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Manuscript Types

Review Process

All submissions will undergo the same double-blind review process. First, a member of our pre-review team will evaluate the submission for critical pieces necessary for every paper (e.g., human subjects approval or exemption, formatting expectations) and originality before moving to an editor. Next, members of the Executive Team will ensure that the research aligns with the journal’s scope, has potential impact in the field, and is methodologically sound upon first appraisal. If approved, the submission will move to a Section Editor who will conduct a similar evaluation, but with particular focus on content and relevance. Peer evaluators may be secured after this step.

The review process timeline may vary depending on how promptly authors respond to revision requests and the availability of our dedicated volunteer reviewers to provide valuable, in-depth feedback. Our team is committed to treating each submission with the same care and attention as their own work, ensuring it receives the thorough consideration it deserves. Given the high volume of submissions, there may be some time between submission and an initial decision. Authors can generally expect an initial decision within 3-6 weeks if no immediate revisions are needed. To facilitate timely dissemination, we publish accepted articles promptly upon approval.

Accepted Manuscript Types

Original Research

IJES welcomes original research articles that present novel findings and make significant contributions to the literature within the scope of the journal.

Original research articles should include the following sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. The Methods section should provide sufficient detail to allow replication of the study, including clear descriptions and justifications of the study design, participants, interventions (if applicable), outcome measures, and statistical analyses used.

All submissions must adhere to IJES formatting guidelines and ethical standards. Authors are encouraged to include tables, figures, and visualization materials that help present the data in a clear and transparent manner. Ethical considerations, including informed consent and institutional review board (IRB) approval, must be clearly stated in the manuscript where applicable. IJES limits the number of references for original research papers to a maximum of forty (40). Original research articles that meet these criteria and contribute valuable insights to the field will be considered for publication.

Systematic Review

Systematic reviews are welcomed and will be subject to the standard peer-review process. In addition, all systematic reviews will undergo pre-review by the Executive Editors to determine if the submission is timely, aligns with the scope of IJES, and makes a significant contribution to the literature.

Systematic reviews should follow rigorous methodology including adherence to established guidelines such as the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) or Cochrane Review checklists. Submissions should have a clearly defined research question, a comprehensive literature search, and explicit criteria for study inclusion and exclusion. Manuscripts must include appropriate subheadings, such as Introduction, Methodology, Results, and Discussion, while adhering to standard IJES formatting guidelines. Additionally, a summary table of the articles reviewed must be included within the manuscript. Only systematic reviews meeting these criteria will be considered for publication.

Meta-Analysis

The journal welcomes meta-analyses that synthesize quantitative findings from multiple studies to provide robust conclusions on topics within the scope of IJES. All meta-analyses will undergo the standard peer-review process, along with a pre-review by the Executive team to evaluate the timeliness, relevance, and methodological rigor of the submission.

Meta-analyses must adhere to established guidelines such as Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), and should include a clearly defined research question, comprehensive literature search, and explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria. The statistical methods used to aggregate and analyze the data must be thoroughly described, including details of any heterogeneity tests, publication bias, and sensitivity analyses.

The manuscript should include standard sections such as Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion, with emphasis on the Methods section to ensure transparency. A summary table of the included studies, along with their key characteristics and results, is required. Meta-analyses that meet these criteria and provide significant contributions to the literature will be considered for publication.

Brief Report

The journal welcomes pilot studies, feasibility studies, and other early-stage research that assess the viability, practicality, or preliminary outcomes of research methods, interventions, or concepts. Submissions may include exploratory studies, proof-of-concept studies, or preliminary research that provide initial insights and justify further investigation. While these studies are typically smaller in scale, they must present clear research questions and contribute valuable information that supports the development of full-scale research. If sample size is a limiting factor in the study, authors are encouraged to include an analysis that determines the sample size required to achieve adequate statistical power for future, larger-scale studies. Articles should adhere to the journal’s standard formatting guidelines and clearly indicate the study’s scope and limitations.

Brief reports are limited to ten pages (10) total, including references and figures. Authors are limited to twenty five (25) references in brief reports.

Case Report, Series, or Study

At this time, IJES does not accept case reports, case series, or case studies for publication. We encourage authors to consider submitting original research articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, or brief reports that align with the journal’s scope and contribute significantly to the literature. If you have a case report, study, series investigation that you wish to publish, consider submitting it to our sister journal, Topics in Exercise Science and Kinesiology.