Submission Instruction

According to the guidelines of the Journal Review Commission, approved scientific-research journals cannot allocate more than ten percent of published articles in a year to articles by the same author. Following this regulation and according to internal guidelines, each author is allowed a maximum of four articles in the review process and ready for publication in the journal. Until these articles are resolved or published, no new submissions from the author can enter the review process.

Writing and Submission Guidelines for Scientific and Research Journals

Please study the following guidelines and submit your articles accordingly. It’s important to note that articles submitted through the journal’s system will first be reviewed for adherence to these guidelines before being sent for peer review. If they don’t meet the criteria, they will not proceed to the review stage.

General Principles

Submitted articles must be original and applicable.

Translated, case-specific, and single-review articles are not prioritized for publication in this journal.

Review articles from experienced individuals who have published at least 20 articles in relevant subjects in domestic or international journals will be accepted. Such articles must include a title, an abstract in Persian and English, an overview and historical context of the subject, the purpose of the research, scientific discussions, analysis and discussion of presented research, and a conclusion that provides a comprehensive summary and overall result with constructive suggestions for the future. Additionally, the research should report rare and interesting cases related to history, discuss the prepared report without needing a review of previous articles and works, highlight important points, and note the researcher’s previous learnings relevant to the topic.

Cover Letter File (Author Details File)

Authors must accurately complete the author details file, providing a valid email and phone number for all authors. In terms of manuscript originality, if the article is extracted from a master’s thesis, doctoral dissertation, or research project, the author must send the relevant document as supplementary files. If the article is not based on a research project, thesis, or dissertation, state this. All correspondence will only be conducted with the corresponding author. Note that once the article’s authors’ names are entered into the system and the article enters the review process, no changes to the number or order of authors can be made. Please ensure accuracy when entering names. All authors must, upon submission of the article, complete and submit the Conflict of Interest and Author Commitment Form in the “Author Guidelines” section in addition to the main file and the author details form. The continuation of the article process depends on the completion and submission of these forms.

Article Submission Guidelines

Articles should be submitted through the Sports Management Research journal’s online system, as described herein.

All articles electronically registered in the university journal system are initially reviewed by the editor-in-chief and, if they meet required criteria, are sent for further expert reviews. These articles are evaluated blindly by at least two reviewers selected by the editor and members of the editorial board, and the corresponding author will be promptly informed whether the article is accepted, rejected, or needs revisions requested by the reviewers. If the article conforms entirely to the guidelines and receives unanimous approval from reviewers, it will be queued for publication. Use of the journal’s content is permitted with full citation of the source.

Formatting and Structuring Articles

Articles must be typed in two columns with a minimum margin of 2 cm using B-Nazanin 12 font for Persian text and Times New Roman 13 for English text.

The article must not exceed 15 pages, including the cover page, abstract, main text, list of references, and tables.

The article should be written in fluent and clear Persian, avoiding foreign terms that have adequate Persian equivalents. If suitable Persian substitutes are not available, use phonetics in Persian letters with the original English term as a footnote. Furthermore, authors must provide English equivalents for foreign names and terms used at the bottom of the page as a footnote. Footnotes should restart from number one on each page. When shorthand symbols are used, the full terms should be provided upon first use. However, only standardized abbreviations and symbols should be used and should not appear in titles or abstracts.

First Page:

Include the article’s Persian title, Persian abstract, and keywords in order. The abstract should be a single paragraph, no more than 250 words, describing the purpose, methods, findings, and conclusion without needing to divide these into separate sections. Use active voice where possible. For descriptions of methods and results, use past tense; for conclusions, present tense is appropriate. Avoid including significance levels, r-values, sources for tests or questionnaires, and English abbreviations in the short abstract. Keywords should be between 3 to 5, separated by commas.

Second Page:

Contains the English title, English abstract, and relevant keywords. The English abstract and keywords should match exactly with the Persian ones.

Main Article:

The main text of the article should include six sections: Introduction, Methodology, Results, Discussion and Conclusion, Acknowledgments, and References. Each section must be presented separately using these headings, avoiding colons after each title.

