I am honored to be chosen as the new Editor-in-Chief for the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance (IJSPP), but also humbled for the responsibility that follows. The previous editors, David Pyne, Carl Foster, Ralph Beneke, and Jos de Koning, have led IJSPP to become one of the most prestigious and cited journals in our field. I think it is fair to say that the development of IJSPP during their leadership contributed to improving the general quality and recognition of applied research in sport science. These Editors Emeriti will now serve as mentors for the upcoming Editor, and they have already shared some important wisdom. We will only succeed through embracing the complementary knowledge and team effort of the entire IJSPP community of contributors, reviewers, and readers.
My primary aim will be to direct the unique IJSPP orchestra to keep playing great (scientific) music. Together with Editorial Assistant Dionne Noordhof, the Associate Editors, the Editorial Board members, and Julia Glahn, our Managing Editor at Human Kinetics, we aim to provide the best possible platform for authors to publish high-quality research papers in the journal. We should always keep in mind that the authors are our stars and practical applicability is our mandate, and therefore, we must listen carefully to feedback from authors, reviewers, and those working in the field of practice. Accordingly, I ask each of you to actively engage in the further development of IJSPP—please provide constructive feedback and suggestions on how we can do better!
The world of science is evolving and so is the way we communicate scientific findings. In my opinion, IJSPP should not only adapt to these developments but also aim to go beyond. This goal can only be achieved by bringing along the best from our history, but at the same time being open to new ideas and perspectives. We will continue our strict focus on physiology and performance in sport, with the research we publish having practical applicability. However, we should strive to achieve even better research quality and translate more relevant knowledge to practitioners in the future. These 2 aims are often presented as opposites, with a gap between, but I argue that they are, in fact, complementary. We should not forget that research is a systematic way of searching for “truth” in the real world. By improving the quality of research on relevant topics, we will provide better and more generalizable answers to the questions asked by coaches and athletes.
Our main role should be to continuously challenge current knowledge and practices by developing and testing new ideas as critically as possible and see if they survive. This applies to all types of IJSPP papers:
- •Our original investigation papers should connect underlying mechanisms to practice and test translational hypotheses rigorously.
- •Our case reports should describe unique phenomena or opportunities that cannot be examined through group studies, and they should generate new insights.
- •Our commentaries should provide new perspectives and counterpoints that will allow us to dig deeper or look in new directions.
- •Our reviews should provide overviews of important fields but also challenge current knowledge and point future research in new directions.
In all these cases, we should ask ourselves: what could coaches and athletes learn from our publications, and how could this knowledge contribute to improving sport practices in the short and long run? A first step is to improve our communication, so the published papers are promoted widely and accessible for larger audiences. Here, one of the major challenges we face is open access publication and the associated costs of publishing and/or accessing papers. In addition, reaching out through new channels is important, and we see that our Twitter account is already providing a positive impact. However, we should do more in this area, and we are currently discussing whether we should establish “the IJSPP Podcast” or whether other communication channels will be better suited. Again, I invite all of you to come with suggestions for future directions!
For sport science to become higher, faster, and stronger, we must challenge each other to go above and beyond, and create the future!
