The Asian Journal of Kinesiology (AJK) recommends to submit manuscripts written in English. However, the exception is that one of 4 languages (English, Chinese, Japanese, or Korean) can be written only in the main body of manuscript.
General Information
AJK considers only those manuscripts that have not been published previously (except as an abstract), and are not being considered for publication elsewhere. A paper presented at a scientific meeting may be considered if it has not been published in entirety in either a proceedings or a similar publication. Any closely related manuscript either published, in press, or under review must be sent via e-mail to the journal office at the time of the submission to AJK. This will facilitate a full and fair evaluation of the independent contribution of the submitted paper.
Manuscript Preparation
Manuscript Type
AJK accepts five categories of publications: Original Research, Review, Case Report, Letter to the Editor, and Editorial focused on basic science and clinical issues.
1. Original Research
An original research are papers containing the results of basic and clinical investigations, which are sufficiently well documented to be acceptable to critical readers. The main text is composed of 4 sections: introduction, methods, discussion, and conclusion. The total number of references for a review article is recommended to be equal to or less than 35. The word count for the main text should be equal to or less than 3,500 including introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion.
2. Review
An invited review articles are usually solicited by the Editorial Board, and will be published on an interesting or a new topic. Also submitted reviews are welcomed for the easy presentation of any field. The main text is composed of 3 sections: introduction, text, and conclusion. The total number of references for a review article is recommended to be equal to or less than 50. The word count for the main text should be equal to or less than 5,000.
3. Case Study
The main text of a case study is composed of 3 sections: introduction, case presentation, and discussion. The total number of references for a case report is recommended to be equal to or less than 10. The word count for the main text of a case study should be equal to or less than 1,500.
4. Letter to the Editor
Any opinion or inquiry on a paper published can be addressed to the editor. Title, author, affiliation, main text and the references are the required sections. The total number of references is recommended to be equal to or less than 10. The word count of main text should be equal to or less than 1,500.
5. Editorial
An editorial is usually invited by the Editorial Board. It provides the brief review of the articles in the journal and comment on the recent development and events in the field of kinesiology. Editorials also may deal with a change in the journal’s style and format and communication with an outside organization or professional. Also, a variety of topics shall be dealt by the Editorial Board. Divisions in the body of an editorial are not required. The total number of references is recommended to be equal to or less than 10. The word count of the main text should be equal to or less than 1,500.
Style and Language
AJK accepts manuscripts written in English preferentially. They must be written in grammatically correct and clear English (US or British English usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Text should be double-spaced. Footnotes are not recommended in the text. Manuscripts should be written in the following sequence: cover letter, title page, abstract, keywords, main body, acknowledgments, references, tables, and figures. AJK welcomes manuscripts in written English, but the AJK will accept manuscripts written in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean only in the main body. Manuscripts in these other languages must include title page, abstract, references, tables, and figure caption all in English. To find examples click here.
Organization of the Manuscript
1. Cover Letter
The cover letter should be submitted as a separated file including the following: (1) a concise summary of why the article is a valuable addition to scientific literature, (2) a brief mention relating the study to previously published work, (3) specifying the article type (research article, review, or case report etc.), and (4) details of any previous interactions with AJK regarding the submitted manuscript.
2. Title Page
The title page should be submitted as a separated file in English. In this section, the type of manuscript, the title of manuscript, the name of all the authors and their affiliations, address of the corresponding author plus e-mail address, telephone number, fax number, any conflict of interest, and financial assistance should be described. The type of manuscript should be typed in the top left area of the title page. Name of authors should be described fully without abbreviation. The corresponding author has full responsibility on the manuscript's exactness, and this author’s name, mailing address, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address should be described. The corresponding author should submit the manuscript with his e-mail. All authors are recommended to provide an ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) in the Title Page.
To obtain an ORCID, authors should register in the ORCID web site: http://orcid.org. Registration is free to every researcher in the world.
3. Abstract
The abstract should be written in English. The abstract should consist of four sections labeled Objectives, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. Word count of abstract should be equal to or less than 300. References should not be included in the abstract. Authors should provide a list of three to five keywords below the abstract. Keywords should be arranged in alphabetical order. Only the first character of the first word of keywords should be in capital letter. A comma separates keywords from each other.
4. Main Body
The exception is that one of 4 languages (English, Chinese, Japanese, or Korean) can be written only in the main body of manuscript.
(1) Introduction
It provides a research background and specific purpose or objectives for the research. The hypothesis tested can be stated. The references should be exactly pertinent to the subject presented and they should be provided a reference number.
