Submissions

Author Guidelines

Aim & Scope

The Journal of Health and Physical Literacy (JOHPL) is the official scholarly publication of the National Academy of Health and Physical Literacy.  The journal features a combination of theoretical and practical articles, complemented by a wide range of case studies and regular features, identifying key implications for practitioners. Its scope will include the following topics:

•     Behavioral studies of Health and Physical Literacy
•     Barriers and disparities associated with Health and Physical Literacy
•     Biomechanics and physiological studies of Physical Activity
•     The impact of facilities and organizational structures on health and physical literacy
•     Policy analysis regarding Health and Physical Literacy

• Recreation, Leisure and Physical Literacy across the Lifespan

•     Management of Programs associated with Health or Physical Literacy
•     Pedagogy of Health and Physical Literacy
•     Community Engagement to foster Health and Physical Literacy

And other similar physical or health literacy focused topics that the Editorial Board deems of interest.  Original research, scholarly reviews, and the application of research in practice are acceptable.  

Editorial Process

JOHPL employs a two stage review process.  First there is an editorial pre-review and secondly a double blinde peer review. 

1. Pre-review

The pre-review process will assess 1) if the paper is within the scope of JOHPL 2) is the paper formatted according to the Instructions for Authors 3) is the paper novel and of interest to the readership of JOHPL 4) does the paper have the potential to expand the knowledge in one of the broad focus areas of the journal. 

2. Peer-review

If the paper is moved forward to peer-review, each paper will be assessed by two independent reviewers at a minimum (in some instances more than 2 reviewers may be assigned).  When the reports of the reviewers are received, a member of the editorial team will render a decision to:

Reject - the paper is not suitable for publication, and will not be reconsidered after resubmission

Resubmission - The paper requires significant revision and resubmission following author revisions.

Revisions Required- The paper requires revisions based upon the results of peer-review. 

Accept - The paper is accepted in its current form. 

Ethical Guidelines

JOHPL expects that authors comply with the highest standards of publication ethics.  This includes but is not limited to: ghost or guest authorship, dual submission, plagiarism, manipulation of figures, conflict of interest, and compliance with best practice for research ethics.

We will investigate any allegation of misconduct rigorously raised in any manner.  Whistleblowers' confidentiality will be maintained to the extent possible.  We reserve the right to contact author institutions, and research sponsors if necessary. 

Ethical Approval

All experiments that involve human or animal subjects are required to disclose in the Method section the ethics committee approval for each study and the nature and manner that informed consent was gathered in the case of human subjects. 

Authors’ Statement

Papers must disclose any sources of funding and conflict of interest in the acknowledgements section.  Authors are solely responsible for obtaining the right to reproduce any copyrighted material in submitted manuscripts. 

Manuscript Requirements

Any paper that does not meet the scope of the journal or the standards for ethics, style, and formatting will not be entered into the peer-review process.  Authors are required to submit articles using the templates provided below under the article type. 

Manuscript Preparation

Article Types:

1)    Original Research (4000 word limit)

Original Research Word Template

Original Research Rich Text File Template

2)    Review Article (Systematic Reviews or Meta Analysis 6000 word limit) 

Review Article Word Template

Review Article Rich Text File Template

3)    Scholarly Clinical or Pedagogical Articles (3000 word limit) 

Pedagogical Article Word Template

Pedagogical Article Rich Text File Template

4)    Commentary (Philosophical, Social or Ethics Articles 1500 word limit)

Commentary Word Template

Commentary Rich Text File Template

5)    Letters to the Editor (500 word limit)

Letter to the Editor Word Template

Letter to the Editor Rich Text File Template

General Formatting 

• The paper should be single spaced 12 point font using a sans serif font (Arial, Calibri, Verdana)
• The paper should have 1” margins on all sides 
• Continuous Line numbers should be included
• A header containing a running title and page numbers should be included after the first page
• Authors are encouraged to suggest placements of tables and figures within the text (i.e. Figure 1 insert here)

Manuscripts should contain the following sections:

Title Page 

-article type 

-names and affiliations for all authors

Structured Abstract (excluding Letters to the Editor)

-Contains the following labels: Purpose, Methods, Results, Conclusion.

-200 word maximum

Keywords (3-6 keywords not included in the title) 

Introduction

Methods

-This section must include a statement regarding ethics approval, and the method of acquiring informed consent if applicable. 

Results

Discussion

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

-Disclosure of Funding Sources (required)

-Conflict of Interest Statement (required)

-Contribution of Authors (required)

References

References and intext citations should adhere to the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual.  

Journal Article:

Author, A.A., Author, B.B. & Author, C.C. (2021). The impact of physical literacy on health. Journal of Health and Physical Literacy, 1(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/xx.xxxx/202x

Basic Book:

Author, A.A. (202x). Heath and Physical Literacy. Publisher. DOI (if available). 

Edited Book:

Editor, A.A. (Ed.).(202x). Heath and Physical Literacy. Publisher. DOI (if available). 

Edited Book with Authors:

Author, A.A. (202x). Heath and Physical Literacy (A.A. Editor, Ed.). Publisher. DOI (if available). 

Legends 

Figure and Table legends are to be submitted in the text of the manuscript at the conclusion of the reference list. 

Preparation of Files to Submit

All files submitted should be titled using the first four words in the article title, followed by a hyphen and the file type.

File types for submission include 

1. Manuscript with author information* (complete)
2. Blinded Manuscript for review* (blinded)
1. All identifying information must be removed from this version of the paper
3. Tables (table 1…)
4. Figures (figure 1…)
5. Supplemental files (supplemental)

(*) are mandatory file types.

Example:

Article Title:  “The Effects of Physical Literacy on the Universe”

Submitted files:

TheEffectsofPhysical-complete

TheEffectsofPhysical-blinded

TheEffectsofPhysical-Table1

TheEffectsofPhysical-Table2

TheEffectsofPhysical-Figure1

TheEffectsofPhysical-Figure2

Artwork Standards

Figures and images may be presented in color or grayscale

Artwork should be submitted as either .TIFF or .JPG files.  Do not submit artwork files as .PDF or .BMP.

Artworks should be clear and easy to read, a suggested minimum is 600dpi. Any submitted artwork that is not clear will need to be adjusted by the authors prior to review and/or publication.