Editorial Policy

Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Section I: Publication

  1. By submitting an article to the journal Physical Activity and Human Development, the author agrees to this ethics and malpractice statement.
  2. All articles are subject to a peer review process by at least two international experts in the relevant field.
  3. Review criteria include quality, relevance, originality, innovation, pertinence, and language.
  4. Decisions by the Editorial Board of the journal Physical Activity and Human Development may include: acceptance, acceptance with revisions, or rejection.
  5. There is no guarantee that a reviewed article will be accepted.
  6. No article will be rejected without being reviewed.

Section II: Authorship

  1. All articles submitted to the journal Physical Activity and Human Development must include a relevant and appropriate list of references.
  2. Authors must disclose any financial support received from institutions for the development of the work.
  3. All article titles must be original. Plagiarism in any form and fraudulent data are not acceptable.
  4. The journal Physical Activity and Human Development does not publish articles containing material identical to that published in other journals.

Section III: Author Responsibilities

  1. Authors must ensure their articles are original; that the work has not been previously published elsewhere; that all sources used are properly cited; that all data presented are real and authentic; and that all authors (in cases of co-authorship) have contributed significantly to the research.
  2. Authors are also required to:
    • Participate in the peer review process;
    • Provide retractions or corrections of errors;
    • Report any error they discover in their published articles.
  3. Authors must notify the editors of any conflict of interest.

Section IV: Reviewer Responsibilities

  1. Reviews must be conducted objectively and fairly, without personal criticism of the author.
  2. Comments on manuscripts must be treated confidentially.
  3. Reviewers must:
    • Be academically qualified to review the article;
    • Have no conflicts of interest regarding the research, the authors, the sponsors, or the institutions involved;
    • Express their opinions clearly and with supporting arguments;
    • Identify relevant works not cited by the authors and/or any substantial similarity between the manuscript and other published works.

Section V: Editor Responsibilities

  1. Editors have full responsibility and authority to accept or reject an article.
  2. They are responsible for the content and overall quality of the publication.
  3. They must:
    • Have no conflict of interest regarding the evaluated articles;
    • Ensure the quality of published works;
    • Accept an article only when there is reasonable evidence of its validity;
    • Preserve reviewer anonymity;
    • Ensure that all articles meet internationally accepted ethical standards;
    • Promote the publication of corrections or retractions when errors are identified.
  4. The Editor-in-Chief has final authority over the acceptance or rejection of a manuscript, after considering reviewer comments and consulting other members of the editorial board when necessary. They must have no bias or conflict of interest regarding the articles evaluated.

Section VI: Publication Ethics

The Editor-in-Chief, members of the Editorial Board, and the International Advisory Board of the journal Physical Activity and Human Development commit to:

  1. Uphold publication ethics;
  2. Maintain high intellectual and scientific standards free from commercial interests;
  3. Protect and improve the peer review process;
  4. Publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when necessary;
  5. Work closely with other editors;
  6. Ensure that plagiarism and fraudulent data are not tolerated.