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The North Carolina Journal

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AUTHOR GUIDELINES

The North Carolina Journal of the North Carolina Alliance for Athletics, Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Dance and Sport Management (NCAAHPERD-SM) is a professional peer-reviewed journal intended to meet the needs of AHPERD-SM educators and to serve as a forum for socioeconomic, educational, and ethical issues.

  • Manuscripts submitted to the NCJ should not be submitted to other publications simultaneously.
  • To ensure that topic and treatment are appropriate for NCJ, authors should submit an email query to the editors Dr. Teri Schlosser () and Dr. Jessica Siegele () before preparing the manuscript.
  • Original data-based research/manuscripts will be considered by the NCJ; however, manuscripts with practical implications for educators at all levels are given priority.
  • Manuscript acceptance is based on originality of material, significance to the Athletics, Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Dance, and Sport Management professions, validity, and adherence to the prescribed submission requirements stated below.
  • The publication dates for online NCJ are scheduled for November 15 and April 15 each academic year.  Articles should be submitted no later than September 15 and February 15, respectively.  

Manuscript Preparation

Prepare the manuscript in an electronic format, using an 8.5-by-11-inch page set-up with 1-inch margins. Double-space the entire manuscript, including references and quotations, and number the pages and lines throughout. Do not list author names, affiliations, or contact information on the manuscript; this information should be given in an accompanying letter. Do not use footnotes or endnotes, and do not submit the text in an editing-program format or with “track changes” in the text. Save the manuscript in either a native word-processing format (e.g., Microsoft Word or Wordperfect).

Manuscript Submission

All submissions must include a cover letter (which may be sent as email text) that references the title of the manuscript and provides the names, academic degrees, positions, and institutional affiliations of all the authors, as well as the corresponding author’s mail address, telephone number, and email address. Also, in the email or in a separate document, notify the editor that the manuscript has not been published elsewhere, and author(s) must disclose the acceptance of any outside funding or grants that may compromise the integrity of the manuscript.

Manuscript receipt is acknowledged only by email. Please send to Dr. Teri Schlosser () and Dr. Jessica Siegele ()

Manuscript Content

The manuscript length to the scope of the content, generally limiting articles to between 5 and 6 pages, not including references (which should be limited to one page). Simple, straightforward writing—concise, logical, and clear—is best. Focus the manuscript, use examples, capture readers’ interest, and stimulate their thinking. Avoid overly educational or technical jargon and passive voice. Also, vary sentence structure, and keep paragraphs short. The NCJ Editorial Board encourages authors to have colleagues review manuscripts before submission.

Abstracts. Include an abstract of 250 words or less. The abstracts for accepted articles will appear on the NCJ web site after the article has been published.

References. Check all references; authors are responsible for accuracy. Printed references are preferred over web references. For reference style, follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).

Illustrations. Submit tables, charts, drawings, and graphs in one or more files separate from the text file.

Photographs. NCJ encourages authors to submit clear, sharp, well-composed color photographs. Digital photos should be saved at 300 dpi or with the largest possible dimensions. Do not paste digital photos into the text file.

The Review Process

The editor reviews all manuscripts for appropriateness of topic and conformance to NCJ writing style. If the topic and style are deemed appropriate, manuscripts are sent to at least one reviewer with expertise in the topic area. Allow from 6-8 weeks for the review process.

Publication

Manuscripts are printed in the earliest appropriate and available electronic issue following acceptance.

Reprinting. Upon request, authors receive permission to reprint their own articles. However, NCJ prohibits the random and/or free posting of articles on web sites.

Penalty for Plagiarism

If it is determined that an article incorporates plagiarized material, the following actions will be taken: (1) the author will receive a formal reprimand from NCJ and from his or her association; (2) a copy of the reprimand will be sent to the author’s institution or place of employment; and (3) the author will be precluded from submitting articles to NCJ for two years following the infraction.