Instructions to authors

Presentation

The Brazilian Journal of Physical Activity & Health (RBAFS) is the official journal of the Brazilian Society of Physical Activity & Health, open access, peer-reviewed, continuous flow and multidisciplinary in nature. The RBAFS mission is to disseminate scientific content of a theoretical, empirical and educational nature to contribute to the advancement of the area of physical activity and health. RBAFS accepts manuscripts in the following languages: Portuguese, Spanish and English.

 

Scope and editorial policy

BJPAH publishes articles of high scientific merit that contribute to advance the area of Physical Activity & Health. Of interest, the journal publishes work studying:

  • Levels, trends, and determinants of physical activity, sedentary behavior and health-related physical fitness: cross-sectional and/or longitudinal studies investigating prevalence, levels, trends, determinants of physical activity, sedentary behavior and health-related physical fitness.
  • Development, cross-cultural adaptation and validation of instruments to measure physical activity, sedentary behavior and health-related physical fitness: studies on the development and testing of the psychometric properties of instruments to measure physical activity indicators, sedentary behavior and health-related physical fitness.
  •  Consequences of physical activity, sedentary behavior and health-related physical fitness on different health indicators: cross-sectional and/or longitudinal studies analyzing the relationship between physical activity indicators, sedentary behavior and physical fitness with health indicators.
  • Effects of physical activity, sedentary behavior, physical exercise and health-related physical fitness interventions on different health indicators: studies investigating efficacy, effectiveness, reach, maintenance, aspects of internal and external validity of interventions on physical activity, sedentary behavior and physical fitness indicators with health outcomes.
  • Training of human resources, historical and sociocultural approaches to physical activity, sedentary behavior, health-related physical fitness and their inter-relationships: studies adopting an educational focus (professional training), historic and/or social aspects related to physical activity, sedentary behavior and health-related physical fitness, and its inter-relationships. 

 

Manuscripts should be submitted exclusively to BJPAH and simultaneous submission to another journal is prohibited. Concepts, ideas and opinions described in the manuscripts, as well as accuracy, adequacy and bibliographic citations and illustrations are the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the position of the Editorial Board of the Journal, Scientific and Associate Editors or the Society of Physical Activity & Health.

 

  1. Types of articles

BJPAH publishes the following types of articles:

1.1 Original articles – it is intended for the dissemination of studies conducted based on the application of rigorous scientific methods that allows for replication or generalization.  It covers both quantitative and qualitative research approaches focusing on the areas of interest of the BJPAH, which result from the meticulous analysis of primary or secondary data. Manuscripts that present results of clinical trials must be accompanied by the number and place of registration of the clinical trial (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov). This requirement is in accordance with the recommendation of the Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (BIREME), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Health Organization (WHO) on the Registration of Clinical Trials to be published based on guidelines provided by the WHO, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the ICTPR Workshop.  

1.2 Review articles – it is intended for the dissemination of systematic reviews, scope reviews and meta-analysis of investigations in areas of interest of the BJPAH. Systematic reviews and meta-analyzes should comply with international guidelines for systematic reviews and present the analysis of the methodological quality of the included studies, as well as their registration in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews database (PROSPERO). For scope reviews, the registration should also be conducted, for example, in the Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/

1.3 Editorials – it is intended for the publication of manuscripts written by invited authors with notable academic knowledge in specific themes defined by the Editorial Board of the BJPAH.

1.4 Letters to the Editor – it is intended to disseminate manuscripts for the reader or researcher who wishes to submit a reflection or further the discussion on a manuscript published in the BJPAH.

1.5 Special sections – it is intended to disseminate studies that address actions or innovative experiences in the following areas:

1.5.1 from diagnosis to action. Experiences in the promotion of physical activity and health: intended for the dissemination of manuscripts describing the experiences of professional intervention that denote an effort of application of scientific knowledge already produced in the development of actions to promote physical activity, health-related physical fitness and reduction of sedentary behaviors in their different contexts (universities, health centers, schools, among others). The manuscripts can present the conceptual bases, the models/framework, the intervention strategies and their difficulties and potentialities, in order to foster and consolidate actions for the promotion of physical activity, health-related physical fitness and reduction of sedentary behaviors. Studies presenting results of these investigations should be directed to the section of original articles;

1.5.2 research and graduate studies in physical activity and health: intended for the dissemination of research and training experiences for researchers. This section publishes contributions that describe ways of organizing research groups or networking in order to develop research projects and training for human resources for research in physical activity and health;

