General Writing Guidelines

The manuscript must be prepared in MS Word format (.docx) on A4 paper (21 x 29.7 cm). The text should be formatted in Times New Roman, justified alignment, with 2.5 cm margins on all sides.

Manuscript Structure

The manuscript should include the following sections in order: Title Page, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, References, and Appendices (if applicable).

Word Limit

The manuscript must not exceed 8000 words. The abstract and references are not included in this limit.

Title Page

The title page must include the author(s)' full name(s), institutional affiliation, city, country, and email address. Authors' ORCID numbers must also be provided. 

Academic titles should not be used. The title in the primary language must be in 16-point font, and the title in the secondary language must be in 12-point font. 

Titles should be bold, left-aligned, and written in title case.

Abstract and Keywords

The abstract should be between 150–200 words and must include the purpose, scope, methodology, and key findings of the study. No citations should be included in the abstract.

The abstract must be written in Times New Roman, 9-point font, single-spaced, and justified.

Keywords should consist of 3 to 5 words. Each keyword should begin with a capital letter and be separated by commas.

Headings

Main headings in the manuscript must be: INTRODUCTION, METHOD, RESULTS, DISCUSSION, and REFERENCES. 

These headings should be written in uppercase letters, bold, 11-point font, and left-aligned.

Subheadings may be used where appropriate. A single line space should be left between main sections, but no extra spacing should be added between paragraphs.

Introduction

This section should clearly present the theoretical framework and relevant literature.

The problem statement, rationale, and significance of the study must be clearly expressed. Current and relevant sources should be cited.

Method

This section should describe the research methodology in detail within the framework of scientific research methods (11-point font, 6 pt spacing after, single line spacing).

If subheadings are used, they must follow the formatting specified in the manuscript template.

Do not use numbering such as 1., 2., 3., or a., b., c. in headings. Subheadings should comply with APA 7 standards.

Results

Research findings should be presented clearly, systematically, and understandably. Tables, figures, and graphs must be prepared according to APA 7 format. Text within tables and figures should be between 9–11 point font.

Each table and figure must be supported by a concise explanatory text that contributes to the interpretation of the findings.

Discussion

In this section, findings should be interpreted in relation to the research problem and hypotheses. Similarities, differences, and contributions to the literature should be discussed.

The discussion section should be divided into subsections: Conclusion and Recommendations.

The conclusion should be written independently of the discussion and results sections, summarizing key outcomes and implications for the target audience.

The recommendations section should include suggestions for future research.

References

All references must be formatted according to APA 7 standards.

Additional Sections (to be included at the end of the manuscript)

Author Contributions

Each author's contributions must be clearly stated. Example format:

Study Design: AB, CD; Supervision: AB, CD, EF; Data Collection: XY, UY; Data Analysis: AB and XY; Literature Review: CD, HG; Manuscript Writing: AB, CD, HG; Critical Review: XY.

Conflict of Interest

All authors must declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethics Statement

The name of the ethics committee and the approval number must be stated. For studies not requiring ethics approval, authors must explicitly state this.

Additionally, the ethics committee approval, including the committee name and decision number, has been stated. During the preparation of this study, AI-assisted tools were used solely for language editing and improving expression. These tools were not involved in the scientific processes (design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation). All responsibility lies with the authors.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

During the preparation of this study, AI-assisted tools were used only for language editing, improving expression, and enhancing fluency. These tools were not used in the design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation of the research. All scientific responsibility belongs to the authors.

Acknowledgements (Optional)

The acknowledgements section should appear at the end of the manuscript, after the Conflict of Interest section and before Notes (if any) and References.

This section is used to thank institutions, organizations, or individuals who contributed scientifically to the research process.

Ethics Statement and Ethics Committee Report

Authors must provide institutional ethical approval demonstrating the research's suitability for further processing. Sporda Teori ve Uygulama Dergisi (Journal of Theory and Practice in Sport) adopts COPE publication ethics (Committee on Publication Ethics) and open access policy. When a situation contrary to Scientific Research and Publication Ethics is detected in a manuscript submitted to the Journal of Theory and Practice in Sport, this situation is reported to the institution where the corresponding author works, and the manuscript is rejected. Furthermore, our Journal has the right to request output files of the analysis results from the authors according to the feedback given by the editorial and/or reviewers. Publication ethics and open access policy also require that all components of the publication process comply with ethical principles in line with the guidelines and policies published by the Publication Ethics Committee in open access (For example, "Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" and "COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors"; ICMJE Recommendations, CSE White Paper on Publication Ethics, WAME resources, WMA policies, and ORI; WMA Declaration of Helsinki).

Publisher's Ethical Responsibilities

Journal publishers have adopted making free, non-profit publications bearing the ethical principles of publishing scientific works.

• The publisher, one of the stakeholders involved in a scientific study, should act within the scope of all these ethical principles.

• The publisher must use its communication power without any individual interest and correctly direct its target audience.

• The publisher protects the property and copyright of every work published in its Journal and undertakes the task of archiving every printed product.

• People should not hesitate to contact the publisher when encountering an unethical situation.

Ethical Duties and Responsibilities of Editors

• To reject the studies that are not suitable for the purpose and scope of the Journal.

• To consider the original value of the articles, their contribution to the field, the validity and reliability of the research method, the clarity of the expression, and the purpose and scope of the Journal when making a positive or negative decision about the articles.

• Taking the submitted papers to the pre-evaluation stage as long as they do not have significant problems, considering the reviewer's suggestions, not changing the decisions made by the previous Editor (s) unless there are serious problems, and contributing with constructive criticism.

