The editorial mission of the Professional Strength and Conditioning Journal (PSCJ) is to advance knowledge of strength and conditioning practice through the medium of research. Since its inception in 2005, PSCJ has held a primary focus of ensuring that content adds value for the applied practitioner. The journal aims to further our community’s understanding of how strength and conditioning can serve to further the health and performance benefits across a range of sectors, including:
i) High-performance sport
ii) Youth and school sport
iii) The rehabilitation and medical sectors
iv) Tactical populations
v) Grassroots sport
vi) Special populations
vii) Health and wellbeing.
This represents the majority of the UKSCA’s membership. With this in mind, the below table offers some example information relating to the expected focus for each of the seven sectors, in addition to a few UK-specific examples of practice.
PSCJ’s aim is to publish a range of article types. The belief here is that the journal will be able to disseminate knowledge in a variety of ways, which in turn, will help to maximise its reach and serve a broader target audience. The 4 article types are listed below, with accompanying further details for each of them.
1. Empirical (primary research) studies
2. Literature reviews (narrative, scoping and systematic)
3. Case studies
4. Columns.
Empirical studies should be formatted accordingly:
- Experimental Design
- Participants (inclusive of a statement to say that ethical approval has been obtained)
- Procedures (note: additional sub-headings for individual protocols or assessments may well be required)
- Statistical Analyses
Note: Whilst there is no strict word count per se, authors are encouraged to limit the total word count (not including references) to 6,000 words. In addition, no specific limit is placed on the number of tables and figures that accompany submissions; however, feedback on this may be given during the peer-review process, if deemed relevant.
Case studies can be submitted in two different forms: i) full written article, and ii) an electronic poster or infographic. For a detailed description of how to structure a written case study article, authors are referred to specific guidelines for this format here. For those considering an electronic poster or infographic format, there is no regimented format to follow; however, peer-review feedback will be provided on these submissions in the same way as a full written article.
PSCJ will consider publishing columns in the following areas / topics:
The accuracy of references used in articles submitted to the journal is the responsibility of the author. Where possible, a reference should reflect the primary source of evidence rather than secondary sources. References should be listed in alphabetical order at the end and placed as superscript numbers throughout the text. The superscript numbers in the text should correspond to the numbered reference list. All authors should be listed in the reference list and “et al” should not be used. No full stops are to be inserted between authors’ initials.
The style for references is as follows. Please make sure you follow this style rigorously or else your article will be returned to you in order to re-submit using the correct style.
These should be limited as much as possible and may not be accepted in the editing process. In general, only sites from the following sources will be accepted:
i) Refereed online journal
ii) Government resource
iii) Major not-for-profit professional organisation.
All submissions should be emailed to the Editor-in-Chief, Chris Bishop at C.Bishop@mdx.ac.uk. The following documents are required for all submissions:
In addition, should your article be accepted for publication in PSCJ, the UKSCA would ask that one of the author team undertakes a brief interview with a member of the UKSCA communications team, which serves as part of the ‘UKSCA Insights’ initiative and association’s broader communication strategy.
Authors to declare any conflicts of interest in a written statement at the end of the manuscript.
PSCJ operates under an ‘open access, no fee’ policy for all articles.
Authors should disclose the use of AI tools for manuscript preparation in a separate AI declaration statement upon submission. This statement should be inserted at the end of the manuscript, immediately above the references, entitled ‘Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process.’ The statement will appear in the published work. Authors should clarify the name of the AI Tool used and the purpose of its use in preparing the manuscript. Declaring the use of AI Tools supports transparency and trust between authors, readers, reviewers, editors and contributors, and facilitates compliance with the terms of use of the relevant AI Tool. Basic checks of grammar, spelling and punctuation do not need to be declared. However, AI use in the research process itself should be declared and described in detail in the methods section, if relevant.