1.5.3 innovative curricular experiences in physical activity and health: intended to convey reports of curricular experiences, innovative actions and strategies that enable students and physical activity professionals to work with physical activity promotion, health-related physical fitness and reduction of sedentary behavior in different contexts (e.g., Unified Health System, in schools, gyms, recreational centers);

1.5.4 technical series on physical activity and health: intended for the dissemination of brief reports covering techniques, methodologies, procedures for analyzing and interpreting data, development and testing of instruments to measure physical activity indicators, sedentary behavior and health-related physical fitness, and its associated and determinant factors;

1.5.5 theoretical essays on physical activity and health: it is intended for original manuscript that develops an argument on a well-defined theme, definition of terms and concepts inherent to the aspects covered by the areas of interest of the BJPAH;

1.5.6 position stand: intended for original manuscripts that develops an official position of the Brazilian Society of Physical Activity & Health on topics of interest. Only authors invited by the Editorial Board of the BJPAH can submit manuscripts in this category;

1.5.7 study protocols on physical activity and health: intended for the dissemination of study protocols that contributes to advance the area of ​​physical activity and health. The publication of the study protocol will be justified by the interest in understanding relevant issues, hypotheses and justifications, as well as a method with high scientific merit, before the results are reported in future publications. Protocols must report planned or ongoing studies. Completed studies will not be considered. The protocol may be published independently of the study design, including observational, experimental studies and systematic reviews. The study protocol must follow the same criteria of ethical approval and registration, according to the other sections of the BJPAH. It is strongly recommended to structure and write the protocol according to guidelines and checklists adopted by the BJPAH; it is further recommended that the authors include the checklist completed in the submission letter;

1.5.8 supplements: intended for the publication of annals of scientific events in the area of physical activity and health, promoted or supported by the Brazilian Society of Physical Activity and Health, which includes abstracts of oral presentations and posters, approved by the Scientific Committees of the institutions organizers and following the rules of the magazine, in item 2.2 Body of the summary of supplements.

Contact the journal in case of questions about the adherence of a manuscript in relation to the editorial policy and / or section of the publication.

 

2. Manuscript preparation

Authors are encouraged to read the instructions carefully before submitting their manuscripts to the BJPAH. Manuscripts can be submitted in one of the following idioms: Portuguese, Spanish or English. Manuscripts written in Portuguese or Spanish must be accompanied by abstracts in the original language and in English. Those submitted in Spanish must also have an abstract in Portuguese. English-language manuscripts must include the abstract in the original language and in Portuguese. For authors submitting their work in Portuguese or Spanish, the journal offers a translation service, with costs for the authors.

Manuscripts must be prepared using Microsoft Word text editor. Files must have a DOC, DOCX or RTF extension. The manuscript should be prepared adopting the following format:

  • A4 size pages, numbered in the upper right corner from the “title page”, with 2.5 cm margins (bottom, top, left and right);
  • Times New Roman font, size 12;
  • Double space;
  • Numbering lines (page layout), restarting on each page;
  • The use of footnotes is not allowed.

 

Table 1 below shows the guidelines for preparing manuscripts with the maximum number of words, characters, references and number of illustrations allowed according to each type of manuscript.

* It does not include the abstract, references and illustrations.

** Number of characters with spaces

*** For item 1.5.1, one of the illustrations MUST be the framework of the program/intervention.

**** For item 1.5.5, submissions can be up to 3.000 words, excluding abstract, references and illustrations.

 

The TITLE PAGE MUST include, in the exact order, the following information:

  • Highlight of the main findings of the study no longer than 200 characters (with space). This short text will be disseminated in the BJPAH social media (i.e., Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).
  • Type of article;
  • Editorial area in which the manuscript should be evaluated;
  • Full title up to 100 characters with spaces:
    • Only the first letter of the first word should be capitalized (sentence case), except proper nouns;
    • Authors should avoid the used of acronyms in the title;
  • Full title in English up to 100 characters with spaces;
  • Running head/running title up to 50 characters with spaces;
  • Authors names and their complete institutional affiliations should be described in the following order (IMPORTANT: the journal does not allow for changes in the order of the authors after the submission):
    • Institution, department, City, State, and Country. For examplo: Federal University of Santa Catarina, Department of Physical Education, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil;
    • The abbreviation of authors’ names, States and institutions are not allowed;
    • The ORCID registration number (https://orcid.org) should be indicated after the name of each author. For example:

João Santos1

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9647-3448

1 Federal University of Santa Catarina, Department of Physical Education, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

  • Informações do autor responsável pelo contato com a equipe editorial da revista, na seguinte sequência: autor, e-mail, endereço completo (rua, número, complemento, cidade, estado, país, CEP) – por exemplo:

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR

João Santos

jj@rbafs.org.br

Street/Avenue President X, n. 100, São João, Pernambuco, Brazil, ZIPCODE: 59000-001.

