Principles of transparency and best practices in scientific publications

The editorial board of the journal "Sports Games" strictly adheres to the "Principles of Transparency, Objectivity and Best Practices in Scientific Publications" defined by leading international organizations COPE  (Committee on Publication Ethics),  DOAJ   (Directory of Open Access Journals),  OASPA  (Open Access Scientific Publications Association) and  WAME  (World Association of Medical Editors). We ensure high quality content and ethical publishing process through the following mechanisms.
 
The publication strictly adheres to  the COPE Core Practices . All cases of suspected plagiarism, data falsification, authorship manipulation, or conflicts of interest are investigated according to official COPE flowcharts  . The editorial board is committed to publishing corrections and retractions in accordance with these standards.
We are guided by  WAME recommendations  regarding:
  • Protection of the rights of research participants (athletes).
  • Ensuring editorial independence.
  • Ethical use of artificial intelligence in manuscript preparation.
The editorial team supports the principles  of DORA , focusing on the intrinsic quality of each individual article, not just the journal's impact factor. We encourage the use of a variety of metrics (citations, downloads, altmetrics).
The journal fully complies with  BOAI requirements  for free, immediate, and perpetual access to scientific texts for all users.
 
Editorial management and supervision
  • Editorial independence.  All decisions regarding acceptance or rejection of manuscripts are based solely on scientific quality, relevance of the research, and the results of independent peer review. The journal's founder, sponsors, or government agencies have no right to interfere in the editorial process.
  • Editorial Board Composition. The editorial board includes recognized experts in the field of physical education and sports (specialty A7) who have active profiles in Scopus/Web of Science and publication activity over the last 3-5 years.
 
Transparency of the review process
  • Type of review:  The publication uses  a double-blind peer review procedure  , which guarantees the absence of bias.
  • Evaluation criteria.  Each manuscript is evaluated according to a clear list of criteria (methodological correctness, novelty in single combats, statistical significance), available for review by authors. The editorial board supports the principles  of DORA , focusing on the intrinsic quality of each individual article, and not only on the impact factor of the journal.
 
Information openness
  • Journal website.  The official website contains complete information about the publisher, editorial contacts, design requirements, and financial policy.
  • Metadata.  Each article is accompanied by full metadata in English and Ukrainian, including annotations, keywords, author affiliations, and their  ORCID IDs .
  • Identifiers.  The journal provides mandatory assignment of  a DOI  (Digital Object Identifier) ​​to each scientific material through the Crossref system.
 
Publication ethics and intellectual property
  • Combating dishonesty.  The editorial team systematically checks all manuscripts for plagiarism, data falsification, and image manipulation.
  • Copyright:  We support authors' intellectual property rights. Using  the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license  allows for the widest possible dissemination of research results, provided proper citation is provided.
  • Conflict of interest.  The editorial board requires all participants in the process (authors, reviewers, editors) to disclose any potential conflicts of interest.
 
Open Science and Accessibility
  • Open Access Policy. The journal adheres to the BOAI  initiative  , providing immediate and free access to full-text articles.
  • Data preservation. The use of the PKP-PN (LOCKSS)  network   and national repositories ensures the eternal preservation of scientific content. We encourage authors to publish their research data in accordance with the  FAIR principles .
 
Advertising and financial policy
  • The journal does not place advertising that may affect the scientific reputation of the publication or the content of the articles.
  • All sources of funding (APC author contributions or founder funds) are clearly stated on the website. The availability of funding in no way influences the decision to publish.