Open Access Policy

Open Access Policy

"The Shield - Research Journal of Physical Education & Sports Science" is committed to democratizing knowledge and accelerating research application in physical education, sports sciences, and athlete performance. All research articles are published immediately under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0), ensuring free and immediate access to readers worldwide.

Key Open Access Principles

The journal's policy aligns with the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing defined by DOAJ and the guidelines set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

  • Unrestricted Access: All articles are freely available online immediately upon publication with no embargo period (Diamond Open Access model, supported by the University of Sindh, Jamshoro).
  • Copyright Retention: Authors retain the copyright to their work while granting the journal the necessary first publication rights.

License Terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, users are granted broad rights to reuse the content, provided they adhere to the following two conditions:

  1. Attribution (BY): Users must credit the original author(s) and the journal (e.g., "Reprinted from The Shield - Research Journal of Physical Education & Sports Science, 202X, DOI: 10.XXXX").
  2. ShareAlike (SA): If a user adapts, modifies, or builds upon the article's content (e.g., translating a study on sports nutrition or creating infographics summarizing athlete performance data), the resulting new work must be shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
  • Permitted Use: Readers may read, download, share, adapt, translate, and reuse the content for both non-commercial and commercial purposes (e.g., reusing data in training manuals or sports apps), provided the original authors and the journal are credited.

Benefits and Repository Policy

This Open Access approach maximizes the impact and visibility of research.

  • Global Visibility: Research reaches coaches, policymakers, institutions, and athletes globally (e.g., a study on Paralympic training protocols) without a paywall.
  • Funding Compliance: The CC BY-SA 4.0 license meets the open access requirements of most national and international funding bodies.

Repository Policy

  • Preprints: Authors are encouraged to share early drafts (preprints) on recognized platforms like SportRxiv or institutional repositories.
  • Post-Publication Archiving (Green OA): Authors are permitted to deposit the Version of Record (the final published PDF) with the DOI link in any institutional or subject-specific repository after publication. This ensures long-term preservation and immediate access.

Ethical and Practical Guidelines

  • Data Sharing: Authors are strongly encouraged to share underlying datasets (e.g., athlete performance metrics) via platforms like the Open Science Framework (OSF) to promote transparency and reproducibility.
  • Third-Party Material: Authors must obtain necessary permissions for copyrighted images (e.g., sports facility blueprints) or proprietary software (e.g., motion analysis tools) used in their manuscript, as the CC BY-SA 4.0 license does not apply to third-party copyrighted material.