title of the manuscript and date of submission. Footnotes that identify the author should be typed on a separate page, and any clues to the author’s identity should be eliminated. Manuscripts will be evaluated in terms of topical relevance, theoretical and methodological adequacy, and clarity of explanation and analysis. An online version of the journal will also be available to those holding membership in the NISR.

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