 

  • Word count for the body of the text, abstract, and number of references and illustrations (tables, figures, charts) should be included;
  • Declaration of conflict of interest. If there is no conflict, the following sentence should be written:

Conflict of interest

The author(s) declare(s) no conflict of interest

  • Funding: Funded projects should provide the agency’s name and grant number – for example:

Funding

Information about the funding agency...

  • Author’s contributions: the contributions of each author to the study/manuscript should be described – for example: Author’s initials “AB”: study conception, manuscript draft and critical review of the final version of the manuscript. Author’s initials “CD”, foi responsável pela busca da literatura, coleta de dados;
  • Acknowledgments: include institutions name and others who does not fulfil the criteria for authorship – for example:

Acknowledgments

The author(s) thank(s)….

  • Suggestion of three potential reviewer for the manuscript (full name, institution and email address):
    • Important: potential reviewers should have a PhD title and expertise in the area related to the manuscript being submitted;

 

2.1 Body of the manuscript

For original articles and reviews, full title in Portuguese and English, running head and an unstructured abstract (containing objective, methods, results and conclusion) of up to 250 words should be described in the first page.  The Abstract MUST present the purpose of the study, characteristics of the sample, measures of the main outcomes, main results and conclusion. For manuscripts submitted to the special sections, the content of the abstract is at the discretion of the authors, respecting the limit of 150 words. A list of three to five keywords must follow with the abstract. Selected keywords must follow the Health Sciences descriptors base (DeCS - http://decs.bvs.br) or the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH - http: //www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html). Authors are encouraged to avoid the use of keywords adopted in the title of the manuscript. Keywords must be separated by semicolons, with only the first letter capitalized, except for the first name - for example: Motor activity; Obesity; Teenager.

Abstracts and keywords should presented in both Portuguese and English. Abstracts should not contain citations or abbreviations.

Manuscripts in sections 1.1 and 1.2, preferably, should be organized according to the following items, including the respective essential elements: Introduction; Methods; Results; Discussions and References or Introduction; Methods; Results and Discussions (together) and References – all topic titles must contain only the first letter in capital letters and not use bold.

Introduction

Authors should provide a synthesis of the current state of the art on the subject matter of the manuscript, main gaps in the literature, definition of the problem and its relevance, as well as hypotheses/assumptions about the study and, clearly define the study objective(s).

Methods

Authors should describe the type of study, target population, sample size calculation (if applicable) and a detailed description of the sample recruitment. This section should also include information on inclusion and exclusion criteria; an objective description of the variables and how they were operationalized, indicators of validity, reproducibility and internal consistency of the measures used; statistical analysis plan, presenting each procedure adopted and its purpose. A Research Ethics Committee approval (if applicable) should also be described.

Results

Authors should present general data about the sample, number of dropouts, losses and refusals; general characteristics of the sample; main findings of the study and; description of the main findings of each illustration (tables, figures, charts).

 Discussion

Authors should present, in the first paragraph, the main findings of the study, without repeating the results; indicate the strengths and weaknesses of the study; compare, explain and present the implications of the study's main findings. Ultimately, authors should present a conclusion, which should not be a separated from the discussion.

Referências

Authors should respect the limit of references allowed for each type of article (refer to table 1) making sure to use current references that shows a direct relationship with the content of the manuscript.

The manuscript sections should be presented in sequence without the need to start each one on a new page. Authors are strongly recommended to use the following guidelines when preparing the manuscript according to the type of article (item 1) being submitted:

  • CONSORT – randomized controlled trials;
  • STARD – diagnostic accuracy studies;
  • MOOSE or PRISMA – systematic reviews and meta-analysis;
  • QUOROM – systematic reviews;
  • STROBE – observational studies;
  • COMSMIN – validation studies;
  • SPIRIT – clinical trial protocols;
  • PRISMA-P – systematic reviews and meta-analysis protocols.

2.2 Abstract of the supplement issues

For supplement abstracts (special section - 1.5.8) containing up to 250 words, include in the first line the title with the first letter capitalized and the remaining lower case (except for proper noun); the institution of only the first author [Note, credit: Laboratory (optional). Course (optional). Center, University (no acronym). City, State. Country.]; e-mail only for the first author. After the abstract, authors must list three to five keywords, which must be separated by semicolons, with only the first letter capitalized, except for proper noun - for example: Motor activity; Obesity; Teenager.