• To implement the double-blind review and peer review process policies adopted by the Journal, keep the identity information of the reviewers confidential, and ensure that each article is evaluated impartially and in due time.

• To appoint independent reviewers from the author/s institutions to ensure independent peer review. • Submitting the articles considering the field editors' and reviewers' areas of expertise and supporting impartial and independent evaluations.

• To act in a balanced, objective, and fair manner in performing their duties without discrimination on the grounds of gender, religious or political beliefs, ethnic or geographical origin of the authors.

• To evaluate the studies submitted to the Journal according to their content, not giving any privilege to any author.

• To take the necessary measures to prevent possible conflicts of interest and to evaluate existing statements, if any. In the event of a conflict of interest, the Journal suspends the evaluation process of the article until the uncertainty is resolved. In this context, the Journal has the authority to request Ethics Committee Permission, Interviewer Voluntary Consent Forms, and documents to be submitted for the article from the corresponding author.

• To treat sponsored or specialty studies in the same way as any other study.

• To implement the necessary procedures by the Journal's policies and procedures in case of an ethical violation complaint.

• To allow the authors to respond to the complaint, not avoid the necessary sanctions, regardless of who the work belongs to.

• To consider also studies with negative results.

• To act responsibly and sensitively in publishing content such as revisions, explanations, apologies, and rebuttals.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

In the Sporda Teori ve Uygulama Dergisi (Journal of Theory and Practice in Sport) article evaluation process, the principle of two-way blind review is applied, in which the author(s) do not know the reviewers and the reviewers do not know the authors. Therefore, reviewers cannot communicate directly with authors. Instead, article evaluation forms, notes on the text, and revision requests are forwarded to the author(s) by the editors through the journal management system. The reviewers who will evaluate the articles submitted to the Journal of Theory and Practice in Sport should bear the following ethical responsibilities:

• To contribute to the Editor's decision-making process, reviewers must objectively review the article only in time for the content of the study and agree to evaluate only studies related to their field of expertise.

• The reviewer should evaluate with impartiality and confidentiality. According to this principle, they should destroy the articles they have reviewed after the evaluation process and use them only after publication. Nationality, gender, religious belief, political belief, and commercial concerns should not impair the impartiality of the assessment.

• When the reviewers understand a conflict of interest, they should refuse to evaluate the article and inform the editors.

• Reviewers should decide constructively and courteously by academic etiquette; personal comments containing insults and hostility should be avoided.

• The reviewers should evaluate the article for which they accepted the evaluation within the time limit.

• The reviewer(s) should reject the review if it is a very similar study they are preparing or under evaluation.

• The reviewers should protect the confidentiality of the information provided by the Editor and the author, destroy the work they have examined by the confidentiality principle after the peer review process, notify the Editor if there is a situation contrary to a blind review, and should not evaluate the work.

• Reviewers should be aware of potential conflicts of interest (financial, institutional, collaborative, or other relationships between author and author) and alert the Editor for this article if necessary.

• Reviewers should continue to maintain the confidentiality of the study and evaluation process.

• Reviewers should inform the Journal if a situation may affect its main comments and feedback.

• Reviewers should try to respond to requests from the Journal regarding revision and re-evaluation.

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Scientific research ethical responsibilities of the author(s) submitting a manuscript to Sporda Teori ve Uygulama Dergisi (Journal of Theory and Practice in Sport):

• The author(s) should not send a manuscript that they have published elsewhere or sent for publication to the Journal of Theory and Practice in Sport simultaneously.

• The author(s) must submit an original study to the Journal of Theory and Practice in Sport.

• The author(s) should cite the sources they used while writing the manuscript with appropriate citation techniques in line with ethical principles.

• The names of people who do not contribute to the article should not be written as authors. Changing the author order, removing an author, or adding an author of an article applied for publication should not be suggested. The corresponding author uploads author names at the stage of uploading the manuscript to the system. Journal Editorial Board does not make any systematic changes.

• The author/s should notify the editors with a conflict of interest regarding the manuscript submitted to the Journal.

• If the author(s) requests information or raw data during the evaluation process, they should submit it to the Editors.

• The author(s) should document that they have obtained the right to use the data they use in their articles, the permissions for the research analysis, or the consent of the participants they have researched. As shown in the manuscript template, information about voluntary consent must be provided.

• The author(s) should contact the Editor within five days to inform, correct, or withdraw the error related to the manuscript in the evaluation and early view stage or published in the electronic environment.

• The author(s) states that they have received ethics committee approval for studies that require data collection by quantitative or qualitative methods, such as experiments, surveys, scales, interviews, observations, and focus group studies, which require an ethics committee decision, the name of the ethics committee, the date and the number of the decision, and the candidate article. It should be stated on the first and last page and in the method section, and the document showing the ethics committee's decision should be uploaded to the system with the submission of the article.

• The author(s) should present in the article evidence that they pay attention to ethical principles in the data collection process (such as obtaining permission to use other people's documents such as scales, questionnaires, photographs, or voluntary consent forms). It should be stated in the manuscript that research and publication ethics and copyright regulations for intellectual and artistic works are complied with. If the research was carried out on human and animal subjects, it should be reported that it was carried out by international reports, guidelines, etc. (Helsinki Declaration).

• Ethics committee approval is not required for review articles from the author(s). However, in works that do not require an ethics committee decision, it should be stated on the last page of the article that an ethics committee decision is not required.

Fundamentals of Policies

• Higher Education Council Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive • Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

• World Medical Association (WMA) Declaration of Helsinki

• International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)

• Budapest Open Access Declaration • Creative Commons