JOPERD Author Guidelines
JOPERD is a peer-reviewed professional journal intended to meet the needs of HPERD educators and to serve as a forum for educational and ethical issues.
- Manuscripts submitted to JOPERD must not be submitted to other publications simultaneously.
- To ensure that topic and treatment are appropriate for JOPERD, authors should submit an email query ([email protected]) before preparing the manuscript.
- Original data-based research is generally not published in JOPERD. Manuscripts with practical implications for educators at all levels are given priority.
- Manuscript acceptance is based on originality of material, significance to the PERD profession, validity, and adherence to the prescribed submission requirements stated below.
- All article submissions must include some kind of language on how the information shared will include ALL children. Articles should illustrate in some manner how the strategies presented offer students with varying abilities differentiated opportunities to learn and engage.
Manuscript Preparation
Prepare the manuscript in an electronic format, using an 8.5-by-11-inch page set-up with 1-inch margins. Double-space the entire manuscript, including references and quotations, and number the pages and lines throughout. Do not use footnotes or endnotes, and do not submit the text with "track changes" intact. Save the manuscript in a native word-processing format (e.g., Microsoft Word).
Blinding of manuscripts. All manuscripts must be properly blinded in order to be sent out for review. In order to properly blind a manuscript, please consider and adhere to the following:
- Do not list any information that might give away your identity as the author (e.g., your name, school or institution name, state and city names, contact information, etc.). This information must be either deleted (and added later, in the final version), concealed (by replacing it with the word [concealed] in brackets so people know there is a name there that was hidden), or replaced with a vague description (for example, "In one university program" or "In a school in the Northwest").
- When preparing the manuscript for submission through the online system, authors are given the chance to create a cover page that contains name, affiliation, and contact information, but will not be included in the document sent out to reviewers.
- In the case of references of which you are the author, it is recommended to conceal or remove them entirely (authors can replace references in text with the parenthesis [Concealed reference] and simply delete those references from the reference list). Again, these can be restored in the final version if and when the manuscript is accepted for publication.
Manuscript Submission
JOPERD receives all manuscript submissions electronically via its ScholarOne Manuscripts. ScholarOne Manuscripts allows for rapid submission of original and revised manuscripts, and facilitates the review process and internal communication between authors, editors, and reviewers via a web-based platform. ScholarOne technical support can be accessed at http://scholarone.com/services/support. If you have any other requests, please contact Thomas Lawson, Editor, at [email protected]
Manuscript Content
Tie manuscript length to the scope of the content, generally limiting articles to between 7 and 16 double-spaced pages. Simple, straightforward writing—concise, logical, and clear—is best. Focus the manuscript, use examples, capture readers' interest, and stimulate their thinking. Avoid educational jargon and passive voice, vary sentence structure, and keep paragraphs short. Also, try to avoid using first-person voice, and rather use third person throughout.The JOPERD Editorial Board encourages authors to have colleagues review manuscripts before submission.
Abstracts. Include an abstract of 250 words or less. The abstracts for accepted articles will appear on the JOPERD web site after the article has been published.
References. Check all references; authors are responsible for accuracy. Printed references are preferred over web references. For reference style, follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.).
Illustrations. Submit tables, charts, drawings, and graphs in one or more files separate from the text file.
Photographs. JOPERD encourages authors to submit sharp, well-composed color photographs to illustrate their articles. Digital photos should be saved at 300 dpi/ppi. Submit photos in a native graphic format (e.g., JPEG, TIFF); do not paste photos into the text file. For each photo, include photographer credit, and a brief description.
The Review Process
Manuscripts are printed in the earliest appropriate and available issue following acceptance. Corresponding authors receive one complimentary copy of the issue in which their article appears.
Publication
The editor reviews all manuscripts for appropriateness of topic and conformance to JOPERD writing style. If the topic and style are deemed appropriate, manuscripts are sent to at least three reviewers with expertise in the topic area. Allow from 8 to 12 weeks for the review process.
Copyright. All authors of accepted manuscripts must sign a copyright release form. Authors transfer all copyright ownership of manuscripts to SHAPE America.
Reprinting. Upon request, authors receive permission to reprint their own articles. However, JOPERD prohibits the free posting of articles on websites.
JOPERD Feature Issues
Guidelines for JOPERD Features
Submitting to Departments
JOPERD also accepts submissions to its Departments: The Law and You, Research Into Practice, Teaching Tips, and Technology Tips.
- The Law and You: Recent Rulings from the Courts Affecting HPERD Professionals publishes brief abstracts and discussions of recent cases relevant to the PERD professions. To submit, contact department editor Thomas H. Sawyer at [email protected].
- Research Into Practice publishes brief abstracts of research that must be of research articles published in refereed HPERD journals within the past year. To submit, send your abstract and the full text of the source paper to department editor Seung Ho Chang at [email protected].
- Teaching Tips features short articles about ideas that practitioners at all levels can readily implement. To submit, send articles to department editor Ferman Konukman at [email protected].
- Technology Tips features short articles, all kinds of technological devices and software that practitioners at all levels can readily implement. To submit, send articles to department editor Collin Brooks at [email protected].
- Health Tips features short articles about health-related activities and lessons that practitioners can readily implement. To submit, send articles to department editor Sarah Benes at [email protected].
Guidelines for JOPERD Departments
Penalty for Plagiarism
If it is determined that an article incorporates plagiarized material, the following actions will be taken: (1) the author will receive a formal reprimand from JOPERD; (2) a copy of the reprimand will be sent to the author's institution or place of employment; and (3) the author will be precluded from submitting articles to JOPERD for two years following the infraction.