(2) Methods Materials and/or Subjects: The materials used in the research should be clearly stated to allow further follow-up research. Any materials purchased should disclose the source of the manufacturer. Research subjects should also be precisely described with parameters such as age, sex, region, schools, country, date of intervention period, or job, etc. The reason of inclusion or selection of subjects should be explained. If there is exclusion of a certain group, it should be also explained. Study design: Whether it is a descriptive analysis, case study, clinical study, randomized controlled study, cohort study, or meta analysis, the study design type should be provided. Ethical approval: If the study in the article is on human subjects or human-originated material, informed consent for the study and the IRB approval number needs to be provided. If there is no IRB number, it should be discussed with the editor during the review process. Measurements: In describing analytic methods, a reporting guideline should be referred to for a better understanding of the content. If the methods are already well known, cite the method with a reference provided and mention only the modification, if any. If the method is something new, describe it more precisely. Complicated statistical methods can be placed in the Appendix. A methods section derived from previous articles is allowed to be described without consideration of duplicate publication. Duration of experiment, survey, analysis, or follow-up for a study should be clearly stated. Statistics: It should be described very meticulously. If the reviewers want to analyze the data to confirm the results, the raw data may be provided to the Editorial Office. Computer programs used for the statistical analysis should be stated with the name, manufacturer and the software version. Statistical results are encouraged to provide measurement error or uncertainty such as confidence intervals besides providing P-values.
(3) Results
It should be described logically according to the Methods section. Tables and figures are recommended to present the results more rapidly and easily. Do not duplicate the content of a table or a figure with in the Results section. Briefly describe the core results related to the conclusion in the text when data are provided in tables or in figures. In the Results section, audio or video files are also welcomed. Supplementary results can be placed in the Appendix.
4) Discussion
It is important to deduce the conclusion from the results while avoiding statements not described in the Methods or the Results sections. At the first part of the Discussion section, briefly summarize the main findings, then explore possible explanations for these findings, compare, and contrast the results with other relevant studies. Please do not repeatedly mention the results of previous relevant studies, but mention any differences or concordances. Emphasize the core findings and the conclusions drawn from them with the best available evidence. At the last part of the Discussion section, describe the limitations of the study and any future research plans. If there was a research hypothesis mentioned in the Introduction section, it should be addressed and whether it was proven, disproven or remains to be addressed at a later study.
(5) Conclusion
The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a separate short conclusions section.
(6) Conflict of interest
It should be disclosed here according to the statement in the Research and publication ethics regardless of existence of conflict of interest. If the authors have nothing to disclose, please state: “The authors declare no conflicts of interest.”
(7) Funding
Funding to the research should be provided here. Providing a FundRef ID is recommended including the name of the funding agency, country and if available, the number of the grant provided by the funding agency. If the funding agency does not have a FundRef ID, please ask that agency to contact the FundRef registry (e-mail: fundref.registry@crossref.org). Additional detailed policy of FundRef description is available from http://www.crossref.org/fundref/.
Example of a funding description is as follows:
This work was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Korea Ministry of Education (Grant No. 2018R1AXXXX).
(8) Acknowledgments
Any persons that contributed to the study or the manuscript, but not meeting the requirements of an authorship could be placed here. For mentioning any persons or any organizations in this section, there should be a written permission from them.
(9) Supplementary Materials
If there are any supplementary materials to help the understanding of readers or too great amount data to be included in the main text, it may be placed as supplementary data. Not only recording of the abstract, text, audio or video files, but also data files should be added here.
(10) References
The description of the Reference section is provided below. The References follow the PubMed (NLM) Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/citingmedicine) if not mentioned below. Every reference in the Reference section should be cited in the text. The number assigned to the reference citation is according to the first appearance in the manuscript. In-text references should be numbered sequentially in the order of their citation in the text, e.g., [1,2], and appear in the list at the end of the main text. In the reference list, for six or fewer authors, the surnames and initials of all authors can be listed. For seven or more authors, the abbreviation “et al.” should be added to the list of the first three authors, along with the title of article, the abbreviated name of the journal, year, volume, and the first and last page numbers.
Examples of reference descriptions according to type of references are as followings:
Journal articles
[1] Pate RR, Pratt M, Blair SN, et al. Physical activity and public health. A recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine. JAMA. 1995; 273 (5):402-407.
[2] An KO, Kim J. Association of sarcopenia and obesity with multimorbidity in Korean adults: a nationwide cross-sectional study. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2016; 17(10):960.e961-967.
Books
[3] American College of Sports Medicine. ACSM's guidelines for exercise testing and prescription. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2013, p 35-43.
[4] Jeukendrup A, Gleeson M. Sport Nutrition: an Introduction to Energy Production and Performance. Illinois, USA. Human Kinetics. 2004, p 96-105.
[Web sites]
[5] CDC. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey: Technical Documentation for the 1999-2004, Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DXA) Multiple Imputation Data files. 2008; http:// wwwn.cdc.gov/Nchs/Nhanes/1999-2000/MSX.htm. (Accessed Apr 11, 2017)
(11) Tables and figures (drawings and pictures)
There is limit of 7 tables or figures per manuscript. Tables have to be submitted as editable text on separate page(s) placed next to the main text in the manuscript. Number the tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters. The corresponding description should be placed directly below the table.
Ensure that figure files are in an acceptable format (TIFF, JPEG, Excel, PPT, and PDF) with the correct resolution. Figures should be provided as separate file with a minimum of 300 dpi (600 dpi for bitmapped line drawings). If usable color figures are submitted along with your accepted article, no additional charges would ensue.
