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Taylor & Francis

Prepare your manuscript for Journal of Sport Psychology in Action.

Review the checklist, choose your article type, and turn your draft into a cleaner submission package.

Checked 2026-08-02
Check readiness freePrepare this manuscript

Article types

Review
Original Article
Book Review
Editorial
Letter
Review Article
Clinical Trial
Protocol
Lectio

Readiness requirements

Review the key details below, or download the complete checklist with every stored source-backed requirement.

Abstract length

  • Provide an author-written abstract of no more than 100 words.
  • Use a unstructured abstract.
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  • Submitted manuscripts must include an abstract of between 80 and 100 words.
  • Should contain an unstructured abstract of 200 words.
  • Your abstract should focus on what your research is about, what methods have been used, and what you found out.
  • The instructions for authors for each journal will give specific guidelines on what’s required here, including whether it should be a structured abstract or graphical abstract, and any word limits.

Keywords

  • Include or confirm the keywords required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Reference style

  • Articlo formats your supplied references to the journal's stored style and checks that citations match the reference list; source validity is not verified.
  • Manuscripts should be 18 (+/-3) double-spaced pages in length (not including tables, figures, and references).
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  • If a submitted manuscript is longer than 18 pages (not including tables, figures, and references), the author(s) should provide a well-reasoned and compelling rationale for the extra pages in their cover letter.
  • Readers should be able to interpret the table without reference to the text.
  • If you reply yes, you will be required to provide the DOI, pre-registered DOI, hyperlink, or other persistent identifier associated with the data set(s).
  • The DAS should include the hyperlink, DOI or other persistent identifier associated with the data set(s), or information on how the data can be requested from the authors.

Figure and table rules

  • Keep every figure and table numbered, captioned, and cited in the manuscript. Keep figures embedded; Articlo also extracts numbered source files for the package.
  • Group figures at the end of the manuscript.
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  • Group tables at the end of the manuscript.
  • Figures should be high quality (1200 dpi for line art, 600 dpi for grayscale and 300 dpi for color, at the correct size).
  • Tables and figures Show clearly in your article text where the tables and figures should appear, for example, by writing [Table 1 near here].
  • Figures should be saved separately from the text.
  • Tables should present new information rather than duplicating what is in the text.
  • It’s very important that you have been given permission to use any tables or figures you are reproducing from another source before you submit.
  • Figures should be supplied in one of our preferred file formats: EPS, PDF, PS, JPEG, TIFF, or Microsoft Word (DOC or DOCX) files are acceptable for figures that have been drawn in Word.
  • Check the instructions for authors to see how you should supply tables and figures, whether at the end of the text or in separate files, and follow any guidance given on the submission system.

Funding statement

  • You should declare only the acquired funds and grants that are directly relevant to the work reported in your article; for example, This work was supported by the [Funding Agency #1] under Grant [number xxxx]; [Funding Agency #2] under Grant [number xxxx]; and [Funding Agency #3] under Grant [number xxxx].

Competing interests

  • Include or confirm the competing interests required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Data availability statement

  • Add or confirm the author-written Data availability statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • Authors are required to provide a data availability statement, detailing where data associated with a paper can be found and how it can be accessed.
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  • If data cannot be made open, authors should state why in the data availability statement.
  • Authors are required to cite any data sets referenced in the article and provide a Data Availability Statement.
  • Articles need to meet the Open Science Badges criteria in order to earn a badge.

Ethics statement

  • Include or confirm the ethics statement required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Blinded manuscript

  • Remove author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, and other direct identifiers from the blinded manuscript file.

Cover letter

  • Provide the claims and editor-specific context for the cover letter; Articlo creates an editable companion without inventing content.
  • Using Third-Party Material in your Paper You must obtain the necessary permission to reuse third-party material in your article.
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  • The use of short extracts of text and some other types of material is usually permitted, on a limited basis, for the purposes of criticism and review without securing formal permission.
  • If you wish to include any material in your paper for which you do not hold copyright, and which is not covered by this informal agreement, you will need to obtain written permission from the copyright owner prior to submission.

Author contributions

  • Submitting authors should be prepared to submit CRediT roles for themselves and their co-authors (where applicable) as part of the submission process.

Title page and author information

  • Provide the author, affiliation, and correspondence details for the separate title page; Articlo creates the editable companion file.
  • Any identifying information on the title page or in the content of the manuscript must be removed or concealed prior to submission.
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  • All authors of a manuscript should include their full name and affiliation on the cover page of the manuscript.
  • One author will need to be identified as the corresponding author, with their email address normally displayed in the article PDF (depending on the journal) and the online article.

