About the Journal

The South African Journal of Sports Medicine is accredited by the Department of Higher Education and Training (2024). For a full list see Indexing/Listing below.

 

Focus and Scope

The South African Journal of Sports Medicine is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes original research articles, reviews, commentaries, letters and case studies on topics related to the disciplines represented by the South African Sports Medicine Association. One volume is published a year with articles added as they are ready for publication. These disciplines include sports medicine, biokinetics, physiotherapy, exercise and sports science, dietetics and psychology. Material that is particularly unique and relevant to South Africa and its inhabitants are given preference; however, any other material of general interest and relevance will also be considered.

Peer Review Process

The peer review process is handled and recorded via an online editorial system. After a manuscript is submitted via the online system by a researcher, the Editor-in-Chief screens the manuscript and rejects unsuitable or poor-quality manuscripts at this point. Articles deemed appropriate for peer review are sent to 2 - 3 reviewers selected by the Editor-in-Chief and/or members of the editorial board. Reviewers are invited if they are experienced researchers with expertise in the contents of the manuscript. Following acceptance to perform the review, the reviewers are furnished with a copy of the manuscript and the journal’s peer review guidelines, to which they are asked to adhere. The identity of the authors and their affiliation details are blanked out to ensure a blind review. Reviewers are asked to complete the review within 4 weeks. Reviewers submit their reports via the online editorial system with a recommendation on the readiness of the paper for publication. The editor collates the review reports and makes a decision on the status of the paper accordingly.

Manuscripts may be: accepted (subject to minor or no revisions); declined; returned to the authors for revision (to address all reviewer comments in detail, with the possibility of resending for peer review depending on the nature of the reviewer comments); or invited for re-submission altogether.  Authors are not made aware of the identity of a reviewer (double-blind approach) unless insisted upon by the reviewer for transparency. Members of the editorial board may be called upon to make additional recommendations.

The Editor-in-Chief has final decision on the acceptance or rejection of all manuscripts. The Editor-in-Chief may assign a rating to reviewers based on the quality of their review, which is entered into the online system for future reference. 

Enrol as a reviewer

Readers who are actively involved in research and with particular expertise are encouraged to serve as peer reviewers of the journal:
 

  • Already a registered user? Login to the journal website and edit your profile to include 'Reviewer' as a role. Kindly express your interest to serve as a Reviewer in an email to the Editor-in-Chief, specifying your user login.
     
  • Not a registered user? Reviewers are required to register with the journal website. Kindly also express your interest to serve as a Reviewer in an email to the Editor-in-Chief. Please read our privacy policy regarding registration.

Accept an invitation to review

Login to the journal website, click on Reviewer and then the title of the article under active submissions. Under Review Step 1 select the email icon adjacent to the appropriate response (will do the review/unable to do the review) to notify the Editor.

Performing and submitting a review

Ensure that you have accepted to perform the review (outlined above) and consulted the Reviewer Guidelines provided. Login to the journal website, click on Reviewer and the title of the article under active submissions. Complete Steps 2 - 7 and click 'Submit Review to Editor'. Should you require further assistance, contact the Editor-in-Chief.

Publication Frequency

From 2017 onwards the South African Journal of Sports Medicine operates under a continuous publication model. One volume is published a year with articles added as they are ready for publication. 

Notifications

Readers of the South African Journal of Sports Medicine are encouraged to register with the journal website to receive notifications of new issues online (open access).

  • Already a registered user? Login to the journal website and edit your profile to include 'Reader' as a role.
     
  • Not a registered user? Register with the journal website and specify 'Reader' as a role in your user profile. For assistance contact the Editor-in-Chief. Please read our privacy policy regarding registration.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined as the use of another's work, words or ideas without attribution or permission, and representation of them as one’s own original work. Plagiarism may take many forms, ranging from major plagiarism (the copy-and-paste of large amounts of text), to minor plagiarism without dishonest intent (e.g. when an author uses parts of an introduction from an earlier paper) and even self-plagiarism (the reuse of significant, identical or near-identical portions of one's own work without citing the original version).

The journal subscribes to CrossCheck, an initiative to prevent scholarly and professional plagiarism. All manuscripts submitted to the journal are automatically scanned against the CrossCheck database to verify originality. 

