Instructions for Authors

Medicine and Science in Tennis is an international, peer-reviewed journal produced by the Society for Tennis Medicine (STMS) in co-operation with the ITF, the ATP, and the WTA Tour. It is published three times a year (April, August, and December). Full articles will be indexed onto Sports Discus at the National Sport Information Centre (NSIC).

Medicine and Science in Tennis offers the opportunity to publish original research, clinical studies, review articles, case reports, clinical lessons, abstracts, book reviews, conference reports and communications regarding the scientific and medical aspects of tennis, including sports medicine, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, exercise physiology, movement sciences, biomechanics, biomedical sciences and sport psychology.  

Manuscript Submission
All manuscripts should be sent to the Editor, Dr Javier Maquirriain, by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   Please include e-mail address, postal address and telephone and fax numbers.

Manuscript Categories
All articles should be written in plain English, whereby jargon, acronyms, and abbreviations should be avoided.

Scientific  research:    
Theoretical or experimental (basic or applied) scientific research or the practical application of this research is welcome. The article should be titled and include an abstract, key words, introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusion and references.
Length: The manuscript should be no longer than 2,500 words, including title page, abstract, references, legends and tables.     

Review articles:   
Review articles on topics of general interest are welcome. Reviews should include the specific question or issue that is addressed and its importance for the tennis community. It should provide an evidence-based, balanced review on the topic. The article should include a description of how the relevant evidence was identified, assessed for quality, and selected for inclusion; synthesis of the available evidence such that the best-quality evidence should receive the greatest emphasis; and discussion of controversial aspects and unresolved issues. Meta-analyses also will be considered as reviews. Authors interested in submitting a review manuscript should contact the editorial office prior to manuscript preparation and submission.
Length: Approximately 2,000 to 2,500 words and no more than 40 references.

Case reports:   
Authors are encouraged to submit  interesting case reports relevant to tennis medicine including information regarding diagnosis and therapy. The articles should be short, accurate and easy to understand, and should consist of the following:
- An introduction explaining the clinical problem;
- A short report of the case, including history, physical examination, further investigation, treatment and follow-up.
- A discussion, whereby the clinical consequences are described and the most interesting aspects of the case report.
Length: Approximately 750 to 1,200 words and a maximum of 15 references.

National organisation communications:
National organisations are invited to describe any aspect of medical care or science in their country, e.g. the function of their medical committee, medical care of their players, research that is being conducted etc.  
Length: Approximately 300 to 500 words

Letters to the Editor:    
Letters discussing an article that has been published in Medicine and Science in Tennis have the greatest chance of acceptance if they are sent in within two months of publication of the original article. Letters that are approved will be forwarded to the author, who will have six weeks to respond. The original letter and the reply will be published simultaneously.
Length: Such letters should not exceed 400 words of text and 5 references. Research Letters reporting original research also are welcome and should not exceed 600 words of text and 6 references and may include a table or figure.

Book review:
Reviews of tennis medicine and science books will be published on a regular basis in Medicine and Science in Tennis. Authors who are interested in having their book reviewed can send a copy to the Editorial office, accompanied by a cover letter.
Length: 300 to 500 words.

Review of the Literature  
Authors are invited to submit summaries of published article of particular interest for the tennis medical and scientific community. The opinion of the author should be stated following each summary.    
Length: Such a review should be approximately 500 to 700 words. A review of three articles simultaneously should be no longer than 1,00o words.

Conference reports and Abstracts:
Authors are invited to submit reports of conferences they have attended, and to include one to three photographs taken at the meetings. Please include the names and highest title of the persons that can be identified in the photographs. Summaries of work presented at the conference may be submitted for publication as well.
Length: 300 to 500 words per report or abstract

Manuscript Preparation
Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (Vancouver Style). If submitting by e-mail, text, tables, and figures should be included in the same file. Do not submit duplicate copies by mail or fax.
- Articles should be in Microsoft Word format.
- Double-space throughout, including title page, abstract, text, acknowledgements, references, figure legends, and tables.
- Do not use abbreviations in the title or abstract and limit their use in the text.
- Please use Times New Roman, size 12.
- On the title page include the full names, highest academic degrees, and affiliations of all authors. If an author's affiliation has changed since the work was done, list the new affiliation as well.
- Figures, summary tables and diagrams should be numbered consecutively throughout the paper. Photographs should be clearly labelled.
- References. Number references in the order they appear in the text; do not alphabetise. In text, tables, and legends, identify references with superscript Arabic numerals. When listing references, follow AMA style and abbreviate names of journals according to Index Medicus. List all authors and/or editors up to 6; if more than 6, list the first 3 followed by et al.
Journal:  Kibler WB. The role of the scapula in athletic shoulder function. Am J Sports Med. 1998;26(2):325-337.
Book: Perry J. Biomechanics of the shoulder. In: Rowe CR, ed. The shoulder. London: Churchill Livingstone, 1988:1-15.  
- Footnotes should be avoided.
- Authors should disclose any conflicts of interest including commercial associations. They should also disclose sources of funding for studies if applicable.

Review process
Manuscripts should meet the following criteria: material is original; writing is clear; study methods are appropriate; the data are valid; conclusions are reasonable and supported by the data; information is important; and topic has general tennis medical or science interest.
Manuscripts with insufficient priority or quality for publication are rejected promptly. Other manuscripts are sent to expert consultants for peer review. Peer reviewer identities are kept confidential, but author identities are known by reviewers. The existence of a manuscript under review is not revealed to anyone other than peer reviewers and editorial staff.

Intellectual property    
- The article must be your own original work.
- If the article contains any photographs, figures, diagrams, summary tables, graphs or other non-textual elements that are not your own original work, you must ensure that you have obtained written permission from the copyright owner to include their work in your article for publication in Medicine and Science in Tennis. Permission letters must be submitted with your article.

For further information and enquiries:
Editor in Chief:
Dr. Javier Maquirriain
Society for  Tennis Medicine and Science
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it