About the Journal
Focus of PALAESTRA is broad, including practical applications for teaching, coaching, and leading; implications and applications of scientific research for training and teaching; administration, supervision, and management; professional preparation and in-service education, innovative ideas and practices; assessment and classifications; relationships of basic sciences to methods and activities for individuals with disabilities; sports medicine and athletic training applied to individuals with disabilities; equipment and supplies used in these programs; professional issues and trends.
Terminology throughout PALAESTRA conforms to current accepted usage. Focus is on people, not disabilities (i.e., students who are blind; athletes with spinal cord injuries; participants who have intellectual disabilities; persons who use wheelchairs for mobility are wheelchair users, not “wheelchair bound,” etc.). Reference is to individuals with disabilities, not handicaps, handicapping conditions, or impairments. Authors should apply this person-first policy in their manuscripts.
Peer Review Process
A double-blind review process is followed rigorously. Manuscripts are reviewed by members of the editorial board and/or other professional specialists representing all topical areas dealt with in PALAESTRA. Manuscripts are accepted for review and consideration on the condition they have not been published previously, submitted simultaneously, or accepted for publication elsewhere. PALAESTRA will consider manuscripts rejected by other journals. There are no page or illustration charges.
What does "PALAESTRA" mean?
Definition:
PALAESTRA is an ancient Greek meaning sport school or gymnasium. It is pronounced pa-les´-tra.
Our PALAESTRA, first issued in the fall of 1984, is a quarterly publication, published by PALAESTRA in cooperation with United States Paralympics, a division of the United States Olympic Committee, and with the Adapted Physical Activity Council of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. It deals with adapted physical activity for individuals with disabilities, their parents, and professionals in the field.
Content:
Greeks enjoyed debates - exchanging ideas in their forums - thus, PALAESTRA is to be seen as a forum which not only entertains, but also informs.
Subtitle:
Forum of Sport, Physical Education & Recreation For Those With Disabilities
Editorial Content:
Feature articles focus on the activities of various disability sports organizations (DSOs), including special events and national/international championships, photo essays, historical features, personality studies, and all aspects of human anatomy, kinesiology, psychology, and sociology that can be applied to the development of practical physical education, training and skill techniques for the recreational, as well as the competitive individual: i.e., adapted physical activities.
PALAESTRA Mission Statement
FACT: There are approximately 53 million individuals with disabilities in the U.S. today.
FACT:There are seven disability sport organizations that are disability-specific and multi-sports oriented in the U.S., each of which belongs to the U.S. Olympic Committee.
FACT: Today there are more than 125,000 athletes, volunteers, and professionals active in the growing competitive sports for athletes with disabilities movement in the U.S. aligned under the International Paralympic Committee, not to mention the million individuals world-wide associated with Special Olympics International or the deaf within programs of the American Athletic Association of the Deaf.
FACT: There exist today in the U.S. more than 30 special interest national organizations dealing with specific disabilities, each having regional, state, or local affiliates.
FACT: Physical education is the only curricular area that is a defined part of special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
These facts illustrate an increasing involvement of people with disabilities and of special organizations concerned about physical education, recreation, dance, aquatics, and sport for individuals with disabilities. Today, laws enacted by the government have ensured accessibility to public facilities, equal opportunities to pursue an education, and have opened up avenues for participation in sport. The publisher of PALAESTRA saw a need for a magazine to address these trends and more.
The lack of literature available for those professionally interested in working with participants having disabilities in physical education, recreation, and sport was the motivating factor in creating PALAESTRA. Therefore, PALAESTRA was born out of respect for the challenges, problems, and rewards experienced by those with disabilities and those working with and for them. This challenge is not only felt by participants, but also extends to the legislative necessity of fighting for equal rights through increasing awareness of the public and the government.
PALAESTRA's mission is threefold: first, to enlighten parents in all aspects of physical activity, thus making them the best possible advocates for their children during IEP (Individual Education Plan) discussions with the school or community recreation staff; second, to increase the knowledge base of those professionals working with children or adults with disabilities, making them aware of the can do possibilities of their clients; third, we would like our adult readers to learn the value physical activity holds for their increased wellness.
PALAESTRA, a quarterly publication, is designed to be a single responsible source of valuable information targeting all individuals interested in sport, physical education and recreation involving individuals with disabilities. Thus, PALAESTRA presents sport, physical education, and recreation features for those individuals with amputations, blindness or visual impairments, cerebral palsy, deafness or auditory impairments, small stature (dwarfism), mental retardation, spinal cord injuries, and other disabilities (les Autres).
Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
1. Editorial Board
PALAESTRA is published in cooperation with United States Paralympics (a division of the United States Olympic Committee) and the Education Committee of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association, whose members are recognized experts in the field. The full names and affiliations of the journal’s editorial board are provided on the journal’s website.
2. Authors’ and Editors’ Responsibilities
No fees are charged to authors for submissions or inclusion in the journal.
Authors are obliged to participate in the peer review process and all authors must have significantly contributed to the research. All authors are obliged to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes and a list of references. As no fee are required, no statement of financial support would be necessary. Authors are forbidden to publish the same research in more than one journal.
3. Peer Review Process
All of the journal’s content is subjected to peer review. The peer review is defined as obtaining advice on individual manuscripts from reviewers who are experts in the field. The journal utilizes a double-blind review process. Reviewers will have no conflict of interest. Reviewers will point out relevant published work which has not yet been cited. Reviewed articles will be treated confidentially.
4. Publication Ethics
The publisher and editors shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred. In the event that a journal’s publisher or editors are made aware of any allegation of research misconduct, the publisher or editor shall deal with allegations appropriately. As soon as is reasonably possible, the journal makes retractions and/or corrections to articles when needed.
5. Copyright and Access
Copyright and licensing information for the journal should be directed to Sagamore-Venture at 3611 N. Staley Road, Ste. B, Champaign, IL 61822 or by email at periodicals@sagamorepub.com. The journal and individual articles are available to readers through Sagamore-Venture’s website or through EBSCO.
6. Archiving
A journal’s plan for electronic backup and preservation of access to the journal content in the event a journal is no longer published shall be clearly indicated.
7. Ownership and Management
The journal is owned, published, and copyrighted by Sagamore-Venture LLC in cooperation with United States Paralympics (a division of the United States Olympic Committee) and the Education Committee of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association.
8. Publishing Schedule
The journal is published four times per year.
- PALAESTRA is indexed in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI).
- Citations from the ESCI are included in the citation counts - Journal Citation Reports.
- PALAESTRA is discoverable via Web of Science with an identical indexing process to any other indexed journal, with full citation counts, author information and other enrichment.
- Articles in ESCI-indexed journals are included in an author’s h-index calculation, and in analysis conducted on Web of Science data or related products, such as InCites.