Research Ethics and Human Participants

The Journal of Leadership in Sport and Management (JLSM) requires research involving human participants to be conducted in accordance with internationally recognised ethical principles, applicable legislation, and relevant institutional requirements.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that appropriate ethical review, approval, or exemption has been obtained before research begins whenever required.

Ethics Committee Approval

Research involving human participants should receive approval from an appropriate institutional review board, research ethics committee, bioethics committee, or equivalent body when such approval is required.

The manuscript should identify the approving body and, where applicable, provide the approval or reference number.

If formal ethical approval was not required, authors should explain the basis for the exemption or waiver. JLSM may request supporting documentation where necessary.

Retrospective characterisation of research as exempt does not substitute for ethical review when prior approval was required under applicable rules.

Informed Consent

Participants should provide informed consent before participation when required by the nature of the research and applicable ethical standards.

The manuscript should state how informed consent was obtained. Where consent was waived by an authorised ethics body, this should be reported together with the relevant justification where appropriate.

Participation must be voluntary and participants should not be subjected to inappropriate coercion or undue influence.

Minors and Vulnerable Participants

Research involving minors or other participants with limited capacity to provide informed consent requires particular ethical safeguards.

Appropriate consent from a parent, legal guardian, or authorised representative and, where appropriate, assent from the participant should be obtained in accordance with applicable ethical and legal requirements.

Athletes and Organisational Relationships

Research involving athletes requires particular attention to possible power relationships involving coaches, clubs, federations, researchers, medical personnel, or educational institutions.

Participation in research should not affect team selection, access to training, scholarships, employment, medical care, academic assessment, or other benefits to which the individual would otherwise be entitled.

Authors should consider whether recruitment procedures or institutional relationships could create actual or perceived pressure to participate.

Privacy and Confidentiality

Authors must protect participants’ privacy and confidentiality.

Personally identifiable information should not be published unless it is scientifically necessary and the participant has provided appropriate consent for its publication.

Special care should be taken with elite athletes and small or highly specific samples because individuals may sometimes be identifiable from combinations of demographic, performance, competitive, institutional, or contextual information even when names have been removed.

Identifiable Images and Case Information

Photographs, videos, detailed case descriptions, or other materials from which an individual may reasonably be identified require appropriate consent for publication.

Consent to participate in research should not automatically be assumed to constitute consent to publish identifiable information.

Ethical Standards

Research should be conducted consistently with relevant internationally recognised ethical standards, including the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, where applicable to the research concerned.

Authors are also expected to comply with applicable national legislation, institutional policies, professional standards, and data-protection requirements.

Editorial Verification

JLSM may request copies of ethics approvals, exemption decisions, consent documentation, study protocols, or other relevant materials when necessary to evaluate ethical compliance.

The existence of formal ethics approval does not prevent the journal from raising additional ethical concerns where the reported procedures appear inconsistent with accepted standards.

Where serious concerns arise, JLSM may seek clarification from the authors and, when appropriate, contact the relevant institution or ethics body.

Research Conducted Without Required Approval

JLSM will not normally publish research that required prospective ethical approval but was conducted without such approval.

Claims that approval was unnecessary will be evaluated according to the nature of the research, applicable institutional and legal requirements, and the information supplied by the authors.