Psychology of sport and exercise

Psychology of sport and exercise is published by Elsevier BV and is in Zone 2 of Psychology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Sport Psychology and Performance, Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports and Behavioral Health and Interventions, together about 52.2% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)

An Official Journal of the European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC)Psychology of Sport and Exercise is an international forum for scholarly reports in the psychology of sport and exercise, broadly defined. The journal is open to the use of diverse methodological approaches. To be considered for publication, manuscripts must make a substantive theoretical or methodological contribution. Manuscripts that will be considered for publication include results from high quality empirical research, reviews, meta-analyses, reports of professional practice (which need to demonstrate academic rigour and go beyond mere description), registered reports, and commentaries concerning already published PSE papers. Authors should adhere to recognised reporting guidelines for research (e.g., PRISMA guidelines for reviews and meta-analyses; TIDieR guidelines for interventions; CONSORT statement for randomised trials). Registered reports undergo a two-phase review process in which study rationale and methodology are considered prior to the research being undertaken. Authors are welcome to pre-register their study with an external organization (e.g. OSF), but it is not required. Authors interested in submitting replications of published studies need to contact the Editors-in-Chief before they start their replication. Quantitative studies should be theoretically informed and empirical research justified with a-priori power estimates provided (drawing on effects sizes from previous meta-analyses and/or specific papers with designs close to the one authors use). Qualitative studies should address the ontological/epistemological position and methodological rigour of the study. We are not interested in manuscripts that aim to test the psychometric properties of an existing scale from English to another language, unless new validation methods are used which address previously unanswered research questions.Additional information If you wish to contact one of the Editors-in-Chief for any reason, (e.g. becoming a reviewer, interest in joining editorial board, issue about journal policy) please email the Editors-in-Chief. All manuscripts should be presented as concisely as possible. Authors should consider making available some of their material as supplementary electronic material to keep the overall page limit around 30 pages (8000 words) including references, tables, and figures. If manuscripts are mixed-methods, multiple experiments, complex designs, or include large tables and data sets (qualitative and/or quantitative), authors are requested to provide more information about their rationale for a longer page length (more than 8000 words) for their paper during the review process (e.g., in the cover letter to the Editors). The editorial team will then decide on the appropriateness of a longer page length when considering the submission. All submissions are screened by one of the editors before they are sent out for review to assess their suitability for the journal. Hence, there is no need to contact the editors prior to submission. The editors will also consider short communications for publication and such submissions should be a maximum of 15 pages including abstract (150 words max), main text, references, tables, and figures. Commentaries on published PSE papers should be a maximum of 5 pages, including abstract, references, tables, and figures.

From the journal's Aims & Scope

Research area (LetPub): Psychology

Editor-in-chief Markus RaabPublisher website

Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 2%); most named United Kingdom 25, United States 19, Canada 14, Germany 13, Australia 7 (108 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website · 2026-10-01

CAS Journal Ranking

Database indexing

SCIESSCIScopusLetPub

International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub

Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.

Impact

Impact factor

3.81LetPub · 2026-09-13

Impact factor (publisher)

3.9Publisher website · 2026-10-01

CiteScore 2026-06

6.7LetPub · 2026-09-13

CiteScore (publisher)

6.7Publisher website · 2026-10-01

SJR 2026-06

1.36LetPub · 2026-09-13

SNIP 2026-06

1.76LetPub · 2026-09-13

h-index

74LetPub · 2026-09-13

h-index

161OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

i10-index

1,998OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

2-year mean citedness

4.25OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

Self-citation rate

10.3%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Share of gold OA articles

49.5%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Volume

Articles per year

188LetPub · 2026-09-13

Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.

Other sources

Average review time (community reports)

4–8 weeksLetPub · 2026-09-13

Average acceptance (community reports)

Fairly easyLetPub · 2026-09-13

Submission to first decision

3 daysPublisher website · 2026-10-01

First decision after review

64 daysPublisher website · 2026-10-01

Submission to acceptance

149 daysPublisher website · 2026-10-01

Acceptance to publication

2 daysPublisher website · 2026-10-01

Peer review

Double anonymous peer reviewPublisher website

Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.

A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.

The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.

Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Country or region

NETHERLANDS

Language

English

Frequency

Bimonthly

Founded

2000

ISSN

1469-0292

Electronic ISSN

1878-5476

Society / sponsor

European Federation of Sport Psychology

Official links

• Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
• Submission system ↗Publisher website
• Special issues ↗Publisher website