 

3. Referências

The maximum number of references allowed per manuscript must be respected. This information is described in table 1 along with guidelines on how to prepare manuscripts.

References must be presented in order of appearance in the body of the text using using superscript Arabic numerals, with no space between the citation number and the last letter of the text - for example: “Physical inactivity is a risk factor for heart disease1,5”. Of note, references should come before the comma or the period of the sentence. If more than two references are used in sequence, only the first and the last must be typed and they should be separated by a dash (example: 5-8). In case of alternate citation, all references must be described and they should be separated by a comma (example: 12,19,23). If it is necessary to use one or more citations in the author-date format, authors should adopt the following: a) one author: Farias Júnior6; b) two authors: Farias Júnior & Rech7 and; c) three or more authors: list the first author followed by et al. - for example: Farias Júnior et al.1. Prepositions (“da”, “de”, “do”) present in certain authors’ names should be removed from the list of authors - for example: for “de Farias Júnior JC, Barros MVdG, da Silva, ICM”, the correct one would be “Farias Júnior JC, Barros MVG, Silva, ICM ”.

The BJPAH adopts the Vancouver style for references. Additional details on the Vancouver Style are presented in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals available at <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html>.

 

In the reference list, the references should be numbered and listed in order of appearance in the text, using left alignment. Personal communications, abstracts and unpublished data/manuscripts should not be used as a reference in the body of the text, nor be included in the references list.  Cite names of all authors when there are up to six authors; when the work has seven or more authors, list the first six followed by the expression “et al.” Journals’ abbreviations should be in accordance to the List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus (www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/libprog.html) or, for non-indexed journals in accordance to the official abbreviated title adopted (example: Rev Bras Ativ Phys Saúde). The final page number of articles should be abbreviated, so as not to repeat the tens, hundreds and thousands of the starting page.

All references should be presented correctly and completely. The veracity of the information contained in the reference list is the sole responsibility of the authors. If using reference software (e.g., EndNote), authors must convert the references to plain text before submission. Do not submit the manuscript with hyperlinks between the cited in-text references and the reference list at the end of the manuscript.

Authors are encouraged, whenever possible, to cite articles published in the BJPAH.

Below are examples on how to cite scientific work.

3.1 Journal articles

Journal articles with up to six authors:

Hallal PC, Victora CG, Wells JCK, Lima RC. Physical inactivity: prevalence and associated variables in Brazilian adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003;35(11):1894-900.

Journal articles with more than six authors:

Mattos LA, Sousa AGMR, Feres F, Pinto I, Tanajura L, Sousa JE, et al. The influence of coronary stent release pressure in patients with acute myocardial infarction: analysis using the quantitative coronary angiography. Arq Bras Cardiol. 2003;80(3):250-9.

Articles published in journal supplments:

Webber LS, Wattigney WA, Srinivisan SR, Berenson GS. Obesity studies in Bogalusa. Am J Med Sci. 1995;310(Suppl 1):S53-61.

Articles in ahead of print:

McKeage K. Tobramycin inhalation powder: a review of its use in the treatment of chronic pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in patients with cystic fibrosis. Drugs [journal on the Internet]. 2013 [cited 2013 Nov 7]. Available from: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs40265-013-0141-0. [Epub ahead of print]

 

3.2 Book and chapter in a book

Book – individual authorship:

Nahas MV. Atividade física, saúde e qualidade de vida. 5ª ed. Londrina: Midiograf, 2003.

Book – institutional authorship:

Sociedade Brasileira de Hipertensão, Sociedade Brasileira de Cardiologia, Sociedade Brasileira de Nefrologia. IV Diretrizes Brasileiras de Hipertensão Arterial. São Paulo: BG Cultural; 2002.

Book chapter – individual authorship:

Zanella MT. Obesidade e fatores de risco cardiovascular. In: Mion Jr D, Nobre F (eds). Risco cardiovascular global: da teoria à prática. 2ª ed. São Paulo: Lemos Editorial Berenson GS. Obesity studies in Bogalusa. Am J Med Sci. 1995;310(Suppl); 2000. p. 109-25.

 

3.3 Thesis or dissertations:

Brandão AA. Estudo longitudinal de fatores de risco cardiovascular em uma população de jovens [tese de doutorado]. Rio de Janeiro: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; 2001.

 

3.4 Electronic material

Sabroza PC. Globalização e saúde: impacto nos perfis epidemiológicos das populações. In: 4º Congresso Brasileiro de Epidemiologia [online]; 1998 Ago 1-5; Rio de Janeiro.

