Message from the ISCPES President

Abstract

Message from the ISCPES President: Prof Dr Rosa López de D’Amico

It gives me great pleasure to present the inaugural issue of the International Sports Studies (ISS) publication as a fully open-access journal starting in 2024.  The journal has come a long way since its first distribution in 1979.  Together with this significant development, we welcome Prof. Dr Richard Bailey, who joins as co-editor of the ISS.  Prof. Richard Peter Bailey, FRSA, is Deputy Dean, Head of Research, and Full Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts at UCSI University in Malaysia.  He is also Deputy Director of the Center of Research for Mental Health and Wellbeing in Kuala Lumpur.  Additionally, he is listed among Stanford University’s top scientists in the world for Clinical Medicine, Sport Sciences, and Education.  Allow me to thank you for accepting the challenge of joining our Chief Editor, Dr Maria Luisa Guinto, in this new phase of the ISS journal.  Welcome to the team!  Scholarly publishing is a challenging path, but we hope that by working together, we can continue providing a suitable platform for scholars worldwide to publish their work in Physical Education and sports.  My gratitude extends to those supporting the editorial team, from among the previous and new team members, particularly Dr Klaudia Rafael, who remains the ISS Associate Editor.

Another important piece of news is the agreement with the Routledge publishing house regarding approval of the continued publication of the ISCPES Book Series.  The series was actively circulated between 1999 and 2003, yet the books are still in demand.  With this agreement, the book series will continue with new titles, aiming to systematically extend knowledge of relevant issues, themes, and topics.  The over-riding aim is to facilitate more profound awareness and understanding of physical education and sport across various socio-cultural, geographical, political, and thematic contexts.  Each volume will focus on a thematic issue in different national or regional political entity settings.  Each text can be used separately or to form an integrated basis for informed comparisons of thematic topics.  This initiative contributes to critical awareness and analysis amongst confirmed and potential comparativists and young scholars at under- and post-graduate levels.  Concomitantly, they will provide authentic materials for critical comparisons and test the generality of statements about common development patterns and issues in sport and physical education across different cultures.  Another essential and distinctive feature of the book series is positioning the discourse on the problems and themes from a genuinely international perspective.  As such, we can go beyond traditional mainstream literature and expand the knowledge generation to include local academics, incorporating underrepresented voices, expanding potential readership, and providing a sound and informed basis for critical comparative, transnational, and cross-cultural understanding.

Two projects have already been approved for publication, one in late 2024 and the other in 2025.  Dr Walter Ho leads the first one, Quality Physical Education (QPE) and Global Practice.  Dr Usha Nair heads the second one, Physical Education in India: Exploring Tradition, Development, and Contemporary Perspectives.  We look forward to these publications as we continue to work on various research projects for future publications.

I wish to echo the Society on the call of expression for bidding to the 23rd Biennial ISCPES congress that will take place in late 2025.  For more details, please contact any of our board members.  Finally, I invite you to submit your papers to the ISS journal.  Let’s spread the word about the continuous work of volunteers who dedicate their efforts to providing a quality publication for scholars in physical education and sport.

ISCPES Board 2023-2025

Rosa López de D’Amico                   Venezuela (President)

Gopinathan Kishore                         India (Vice-president)

Usha Nair                                           India (Secretary)

Jennie Yang Xie                                 China (Membership Coordinator)

María Gutierrez                                Spain (Treasurer)

Klaudia Rafael                                   Slovakia (Research Coordinator)

Antonio Campos Izquierdo            Spain (Europe Representative)

Oswaldo Ceballos Gurrola             Mexico (America Representative)

Francisco Serrano                           New Zealand (Oceania Representative)

Katongo Moonga                             Zambia (Africa Representative)

Naoki Suzuki                                     Japan (Asia Representative)

Maria Luisa Guinto                          Philippines (Journal Chief Editor)

Pedro Carvalho                                 Portugal (Past President)