Editorial Policies

Aims and Scope

The Athena: Physical Education and Sports Journal is an international, open-access, and peer-reviewed journal that publishes original research and review articles in the field of physical and sport education. The peer review ensures rigorous evaluation, upholding scientific integrity and ethical standards, before the article is published. The journal is dedicated to exploring physical and sport education (theory, practice, and cultural perspectives) around the world by providing a platform for researchers, scientists, and academics to publish their research findings and share their knowledge with the broader scientific community. Athena: Physical Education and Sports Journal welcomes submissions of articles on topics including:
 
(1)  Physical or sports topics in educational curricula, investigate the design and implementation of innovative physical education programs, the role of physical activity in student development, and the challenges of integrating sports into educational systems. Research topics may include, but are not limited to: (a) Curriculum design and pedagogical strategies in physical or sports education; (b) The impact of physical education on students' physical, cognitive, and social development; (c) Cross-cultural perspectives on physical or sports education in schools; (d) Evaluation and assessment methods for physical education programs; (e) The role of technology and digital tools in enhancing physical education; (f) Policy and practice in physical or sports education across different educational contexts.
 
(2)  Physical or sports education in a cultural context, explore the intersection of physical or sports education and cultural context, providing a platform for research that examines how cultural, social, and historical factors shape and are shaped by physical education practices. We invite studies that analyze the influence of cultural diversity on physical education curricula, the role of traditional sports and games in different cultures, and how cultural beliefs and values impact students' engagement with physical activities. Research topics may include, but are not limited to: (a) The integration of traditional and indigenous sports within modern physical education; (b) Comparative studies of physical education practices across different cultural settings; (c) The impact of cultural norms and values on physical education and sports participation; (d) Cultural challenges and opportunities in implementing global physical education standards; (e) The role of physical education in promoting intercultural understanding and social cohesion; (f) How cultural identity is expressed and preserved through physical education and sports.
 
(3)  Ways of implementing physical or sports education, explore and advance the various methods and approaches used in the implementation of physical or sports education across different educational settings. We invite research that examines both traditional and innovative practices in teaching physical education and sports, with an emphasis on how these methods impact student engagement, learning outcomes, and overall well-being. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: (a) Innovative pedagogical approaches in physical or sport education; (b) The use of technology and digital tools in delivering physical education; (c) Strategies for inclusive physical education that address diverse student needs; (d) Comparative studies on physical education practices across different educational systems; (e) Teacher training and professional development in physical or sport education; (f) Assessment and evaluation methods in physical education.
 
(4)  Systemic process in physical or sports activity, refers to the systemic processes underlying physical or sports activities, encompassing the interactions and dynamics that contribute to successful physical education and athletic performance. We welcome studies that investigate how various factors—such as cognitive, social, physiological, and environmental elements—interact within the context of physical or sports activities. Research topics of interest include, but are not limited to: (a) The role of group dynamics and teamwork in sports and physical education; (b) Interdisciplinary approaches to understanding physical activity systems; (c) The impact of environmental and contextual factors on physical performance; (d) Systemic analysis of training methodologies in sports; (e) The relationship between cognitive processes and physical activity; (f) Integrated approaches to improving sports performance and physical education outcomes.
 
(5)  Error analysis in physical or sport performance, involves the understanding of error analysis in physical and sports performance. We seek research that delves into the identification, evaluation, and correction of errors in athletic and physical activities. Studies should address how errors impact performance, how they can be systematically analyzed, and strategies for error correction to enhance overall effectiveness and outcomes. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: (a) Techniques and methodologies for analyzing performance errors in sports and physical activities; (b) The role of biomechanics and motor control in error identification and correction; (c) Cognitive and psychological aspects of error occurrence and management in physical performance; (d) Case studies of error analysis in competitive sports and physical education; (e) Strategies for coaching and training to mitigate performance errors; (f) The impact of error analysis on athlete development and skill acquisition.