Anais eletrônicos. Rio de Janeiro: ABRASCO; 1998. [citado 1999 jan 17]. Disponível em: url: http://www.abrasco.com.br/epirio98.

 

3.5 Other materials on the internet:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for Health Statistics/CDC. CDC growth charts: United States. 2002; Disponível em: <http://www.cdc.gov. br/growthcharts> [2007 junho].

IBGE. Síntese de indicadores sociais: uma análise das condições de vida da população brasileira: 2015. 35th ed. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE; 2015. Disponível em: <https://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/visualizacao/livros/liv95011.pdf> [2018 Maio].

 

4. Illustrations (tables, figures, charts, photographs, maps)

All illustrations must be inserted in the same file after the reference list, and be accompanied by a concise but comprehensive. The title should be described in a way that is easy to understand. The illustration and its legend should be understandable without reference to the text. Authors should include definitions of any symbols used and define/explain all abbreviations and units of measure. 

It is recommended to use the following:

Figure 1 – XXX (Figure, space, corresponding figure number, dash). Analysis used, analyzed variables or term for the group of variables, population, place, year and, whenever possible, the sample size (n = xx). It should be displayed below the illustration.

Table 1 – XXX (Table, space, corresponding number of the table, dash). Analysis used, analyzed variables or term of the group of variables, population, place, year and, whenever possible, the sample size (n = xx). It should be displayed above the illustration.

Chart 1 – XXX (Table, space, dash, corresponding number of the chart). Description of the main item and content of the chart. It should be displayed above the illustration.

 

Measurement units, abbreviations, symbols and statistics must be presented in a clear and objective way. Illustrations must be in color or monochrome (grayscale). Photographs can be used, as long as they present good graphic quality (maximum 21cm wide, 300dpi). Do not use bold letters to inform the statistical significance, as well as the names of the variables and their categories; use symbols and letters (*, $, #, a, b, among others), with explanations at the bottom of the table or figure. The explanations (descriptions) at the bottom of the table and/or figure must adopt the following standardization:

    • superscript markers or indicators: add the marker or indicate in the footer, followed by a space and the respective description - for example: a Category with the highest number of cases without valid data. If there is more than one marker or indicator to be described, they should be presented next to each other and separated by semicolons - for example: a Category with the highest number of cases without valid data; b Category with the lowest number of cases without valid data.
    • acronyms and abbreviation: should be presented separately from the description of the indicators and markers, adopting the following standardization: acronym, followed by the equal sign, space and respective description - for example: BMI = body mass index. All acronyms and/or abbreviations should be presented next to each other, separated by semicolons and with periods at the end - for example: BMI = body mass index; PA = physical activity.

The illustrations should be used for the effective understanding of the work and only when necessary, without repeating information already presented in the body of the text. All illustrations must be numbered in order of appearance, depending on the type (table, figure, table), and authors should indicate the approximate location in which they should be inserted in the text. Photographs, maps and similar illustrations must be identified as figures. The same font used in the text should be used in the preparation of the illustrations.

The tables must have the following maximum measures: 8 cm or 17 cm in width, and the thickness of the gridlines should not be greater than 1.0, and tables should not contain inside or sidelines.

Tables should be created and save as Microsoft Word file. Figures (maps, graphs, photos and the like) must be sent in the following formats: Power Point, Excel, Word or vector. The accepted vector formats are: AI (Adobe Illustrator), PDF (Portable Document Format), WMF (Windows MetaFi-le), EPS (Encapsuled PostScript) or SVG (Scalable Vectorial Graphics). When using other software, it is suggested to try to export the graphics in one of the vector formats above (copying and pasting in Word is usually not a good option). You should avoid sending illustrations and graphics in JPG, GIF, PNG or similar format.

Tables and charts should be prepared as to not have shading, middle and lateral lines. Lines should be placed only on the upper and lower parts; the lines of the borders should be the standard thickness of Microsoft Word and should not be thickened or have effects, color and others; all acronyms must be described at the bottom of the illustrations; only the first name of the variable(s) should be capitalized - for example: Economy class, Healthy weight. The use of abbreviations in tables is not accepted - for example: Ens. Fund. Incomplete. Variable categories should be shifted to the right - for example:

Socioeconomic status

   A

   B

   C

   D/E

 

The use of bold, underline and other effects is not accepted. Authors should avoid the use of acronyms in the tables, but when it is not possible, all of them must be described in the legend of the illustrations. Items described in the tables note should be separated by semicolons, one after the other - for example: BMI = body mass index; PA = physical activity.

