SPORTSCIENCE · sportsci.org

News & Comment: In Brief

Reviewer's Commentary

David B Pyne

Sportscience 8, iii, 2004 (sportsci.org/jour/04/dbpinbrief.htm)
Department of Physiology, Australian Institute of Sport, PO Box 176, Belconnen, ACT 2616, Australia. Email.

The In Brief items provide a useful update on several important issues for sports performance researchers and graduate students.

Many researchers and students have faced the dilemma of how to reference a website (like sportsci.org) within their manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals.  Unfortunately some of the journals have not moved with the times and editors and reviewers often baulk at a simple web address reference.  The inclusion of page numbers to sportsci.org is a small but useful step that should overcome some of the problems currently being encountered. Somehow it seems that inclusion of page numbers provide a touch of legitimacy.

The new version of the Clinical vs Statistical Significance slideshow is timely given the increasing interest in this approach both in the literature and in field with practising sports scientists.  Certainly within the Australian sports science industry there has been considerable interest in a clinical (practical) interpretation of both research and routine testing data.  Readers should be encouraged to delve into the derivation of the thresholds for benefit and harm and become familiar with the assumptions and limitations of this approach. 

A listing of journal abbreviations for Endnote is a welcome addition to the resources at this site.  Incorrect citation of journal names is an irritation for editors, reviewers and supervisors alike.  Attention to detail here is important and the tips offered in this item will save a great deal of time and heartache. 

Finally, the suggestions on calibrating a metabolic cart with a purpose-built gas bubbler should be of interest to sports science laboratories conducting metabolic testing.   I imagine this information will need to be passed to the relevant technical support staff member.

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Published Nov 2004
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