Section Policies

Original research

Open Submissions                        Indexed                           Peer-Reviewed

Review article

Open Submissions                        Indexed                           Peer-Reviewed

Peer Review Process

The editorial process at Athena: Physical Education and Sports Journal follows the model developed by the Public Knowledge Project. Every submitted article is independently reviewed by reviewers. The review process conducted by the Double Blind Review Process. Articles sent to Athena: Physical Education and Sports Journal will pass two stages of review, namely pre-review and substance review. Article pre-review was carried out by the editor to see the suitability of the article with the focus and scope of the journal as well as the style of confinement. The duration of the pre-review is between 0-4 weeks. At least two reviewers conducted substance review in a double-blind manner. The duration of the review is between 1-8 weeks. The decision for publication, amendment, or rejection is based upon their reports/recommendations. This peer review process will ensure that all manuscripts submitted to the Athena: Physical Education and Sports Journal are evaluated based on the highest standards of scientific integrity and ethical conduct and that only the highest quality research is published. After being reviewed, there will be four kinds of editor decision based on the reviewers’ recommendation: 

Accept Submission The manuscript would be suitable for publication in its current form (after copy-editing and proofreading).
Revisions Required The manuscript could be suitable for publication after the author(s) have responded to the reviewer's comments and made changes where appropriate. These changes could include referencing another work or a rewrite of a few sections. The submission will be accepted after minor changes have been made. Articles sent back to the author for revisions must be returned to the editor without delay. Revised articles returned more than 3 weeks will be considered as new shipments. Revised articles can be sent to the editor via the Online Submission Interface.
Resubmit for Review The manuscript could be suitable for publication after the author(s) have responded to the reviewer's comments and made changes where necessary. These changes could include redoing experiments or a substantial rewrite of several sections. The submission needs to be re-worked, but with significant changes, may be accepted. It will require a second round of review, however. The reviewer can request a review after the author has revised the article.
Resubmit elsewhere The manuscript is not suitable for the journal it was submitted to, but the content is good and could be suitable for a different journal.
Decline Submission The manuscript is not suitable and it should not be considered further. The submission will not be published in the journal.

The decision to accept an article to be published in the authority of the Editor's in Chief based on recommendations from reviewers. Articles that have been declared accepted and have been layout will be published in the In Progress number in the next number before the regular number is published according to the schedule so that it can be indexed and citable immediately.
Plagiarism detection of articles in this journal is carried out by using Plagiarism Checker-X Pro and Mendeley as a Tool Reference Manager.

Open Access Policy

Athena: Physical Education and Sports Journal adheres to the best practices and high publishing standards and complies with the following conditions: (a) this journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global knowledge exchange; (b) all articles published in Open Access will be immediately and permanently free for everyone to read and download; (c) store content with long-term digital preservation or archiving program; (d) using DOI as a permanent identifier; (e) permits use for share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially), by the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA); (f) can provide article-level metadata for any indexer and aggregator.

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

This statement clarifies the ethical behavior of all parties involved in the act of publishing an article in our journals, including the authors, the editors, the peer-reviewers, and the publisher, namely S&CO Publishing.

Section A: Publication and Authorship

  1. All submitted papers are subject to a strict peer-review process by at least two International Reviewers who are experts in the area of the particular paper.
  2. Review processes are blind peer review.
  3. The review considers relevance, soundness, significance, originality, readability, and language.
  4. The possible decisions include acceptance, acceptance with revisions, or rejection.
  5. If authors are encouraged to revise and resubmit a submission, there is no guarantee that the revised submission will be accepted.
  6. Rejected articles will not be re-reviewed.
  7. The acceptance of the paper is constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.
  8. No research can be included in more than one publication.

Section B: Authors’ responsibilities

  1. Authors must certify that their manuscripts are their original work.
  2. Authors must certify that the manuscript has not previously been published elsewhere.
  3. Authors must certify that the manuscript is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere. 
  4. Authors must participate in the peer review process. 
  5. Authors are obliged to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes.
  6. All Authors mentioned in the paper must have significantly contributed to the research.
  7. Authors must state that all data in the paper are authentic.
  8. Authors must notify the Editors of any conflicts of interest.
  9. Authors must identify all sources used in the creation of their manuscript.
  10. Authors must report any errors they discover in their published paper to the Editors.