 

Authors should pay attention to the following during the results presentation in the tables and in the text. Distribution by relative frequency (represent with the symbol “%” in the header of the table or in the measurement scale of the graph): present the data with one decimal place - for example: 27.2%; distribution by absolute frequency (represent with the letter “n”, in the table header or in the measurement scale of the graph): add a space before and after the equal sign - for example, n = 229 or n = 2.239 (text in Portuguese) and 2,239 (text in English); ways of presenting data with confidence intervals: 23.4% (95% CI: 19.5 – 29.3), (23.4%; 95% CI: 19.5 - 29.3). Adopt the same standard to present average values ​​and 95% CI; the values ​​of mean and standard deviation should be presented with two decimal places - for example: 20.34 or 2.33; when the mean and standard deviation are together, add a space between the information - for example: 20.34 ± 2.33.

 

When presenting results from regression and similar analysis authors should use two decimal places and apply a space between the information, except between the values ​​of the confidence interval, as follows: text in Portuguese: OR = 0,40 (95% CI: 0,31–0,53) or (OR = 0,40; 95% CI: 0,31–0,53); for English: OR = 0.40 (95% CI: 0.31–0.53) or (OR = 0.40; 95% CI: 0.31–0.53). When the regression results in negative values authors should avoid the use of the hyphen and therefore, results should be reported as follows: β = -66.60; (95% CI: -110.30; -22.90) or β = -66.6 (95% CI: -110.32; -22.92).

For the presentation of data that contains a reference category, the category of reference should be named “1” rather than “reference category” or any another denomination. Authors should adopt space between text and sign information, such as: low weight: <18 kg / m2; normal weight: 19-24.99 kg / m2; gender variable: male = 1 and female = 2.

P values

P-values should be presented in three decimal places and with space between the information of the p and the signs - for example: p = 0.067 or p <0.001. To indicate that the p-value was equal to or greater than a certain cut-off point, limit it to two decimal places - for example: p> 0.05 or p> 0.10.

 

5. Conflict of interest

The transparency of the peer review process and the credibility of the published manuscripts depend, at least in part, on how the conflict of interest is handled during the writing process, peer review and decision making by the editors. This type of conflict can emerge when authors, reviewers or editors have interests that, whether apparent or not, can influence the preparation or evaluation of manuscripts. Thus, both authors and reviewers must inform the journal of any conflict of interest. The conflict of interest can be of a personal, commercial, political, academic or financial nature. When authors submit a manuscript, they are responsible for recognizing and disclosing the existence of financial or other conflicts that may have influenced their work.

Authors must disclosure in the manuscript all financial support received to complete the work (full or partial) and any other financial or personal connections in relation to the research being presented. In turn, ad hoc reviewers should also decline to review a manuscript when there is any conflict of interest that may influence their opinion. When submitting a manuscript, authors must also submit the conflict of interest statement, prepared according to the model adopted by the journal.

 

6. Ethical aspects

Authors must inform, in the text, whether the research was approved by a Research Ethics Committee in accordance with the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki, resolution no. 196/96 or 466/12 (for research conducted as of December 12, 2012) of the National Health Council and other normative provisions in place. Experimental research studies involving animals, the current ethical standards and principles established by the Brazilian College of Animal Experimentation (COBEA) should be respected. Clinical trials must appropriated registered within the Brazilian Clinical Trials Registry (ReBEC) or other clinical trial registry agency (for example: ClinicalTrials.gov). Along with the manuscript, authors should submit a copy of the certificate and / or declaration attesting to the observance of ethical research standards, including a copy of the approval research protocol by the Research Ethics Committee in humans. Studies that do not meet these requirements will not be accepted for publication in the journal.

 

7. Copyrights

At the time of submission, authors must submit a signed copy of the Copyright Transfer Declaration in accordance to the model provided by the journal. Manuscripts accepted for publication become the property of the journal and cannot be reproduced (even partially), including translation into another language, without a written authorization from the BJPAH.

 

8. Acknowledgments/Funding

On the title page, authors should mention the sources of funding for the study and the names of institutions, agencies or people who should be acknowledged by their support. Authors should keep in their records evidence that the persons and institutions cited in the acknowledgment section have authorized the inclusion of their name. This is important because a nominal citation may imply endorsement of the results and conclusions of the study.