Manuscripts containing plagiarism will not be considered for publication in the journal. If plagiarism is brought to light after a manuscript has been published, the journal will proceed to conduct a preliminary investigation. Suspected misconduct will be reported to the institutes and funding agencies of the authors concerned. The journal reserves the right to formally retract such manuscripts and publish statements to reference material as plagiarism.

Publishing Fees

R5 500 per paper for SASMA members (first or senior author)

R7 000 per paper for non-SASMA members. 

Payment is made after the paper has been accepted for publication, before the copyediting stage.

Copyright & License Terms

Copyright on articles is owned by the journal.

All articles published in the South African Journal of Sports Medicine can be re-used under the following CC license: 

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) International

Material submitted for publication in the South African Journal of Sports Medicine is accepted provided it has not been published elsewhere. The South African Journal of Sports Medicine does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.

Indexing/Listing

South African Journal of Sports Medicine is indexed/listed by the following:

View the ASSAf Committee on Scholarly Publishing in South Africa Report on Grouped Peer Review of Scholarly Journals in the Health Sciences and Related Medical Fields (2014) for an independent peer-review of SAJSM. 

Usage and Impact

Statistics are generated through OJS, as well as all other platforms indexing SAJSM.

Access selected statistics at:

Source: Google Scholar Citations Profile

Sponsors

The South African Sports Medicine Association is an a-political, non-profit, multidisciplinary professional and scientific society dedicated to the motivation, responses, adaptation and health of people involved in sport and exercise.

Sources of Support

The South African Journal of Sports Medicine is hosted using OJS, made available by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).

Disclaimer 

The statements and comments in the South African Journal of Sports Medicine are those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the editorial staff or the South African Sports Medicine Association.

Editorial Policy

This journal subscribes to the ASSAf National Code of Best Practice in Editorial Discretion and Review for South African Scholarly Journals.

Appeals and complaints

If  you receive a decision that we have rejected your manuscript, you are advised to consider any comments the reviewers may have made and submit the manuscript to another journal. If you feel the review process has treated your manuscript unfairly you can appeal the decision. The appeal should be based on the following criteria;

  • Detail why you disagree with the decision.
  • Provide evidence if you believe a reviewer has made a technical error wile assessing your manuscript.
  • Include evidence if you believe a reviewer may have a conflict of interest.
  • Provide evidence of bias.

Following the appeal the editor may retain the decision or send the authors' response and the revised paper out for further peer review.

Comments Policy

The posting of comments to published articles requires registration with this journal website. Only constructive comments that relate to the published material will be permitted. Posted comments solely represent the opinions of the respective user and not those of the South African Journal of Sports Medicine, and do not imply endorsement by the South African Journal of Sports Medicine. The South African Journal of Sports Medicine reserves the right to remove comments without notice that are abusive, threatening, defamatory, contain advertising or spam, or violate another user’s privacy. The South African Journal of Sports Medicine reserves the right to revoke the privileges of users that post inappropriate material. Such material may be brought to the attention of the Editor-in-Chief. The South African Journal of Sports Medicine reserves the right to modify this policy without notice.

Digital Preservation Policy

This journal utilizes the Portico system to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. Click here to view South African Journal of Sports Medicine in the Portico Keeper's Registry.

Errata (Corrections and retractions)

If there is concern of inaccurate data, mistakes or alleged fraud of a published paper, the editor will investigate. The authors will be given an opportunity to respond. This may result in one of  the following measures:

  • An erratum/correction may be placed with the article.
  • The article may be retracted.

Retraction means that the article is maintained on the website watermarked “retracted” and the explanation is provided in a note linked to the watermarked article. The author’s institution will be informed.

Open Access Policy

All articles published by the South African Journal of Sports Medicine are made freely and permanently accessible online immediately upon publication, without subscription charges or registration barriers. The journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Articles form this journal can be submitted to institutional repositories, subject to the following conditions:

  1. Always upload the final publishers' version as published at http://journals.assaf.org.za/index.php/sajsm
  2. Acknowledge the publisher.
  3. Cite the article as part of the metadata and include the DOI as part of the citation to the article.