Copyright Policy

Copyright Policy

"The Shield - Research Journal of Physical Education & Sports Sciences" is committed to promoting Open Access and ensuring authors retain control over their work while enabling broad, immediate dissemination of research in physical education and sports sciences.

  1. Authors' Rights and First Publication
  • Copyright Retention: Authors retain full copyright to their published work.
  • First Publication Rights: Authors grant "The Shield" the right of first publication. This publication is immediately and permanently licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
  1. Licensing and Permitted Reuse

The CC BY-SA 4.0 license permits the following usage, fostering global scientific collaboration in sports sciences:

  • Share and Adapt: Users may copy, redistribute, and adapt the work (e.g., translating a study on coaching strategies into multiple languages, or creating derivative works).
  • Attribute (BY): Users must give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the journal (e.g., "Reprinted from The Shield - Research Journal of Physical Education & Sports Sciences, 202X, DOI: 10.XXXX/theshield.202X.XXX").
  • ShareAlike (SA): Any derivative work (e.g., infographics on injury prevention based on the article) must be shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
  1. Distribution and Repository Policies

Authors have extensive rights to distribute their work following publication:

  • Post Online: Authors may post the Version of Record (final published PDF) immediately in institutional repositories (e.g., university or sports academy databases), subject repositories (like SportRxiv), or on personal websites.
  • Non-Exclusive Distribution: Authors are free to enter into separate non-exclusive agreements (e.g., reprinting a study on "High-Altitude Training for Marathon Runners" as a book chapter or inclusion in a commercial training manual), provided the journal's initial publication is acknowledged and cited.
  • DOIs: When sharing any version of the manuscript, the article’s DOI (Digital Object Identifier) must always be included to provide a permanent link to the published article.
  1. Third-Party Material and Ethical Compliance
  • Permissions Required: Authors are responsible for obtaining all necessary permissions for any copyrighted content owned by a third party (e.g., images of sports facilities, proprietary training software, or extensive datasets) used within their manuscript.
  • COPE Guidelines: Authors must follow COPE’s Permissions Guidelines for all third-party data or media to ensure ethical compliance.

For copyright inquiries, contact:

Editorial Office The Shield - Research Journal of Physical Education & Sports Sciences Email: [email protected]