 

9. Collaborators

All listed authors must have contributed substantially to the development of the manuscript, so that they can assume responsibility for the referring authorship. The criteria for authorship should be based according to the ICMJE, which determines the recognition of authorship based on a substantial contribution related to the following aspects: 1. conception of the manuscript, analysis and interpretation of data; 2. writing of the manuscript or relevant critical review of the intellectual content and; 3. final approval of the version to be published. These three conditions must be fully met, and such information must appear on the title page.

 

10. Manuscript submission

It is recommended that before submitting the manuscript to the BJPAH, the authors check whether the manuscript fits into any of the editorial areas and that it is in accordance with the journal's norms. The submission of manuscripts to the BJPAH can be done at any time of the year (the journal adopts a continuous flow model, without interruption of the manuscript submission process), and it must be done using the journal's electronic platform: <http: //www.rbafs.org.br / RBAFS / about / submissions>.

To submit the manuscript, the first author or the corresponding author must be registered in the journal’s platform. All authors listed in the manuscript must have their information inserted into the manuscript submission page, on the journal's platform. Submission of manuscripts containing results of studies that have been preliminarily published as abstracts are allowed. During the submission process, authors must include in the “ARTICLE’S COMPONENTS” (on the online submission platform of the journal) the Title page according to the guidelines described in the item 2 “Manuscript Presentation”, and all the declarations signed by all authors.

The file with the body of the manuscript should contain the main text (must include the title of the manuscript), the references, the illustrations and be attached in “Submission Document”. Important! This file should not contain the title page or any other type of authors’ identification.

When submitting the manuscript, the authors assume full responsibility for its content, for obtaining authorization to use illustrations and/or data from third parties, as well as that the work has not been previously published nor is it being considered for publication by another journal while in evaluation by the BJPAH. To formally certify that they assume these responsibilities, authors must sign a declaration in accordance with the model provided by the journal.

All manuscripts should be accompanied by a Cover letter addressed to the editor-in-chief. The cover letter should indicate the area/section to which the manuscript is intended to (refer to “Types of articles”), and highlighting the potential contribution of the study to the advancement of the area of ​​physical activity and health. The cover letter should be accompanied by the following documents (attached in the “Article Components” on the journal's submission platform):

  • Declaration of responsibility (model);
  • Ethics Committee Approval Certificate;
  • Conflict of interest statement (model);
  • Declaration of transfer of copyright (model).

 

11. Manuscript evaluation

The BJPAH adopts the peer review system: manuscripts submitted to the journal will be considered by two or more reviewers. The journal adopts the double-blind process in order to guarantee confidentiality about the authorship of the manuscripts and review of the peers. The journal counts with national and international ad hoc reviewers in its editorial board with notable academic experience in the mentioned editorial areas.

The evaluation process starts with the analysis of the editor-in-chief on the following aspects: i) adequacy of the manuscript to the journal's editorial policy; ii) potential contribution of the manuscript to the advancement of knowledge within the editorial areas of the journal. If the manuscript is rejected, the authors will be notified immediately.

If the manuscript pass the initial evaluation by the editor-in-chief, the assistant editor will then analyze it for its compliance with the BJPAH norms/format. Manuscripts that do not comply with the journal's norms will be returned to the authors for reformulations. If the authors do not send the reformulated manuscript within the deadline described in the communication, it will be archived and will exit the journal's evaluation flow.

Manuscripts approved in this stage and containing all documents required by the journal (title page, declaration of responsibility, copy of the certificate of approval by Research Ethics Committee in humans or animals, declaration of conflict of interest and copyright transfer declaration) will be forwarded by the assistant editor to one of the chief editors.

The third stage of the manuscript evaluation begins when one of the associate editors is appointed by one of the editors-in-chief. In this stage, initially, the associate editor judges the potential of the manuscript considering scientific rigor, originality and linguistic quality, as well as evaluating the presence of plagiarism and self-plagiarism. If approved in this state, the manuscript is sent for analysis by at least two ad hoc reviewers; otherwise, the refusal is immediately communicated to the authors. If the manuscript reaches the stage of evaluation by the ad hoc reviewers, the associate editor will await their opinions (reviews) to support their decision regarding the manuscript.

The decision will be communicated to the authors considering four possibilities: (1) accepted (2) required reviews; (3) refuse with the possibility of resubmission; (4) refusal without the possibility of resubmission.

If the editorial decision is “required reviews”, authors should send a revised manuscript along with a point-by-point response letter to the reviewers, within the period established by the associate editor. If the authors do not send the new version within the established deadline, the manuscript will be rejected.

Upon acceptance, the authors will receive the typographic proof of their manuscript, which must be revised and sent back to the BJPAH within a period not to exceed 48 (forty-eight) hours. Authors who do not respond to the journal's communications within the established deadline will have their manuscripts rejected and archived.

