SMEJ readers,
Welcome to Volume 18, Issue 2 of the Sport Management Education Journal (SMEJ). It is an honor to step into the editor role of this journal after being mentored for years by terrific predecessors. Dr. Rob Hardin guided the journal through significant growth in submissions, review time, editorial board membership, and honoring quality submissions. As a mentor during my doctoral studies, he taught me how to review a manuscript submission. Dr. Dave Shonk continued to guide the journal through the approval of the SMEJ Research Fellow, a recognition that honors scholars publishing in the area of sport management education. As a former work colleague of mine, Dr. Shonk’s steady leadership taught me how to navigate properly, especially in new territory. I want to express my deep appreciation to both of these respected scholars who have helped inform a next generation of researchers and educators.
Under Dr. Shonk’s guidance as editor, SMEJ received its second journal impact factor, a 1-year impact factor of 1.6 and a 5-year impact factor of 1.9 with 285 citations in 2023, according to Clarivate.
This is a great time of growth for SMEJ. I am happy to congratulate Dr. Yannick Kluch, Dr. Elizabeth Taylor, Dr. Raquel Wright-Mair, and Dakota Boring as winners of the 2023 Best Paper Award for SMEJ with their publication “‘I Felt Like ... They Left Me to Fend for Myself’: A Mixed-Method Examination of Sense of Belonging Among Minoritized Groups in Sport Academic Programs.” The article is a powerful examination of how students from minoritized groups feel they belong in the sport management classroom. Faculty take note from this work: We have the opportunity to create inclusive classrooms through the environments we establish, the content we choose to cover, the examples we choose to use, and the manner in which we deliver content. You can read this work in Volume 17, Issue 1.
You will notice that the journal has undergone some changes that the editorial team feels will help it grow and provide more opportunities for scholars to share their research in various ways. Research articles remain the foundation of the journal. The Pedagogical Innovations section also remains as an outlet for publishing work on tactical pedagogical practices that are grounded in theory. This section has narrowed to two subsections—(a) case studies and (b) instructional techniques—that should center on new and inventive pedagogical practices or improvements to teaching methods. Again, these must be grounded in theoretical frameworks or a strong literature foundation.
New to the journal is the Perspectives Section, although it includes submission categories that previously existed: (a) essays, (b) commentaries, and (c) interviews. These categories previously existed in the Pedagogical Innovations section, but it made sense to group them with an emphasis on pushing forward the state of education and pedagogy in sport management. Essays should be original commentary or critiques with a theoretical or scholarly foundation. Commentaries should be critical assessments of published work. Interviews should be deep discussions with thought leaders about issues in sport management education topics that relate back to theory and scholarly work.
SMEJ formerly included a Teaching & Learning Fair section that allowed space for publishing extended abstracts that were presented in that section of the NASSM conference. The editorial team made the decision to remove that section of the journal as a submission category. However, that is certainly not to suggest scholars no longer have an avenue to submit their T&L Fair work. As an editorial team, we felt the work done through the T&L Fair almost always fits within the Pedagogical Innovations section or within the newly created Perspectives Section, and this removes the previous timestamp that the submissions had to appear at the most recent NASSM conference. Rather than an extended abstract, authors should carry out those works in full before submitting.
As we move into the next chapter for SMEJ, I am excited to work with a strong team. Dr. Michael Odio from the University of Cincinnati moves into the associate editor role with an impressive scholarly line of work in sport management education. Dr. Megan Shreffler from the University of Louisville remains in the position of Pedagogical Innovations editor with a strong publication and reviewing record. Both are well-published in SMEJ and know the journal. We are also pleased to welcome aboard Dr. Leeann Lower-Hoppe from the Ohio State University as the Perspectives and Special Issue editor, overseeing the new section while also providing oversight of any special issues for the journal.
I want to especially thank our strong editorial board members. We are blessed to have a team of reviewers who provide constructive feedback to help make our submissions reach their highest potential. They regularly have a manuscript in their queue for review, are quick to step in at a moment’s notice, and work with detail to make the journal what it is and is growing to be. Thank you.
Finally, as readers and scholars of sport management education research, I encourage you to consider submitting your work to SMEJ. The range of topics covered by the journal continues to grow. The mission of SMEJ is to promote advancement of the body of knowledge in pedagogy as it relates to sport management education and disseminate knowledge about sport management courses, curricula, teaching, and faculty affairs. This is a topic we all know well. Thanks for your work in this area. Thanks for considering SMEJ as an avenue to publish your work.