Submission Process
The authors are recommended to list at least 2 appropriate reviewers, their affiliations and e-mail addresses. During the submission process, information on the authors’ ORCIDs and FundRef ID of the funding agency will be requested. The authors’ ORCIDs are mandatory, and FundRef ID is strongly recommended although it is not mandatory.
ALL manuscripts should be submitted online submission system at the following URL: http://submit.ajkinesiol.org/
Step 1. Title, Abstract and Corresponding Author
Choose manuscript type, and enter your title and abstract into the appropriate boxes. If you need to insert a special character, click the "Special Characters" button. If you are submitting a manuscript that does not require an Abstract, please type N/A in the Abstract box. Please click the check box, if the corresponding author is the first author.
Step 2. Authors
Enter the personal information for the first author in the boxes under "Add the First Author."
Step 3. File Upload
The manuscript file (main text) should not include author's’ name or name of affiliation. Upload and select the correct file designation for each. All images should be inserted into a PowerPoint file. Acceptable file formats are pdf, doc, and ppt, and each file should not be bigger than 20 MB in size.
Step 4. PDF conversion
Merger file will be created as pdf format.
Step 5. Cover Letter & Additional Info
Please, writer down the additional notes to Editor-in-Chief.
Step 6. Suggest Reviewers
This is particularly important when the manuscript deals with a highly specialized subject. Use the fields below to give us contact information for each suggested reviewer. Please note that the journal may not use your suggestions, but your help is appreciated and may speed up the selection of appropriate reviewers.
Step 7. Preview
Review the information in the Preview chart for correctness; make changes if needed. If you have not completed a required step, you will not be able to submit your manuscript.
Step 8. Submit
Once it is submitted, you will be able to monitor the progress of your manuscript through the peer review process.
Peer-review and Publication Process
The review and publication processes that are not described below will be incorporated into the Editorial Policy Statements, approved by the Council of Science Editors Board of Directors available from: http://www.councilscienceeditors.org/.
Screening before review
If the manuscript does not fit the aims and scope of the Journal or does not adhere to the Instructions to authors, it may be returned to the author immediately after receipt and without a review. Before reviewing, all submitted manuscripts are inspected by Similarity Check powered by iThenticate (https://www.crossref.org/services/similarity-check/), a plagiarism-screening tool. If a too high a degree of similarity score is found, the Editorial Board will do a more profound content screening. The criterion for similarity rate for further screening is usually 15%; however, the excess amount of similarity in specific sentences may be also checked in every manuscript. The settings for Similarity Check screening are as follows: It excludes quotes, bibliography, small matches of 6 words, small sources of 1%, and the Methods section.
Number of Reviewers
One or two reviewers will be selected from the list of reviewers recommended by the corresponding author. Manuscripts are then peer reviewed by at least 2 or more experts in the corresponding field.
Peer-review Process and the Author Response to the Reviewer Comments
The review period is 2 weeks. Usually the first decision is made within a week after completion of the review. The Editorial Board’s decision after the review will be one of followings: Accept, Minor revision, Major revision, or Rejection. The Editorial Board may request the authors to revise the manuscript according to the reviewers’ comments. If there are any requests for revision of the manuscript by the reviewers, the authors should do their best to revise the manuscript. If the reviewer's opinion is not acceptable or is believed to misinterpret the data, the author should reasonably indicate that. After revising the manuscript, the author should upload the revised files with a reply to each item of the reviewer's commentary. The author's revisions should be completed within 30 days after the request. If it is not received by the due date, the Editorial Board will notify the author. To extend the revision period beyond 30 days, the author should negotiate that with the Editorial Board. The manuscript review process can be provided for up two rounds. If the authors wish further review, the Editorial Board may consider it. The Editorial Board will make a final decision on the approval of the submitted manuscript for publication and can request any further corrections, revisions, and deletions of the article text if necessary. Statistical editing is also performed if the data requires professional statistical review by a statistician.
Processing after Acceptance
If the manuscript is finally accepted, the proofreading will be sent to the corresponding author after professional manuscript editing and/or English proofreading. Proofreading should be performed again for any misspellings or errors by the authors. Before final proofreading, the manuscript may appear at the journal homepage or other databases as an epub ahead of print with a unique DOI number for rapid communication. The epub ahead of print version will be replaced by the replacement full-text XML file and a final PDF.
Copyrights and Open Access Policy
Copyright
Copyright to all published materials is co-owned by The Asian Society of Kinesiology and the Korean Academy of Kinesiology. The corresponding author should agree to the copyright transfer during the submission process. The Editorial Board takes it granted that the co-authors also accept the copyright transfer per the acceptance by the corresponding author, who has a responsibility of submitting the copyright transfer agreement to the publisher.
Open Access Policy
All articles published in AJK is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.
Article Processing Charge
There are author submission fees (USD 90/KRW 90,000), but it is waived for English manuscripts. The publication fees are USD 200 (KRW 200,000) per accepted article for the members of the Asian Society of Kinesiology and the Korean Academy of Kinesiology, and USD 350 (KRW 350,000) per article for non-members. Invoice will be sent to the corresponding author when the submitted article is finally accepted. The articles written by English will be published without Article-processing Charge (APC).