Introduction:
The introduction should clarify the research problem, its relation to previous work, and its distinction from past studies. This section, spanning two to three pages, should report the research problem with a review of past studies, challenges, application of results, and research objectives. Avoid unnecessary and irrelevant information and avoid presenting the introduction in such a way that it is only understandable to experts.

Methodology:
The methodology should be detailed enough to allow any reader to replicate the study. It should include a thorough methodological outline, reasons for method choice, the duration of the project, location, participants and the criteria for their selection, sampling methods and rationale for sample size, data collection methods, ethical considerations, measurement tools and their validity and reliability, and statistical tests used.

Results:
The results section provides a complete description of the findings. These should be presented transparently and in accordance with scientific principles. Precise results should include numerical values with percentages, mean with confidence intervals, test statistics with exact p-values (e.g., P=0.012). Authors should highlight key findings and use tables and black and white two-dimensional charts minimally for clarity. All figures, charts, and pictures are labeled as “Figures” with titles below. Explanations follow. Introduce figure titles with “Figure [Number]-[Title]”. Images should be clear and of high quality; authors should avoid inserting images and instead use original files from software. Figure titles and contents should be in Persian. Tables should have titles above and explanations before them. Title and numbers in qualitative tables should be in Persian; for quantitative tables, both title and contents should be in Persian. Table titles must communicate independently of the text, followed by a title post preface of “Table,” and tables must fit within the journal’s page layout. All columns and rows should be titled. Duplication of information in tables and text is discouraged.

Discussion and Conclusion:

Discuss notable findings, their implications, importance, limitations, comparison with past research results, interpretation of common and differing elements, potential applications, and conclusions and suggestions drawn from findings. Avoid repeating results and do not introduce new findings in discussion or conclusion.

Acknowledgments:
Mention sources of financial support and express gratitude to individuals or groups who contributed to the study.

References:

References must comply with APA style and should not exceed 40 entries. All must be listed alphabetically at the end of the paper. Persian references must be provided in English, with (Persian) indicated in parentheses. At least 30 references for research articles and 10 for review articles should be from the last ten years. In-text citations must match the listed references, and hyperlinks to original articles should be provided.

Examples of Reference:

Ramezanzade, H., & Arabnarmi, B. (2016). Prediction Stages of Exercise Behavior Change Based on Decisional Balance and Self-efficacy. Research on Educational Sport, 4(10), 97-114. (Persian)

Stuart, D., Thelwall, M., & Harries, G. (2007). UK Academic Web Links and Collaboration: An Exploratory Study. Journal of Information Science, 23(2), 231-246.

In-text Citation Example:

A website is a favored information source in the digital era. The likelihood that user expectations for easy access to useful information will be met is high and might significantly influence customers’ information behavior (Sirati-Shirazi & Gol-Taji, 2008, p. 12).

The diversity of individuals creating web documents and links affects the quality and validity of this method (Bjorneborn & Ingwersen, 2001, p. 12).

Writing and In-text Citation Guidelines

The paper must be free from grammar and literary errors.

For obtaining acceptance letters, it’s essential for authors to submit an Extended English Abstract via the journal system.

To align with the Research Institute’s 2020 outlook for quality enhancement and indexing in reputable international databases, an extended English abstract (1000 words), focusing on “Methods and Results,” must be submitted with the final version of the article. Authors are responsible for sending the abstract to translation services, if needed.

Extended Abstract Writing Guidelines

Article Title

Authors’ Names

Authors’ Affiliations

Background and Purpose (150 words)

Methodology (300 words)

Results (400 words)

Discussion (150 words)

Keywords (3 to 10 keywords)

References (Maximum of 8, hyperlinked)

Only one table or chart can be included in the extended abstract. Keywords, references, and any charts or tables do not count towards the 1000-word limit. Related references for the “Objectives” and “Materials and Methods” sections should be numbered sequentially and listed at the end of the abstract according to the Vancouver style.

Finally, authors are required to review this guide thoroughly and view examples of published articles in the latest issue before preparing and submitting their articles through the system.

Journal System Address: http://arsmb.journals.pnu.ac.ir](http://arsmb.journals.pnu.ac.ir

Journal Email: journal.arsmb@pnu.ac.ir