The Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) recently published the inaugural issue of its newest scientific journal, the Journal for Advancing Sport Psychology in Research (JASPR). As an open access journal focusing on student-led work, JASPR’s vision is “to expand the field of psychology in the domains of sport, exercise, and performance by providing the student community a unique and inspiring platform to engage and disseminate rigorous scholarship”. JASPR also has a unique relation to UWM and the Laboratory for Sport Psychology and Performance Excellence (LSPPE).
The initiative for JASPR was born out of AASP student membership when LSPPE alumni, Dr. Stacy Gnacinski, served as the AASP Executive Board student representative. This initiative was developed into a proposal led by Courtney Hess, also a LSPPE alumni, while serving as the AASP Executive Board student representative. The proposal has since been substantiated by JASPRs inaugural editorial board, spearheaded by LSPPE faculty Dr. Monna Arvinen-Barrow serving as JASPR’s establishing Editor-in-Chief. When asked how she views the impact JASPR may have on student-led research, Dr. Arvinen-Barrow replied:
When refining JASPR’s vision and mission, it was abundantly clear that student’s do not want “an easy publishing outlet” but rather a scientifically rigorous journal that focuses exclusively on student-led work, and provides them mentored opportunities to learn while doing. To that end, JASPR’s Associate Editor Dr. Amanda J. Visek (The George Washington University) and I worked together with the students to build an editorial board structure, submission and review process to reflect that. The way I see it: JASPR is just like any other peer-reviewed scientific publication in terms of rigor. The main difference is in the pool of potential papers. By not allowing established professionals submit their research to JASPR and not charging any submission or publication fees, JASPR simply provides students a more equitable way to advance in their research journey up the #ResearchMountain (to find out more on what I mean by that, see JASPR’s first issue😊).
The inaugural issue of JASPR is authored by the journal’s establishing committee and inaugural editorial board, including Dr. Arvinen-Barrow, Dr. Gnacinski, and Hess. In the Inaugural Editorial Dr. Arvinen-Barrow and Dr. Visek introduce the reader to JASPR and outline the journal’s guiding principles. This is followed by a narrative scholarship article focusing on JASPR’s operational and mentorship structure, authored by Drs Arvinen-Barrow and Visek as the establishing editors, along with their student editor counterparts: Thierry Middleton (Laurentian University), Liam O’Neil (Michigan State University), and Travis Scheadler (The Ohio State University).
The issue continues with another narrative scholarship article by Drs Arvinen-Barrow and Visek where they provide aspiring student-scholars advice on how to prepare your work in a way that maximizes chances of publishing. Next, is a narrative history article by Hess, Dr. Gnacinski and co-authors Scheadler and Carra Johnson (West Virginia University), where they, as the JASPR’s establishing committee provide details of how JASPR was formed. JASPR’s inaugural issue also contains two instructional resources for students aspiring to publish in, and review for JASPR: Author Handbook and Reviewer Handbooks, thus making this first issue an ideal go to resource for all things JASPR.
The LSPPE is proud to see the integral role our faculty and alumni have played in the formation of JASPR.