Section C: Reviewers’ responsibilities

  1. Reviewers should keep all information regarding papers confidential and treat them as privileged information. 
  2. Reviews should be conducted objectively, with no personal criticism of the author
  3. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments
  4. Reviewers should identify relevant published work that the authors have not cited.
  5. Reviewers should also call to the editor-in-chief’s attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper they have personal knowledge.
  6. Reviewers should not review manuscripts with conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Section D: Editors’ responsibilities

  1. Editors have complete responsibility and authority to reject/accept an article.
  2. Editors are responsible for the contents and overall quality of the publication.
  3. Editors should always consider the needs of the authors and the readers when attempting to improve the publication.
  4. Editors should guarantee the papers' quality and the academic record's integrity.
  5. Editors should publish errata pages or make corrections when needed.
  6. Editors should clearly understand a research’s funding sources.
  7. Editors should base their decisions solely on the paper’s importance, originality, clarity, and relevance to the publication’s scope.
  8. Editors should not reverse their decisions nor overturn the ones of previous editors without serious reason. 
  9. Editors should preserve the anonymity of reviewers. 
  10. Editors should ensure that all published research material conforms to internationally accepted ethical guidelines.
  11. Editors should only accept a paper when reasonably sure.
  12. Editors should act if they suspect misconduct, whether a paper is published or unpublished, and make all reasonable attempts to persist in obtaining a resolution to the problem.
  13. Editors should accept papers based on suspicions; they should have proof of misconduct.
  14. Editors should not allow any conflicts of interest between staff, authors, reviewers and board members.

Retraction

The papers published in the Athena: Physical Education and Sports Journal will be considered to retract in the publication if: 
  1. They have clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either as a result of misconduct (e.g., data fabrication) or honest error (e.g., miscalculation or experimental error).
  2. the findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper crossreferencing, permission or justification (i.e., cases of redundant publication).
  3. it constitutes plagiarism.
  4. it reports unethical research.
The mechanism of retraction follows the Retraction Guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), which can be accessed at here (click).

Withdrawal of Manuscripts

The author is not allowed to withdraw submitted manuscripts, because the withdrawal is a waste of valuable resources that editors and referees spent a great deal of time processing submitted manuscripts, money, and works invested by the publisher. If the author still requests withdrawal of his/her manuscript when the manuscript is still in the peer-reviewing process, the author will be punished with paying IDR 250.000 per manuscript, as a withdrawal penalty to the publisher. However, it is unethical to withdraw a submitted manuscript from one journal if accepted by another journal. The withdrawal of the manuscript after the manuscript is accepted for publication, the author will be punished by paying IDR 500.000 per manuscript. Withdrawal of the manuscript is only allowed after the withdrawal penalty has been fully paid to the Publisher. If the author doesn't agree to pay the penalty, the author and his/her affiliation will be blacklisted for publication in this journal.

Publication Frequency

Athena: Physical Education and Sports Journal published twice a year, in January and July.

Archiving

Athena: Physical Education and Sports Journal utilizes the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) and CLOCKSS (Controlled LOCKSS) system to establish a distributed archiving mechanism among participating libraries. This initiative allows these libraries to generate permanent archives of the journal for preservation and restoration purposes, ensuring the long-term availability of scholarly content.
Both the CLOCKSS Archive and the Global LOCKSS Network preserve all content with explicit permission from the publisher, which is obtained through written contracts or online permission statements. We engage closely with implementers of the LOCKSS network to facilitate the development of governance and legal terms that are specifically tailored to the content involved, the jurisdictions in which it operates, and the rights and access provisions pertinent to it.
By collaborating with the LOCKSS network implementers, we ensure that the governance and legal terms are appropriate and conducive to the preservation and accessibility of our content. This collaborative effort ensures that the archiving process adheres to the highest standards of integrity and reliability, safeguarding the scholarly record for future generations.

Plagiarism Checker

Each manuscript published undergoes a plagiarism checking process at least twice with Plagiarism Checker X-Pro software. The first checking process occurs during the submission stage, after the Author(s) submit their article but before it is sent to reviewers. The second checking process takes place during the copyediting stage, after the article is declared accepted for publication.
The text will be processed to send to peer-reviewers after plagiarism scans show results at most 20%. If the results are between 20% and 23%, then the Author(s) will be asked to paraphrase the sentences in the article. However, if the results exceed 23%, then the article will be declined.

References Management

All submitted papers in Athena: Physical Education and Sports Journal are suggested using Reference management applications such as Mendeley, Zotero or EndNote.

Licensing (Creative Commons)

Athena: Physical Education and Sports Journal uses a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC-BY-SA) or an equivalent license as the optimal license for the publication, distribution, use, and reuse of scholarly works. This license permits anyone to compose, repair, and make derivative creations even for commercial purposes, as long as appropriate credit and proper acknowledgment to the original publication from Athena: Physical Education and Sports Journal is made to allow users to trace back to the original manuscript and author. Readers are also granted full access to read and download the published manuscripts, reprint, and distribute the manuscript in any medium or format.