Article structure and word limits

  • Review / Book Review: All book reviews should be 500 words or less.
  • Margins Margins should be at least 2.5cm (1 inch).
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  • For descriptions of the types of manuscripts considered for publication in JSPA, please consult the editorial in volume 4, pages 1-4, entitled " Writing Manuscripts for Submission to the Journal of Sport Psychology in Action." Prospective authors should note that original research studies or reviews of theory and/or research will not be considered for publication.
  • These instructions will ensure we have everything required so your paper can move through peer review, production and publication smoothly.
  • The writing style should be clear and engaging.
  • To be considered for publication, the selected books must be related to the scope of the Journal.
  • Continuous line numbering should be included throughout the manuscript.
  • Your research funder or your institution may require you to publish your article open access.
  • Use our APC finder to view the APC for this journal.
  • Queries Should you have any queries, please visit our Author Services website or contact us here.
  • Before you submit your article, make sure you’ve checked the instructions for authors for your chosen journal, so you are aware of everything required.
  • Most journals create image descriptions during the production process, but a minority may require authors to provide image descriptions.
  • Review: Running heads and received dates These aren’t required when submitting a manuscript for review.
  • If you submit a paper to a participating journal, you will then receive an email upon submission with: Details of the badges offered by the journal.
  • If you submit a paper to a participating journal, you will then receive an email upon submission with: Links to additional information.
  • If you submit a paper to a participating journal, you will then receive an email upon submission with: An open practices disclosure form.
  • If you submit a paper to a participating journal, you will then receive an email upon submission with: The journal editor’s email address.
  • In all sport settings, practitioners are likely to encounter a range of issues that require understanding of performance enhancement, health and well-being, clinical disorders, ethical guidelines and dilemmas, all forms of diversity, coaching and support, and so forth.
  • The emphasis of manuscripts should be on the application of research to practice, and while papers should be based on solid research, it is not the purpose of this journal to provide in-depth literature reviews.
  • Instead, authors should focus on describing and providing detail about the application of sport psychology concepts in various contexts, with minimal review of the literature.
  • Please use SI units (non-italicized).
  • Please note that data should only be shared if it is ethically correct to do so, where this does not violate the protection of human subjects, or other valid ethical, privacy, or security concerns.
  • Special characters If you are preparing your manuscript in Microsoft Word and your article contains special characters, accents, or diacritics, we recommend you follow these steps: European accents (Greek, Hebrew, or Cyrillic letters, or phonetic symbols): choose Times New Roman font from the dropdown menu in the “Insert symbol” window and insert the character you require.
  • Special characters If you are preparing your manuscript in Microsoft Word and your article contains special characters, accents, or diacritics, we recommend you follow these steps: Asian languages (such as Sanskrit, Korean, Chinese, or Japanese): choose Arial Unicode font from the dropdown menu in the “Insert symbol” window and insert the character you require.
  • Such as: The standards on Data, Materials, and Analytical Code Transparency speak to the items generated over the course of the study and how you should preserve or share them.
  • Review: Submitted reviews must include the following aspects.
  • In addition to the review itself, authors must submit the following items: A bio sketch of your education, training, and current status.
  • In addition to the review itself, authors must submit the following items: Background information about the author(s) of the selected book.
  • Reviews without this information will not be considered for publication: Aspects of the book that are not clear and may have limited value for professional practice.
  • If you are at the early stage of your research, you may also need to read how to start writing a journal manuscript.
  • Image descriptions are typically used by systems such as pronouncing screen readers to make images accessible to people that cannot read or see the object due to a visual disability.
  • COS currently offers three badges in its program: The Open Materials badge is earned by making publicly available the components of the research methodology needed to reproduce the reported procedure and analysis.

Reporting guidelines

  • Include or confirm the reporting guidelines required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Preprints and prior publication

  • If you have shared an earlier version of your Author’s Original Manuscript on a preprint server, please be aware that anonymity cannot be guaranteed.

Artificial intelligence disclosure

  • Add or confirm the author-written Artificial intelligence statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • Please include a statement disclosing whether and how generative AI has been used in the research and manuscript preparation process.
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  • Please read our guidance on using AI tools in your research and manuscript preparation to understand scenarios where their use may be permissible, and the required information that must be disclosed.

Article type and manuscript length

  • Review Article: In general, authors should have no more than 10 references, and should use review articles when possible to support their work.
  • Preparing Your Paper Structure Your paper should be compiled in the following order: title page; abstract; keywords; main text introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion; acknowledgments; declaration of interest statement; references; appendices (as appropriate); table(s) with caption(s) (on individual pages); figures; figure captions (as a list).

Language and text style

  • Please use American spelling style consistently throughout your manuscript.
  • Please use double quotation marks, except where “a quotation is ‘within’ a quotation”.
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  • Please note that long quotations should be indented without quotation marks.
  • Esoteric terminology or abbreviations should be avoided.
  • Headings This will show you the different levels of the heading section in your article: Fourth-level headings should be in bold italics, at the beginning of a paragraph.
  • Headings This will show you the different levels of the heading section in your article: Fifth-level headings should be in italics, at the beginning of a paragraph.
  • Headings This will show you the different levels of the heading section in your article: Second-level headings should be in bold italics, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.
  • Headings This will show you the different levels of the heading section in your article: Third-level headings should be in italics, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.

Manuscript structure

  • Subheadings should be used throughout the manuscript to help organize the content and guide the reader; however, traditional scientific subheadings, such as Method, Results, and the like, should be avoided.
  • Headings This will show you the different levels of the heading section in your article: First-level headings (e.g. Introduction, Conclusion) should be in bold, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.
Save journal and get updates Download complete checklist

What your package checks

Abstract: 100 words
Title page: separate file
Cover letter: requested
Declarations: Data availability, Artificial intelligence
Format: Times New Roman, double spacing

Source transparency

This preparation guide uses published journal-specific author requirements. Journal instructions can change, so authors should complete a final review before submission.

Open official guideline source