Authors can follow the editorial flow of the manuscript using the journal’s system <http://rbafs.org.br/RBAFS/submissions>. Decisions about the manuscript will be communicated by e-mail and made available on the http://rbafs.org.br/RBAFS system. Authors can also use this same communication channel to appeal decisions made at any stage of the manuscript evaluation process. The contact with the editorial office of the BJPAH should be done through our website <http://rbafs.org.br/RBAFS/about/contact>.

 

12. Editorial approach for scientific misconduct

The editorial approach in the case of scientific misconduct (plagiarism, self-plagiarism, falsification or fabrication of data, misuse of references or citations, duplicity, authorship dispute, among others) follows the procedures, checklist and guidelines of the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors of the Commit-tee on Publication Ethics (COPE - http://publicationethics.org/). The BJPAH adopts plagiarism and self-plagiarism tracking tools, and authors must be aware of the implications provided by the legal provisions of the Penal Code (article 184) and the Copyright Law (Art. 7, third paragraph of Law 9.610, February 19, 1998 - see Law No. 12,853, of 2013).

 

13. Publication fee

The BJPAH is not supported by any public/private institutions or agencies. Despite being the official journal of the SBAFS, the available resources are not sufficient to guarantee its continuity, allowing for its evolvement. To this end, charging a publication fee became the alternative to guarantee the necessary minimum resources for the production of the BJPAH. Similar practice has been adopted by several journals, including those receiving financial support public institutions.

Thus, for approved articles, as of June 1, 2022, authors must pay a publication fee of:

- R$ 400.00 (four hundred reais) for articles submitted in thematic editions;

- R$ 600.00 (six hundred reais) for articles submitted in the continuous flow.

Payments must be made upon manuscript acceptance, as communicated by the BJPAH editorial office.

 

14. Typeset page proof

To be published, the accepted manuscript will be submitted to a review of the scientific writing (clarity, brevity, objectivity and solidity) and style. The BJPAH reserves the right to make changes in the writing focusing on a perfect communication to the readers. The corresponding author will have access to all suggested changes, and the deadline for making revisions will be no longer than 2 days (48 hours). Until a final version of the text is reached, the editorial team will contact the corresponding author for review if there are remaining doubts about the text. Grammar review is mandatory and will be the sole responsibility of the authors of the manuscript.

The manuscript will be edited immediately after its approval by the editors. Authors will receive a typeset page proof of their manuscript and they should revise the document in detail, looking for errors, and return the revised version within 48 hours. It is important to note that alterations other than the essential correction of errors are unacceptable the proof stage. Corrections must be made directly to the manuscript in PDF format, in the form of comments (unless otherwise indicated in the PDF). We clarify that the manuscript will not be published until the proof has been received by the editorial office of the journal.

 

15. Copyright

Authors who publish in the BJPAH agree to the following terms:

- Authors maintain copyright and grant the journal the rights of the first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons License, which allows the work to be shared with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal.

Creative Commons License:

16. Open Access Policy

This journal offers free access to its content. The RBAFS believes that making scientific knowledge freely available to the public provides a worldwide democratization of knowledge.

 

 17. Preprints

The Brazilian Journal of Physical Activity & Health accepts the submission of preprints-manuscripts deposited in an official preprints server (for example: SciELO preprints, EmeRI).

When submitting the manuscript, the authors must inform, in the letter to the editor, that the manuscript is a preprint, on which preprint server (link) it is deposited and the DOI of the manuscript on the server. Only preprint manuscripts that have not been submitted to peer review in another journal, simultaneously, will be considered for evaluation in the journal.

 

18. Submission Checklist

Before submitting the manuscript, authors should check the following items:

  1. Manuscript body text containing all the components described in the item “Manuscript preparation”;
  2. Title page with all the information requested by the journal;
  3. References using Vancouver style and organized by order of appearance according to the norms adopted by the journal;
  4. Tables, figures and charts must not exceed five in total;
  5. Tables numbered sequentially, with title and notes, and following the journal guidelines;
  6. Figures in Power Point, Excel, Word or vector format. The accepted vector formats are: AI (Adobe Illustrator), PDF (Portable Document Format), WMF (Windows MetaFi-le), EPS (Encapsuled PostScript) or SVG (Scalable Vectorial Graphics;
  7. Cover letter;
  8. Declaration of responsibility;
  9. Certificate of Approval by a Research Ethics Committee;
  10. Statement of conflict of interest;
  11. Declaration of copyright transfer.