Fifteen years of publishing in English language journals of sport and exercise psychology: authors’ proficiency in English and editorial boards make a difference.

In this study we investigated the representation of countries and continents in the publication of six English language journals of sport and exercise psychology from 1997 until 2011. We selected all articles (N = 2093) published in the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, The Sport Psychologist , Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, Journal of Sport Behavior, Psychology of Sport and Exercise, and International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology during 1997–2011 and all proceedings (N = 2034) in the last four World Congress of Sport Psychology (1997, 2001, 2005, and 2009). Then, we classified them by country and continent where the first author's institution was located. Five English-speaking countries (USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) represented 82% of the total publications in the six journals and 38.5% of congress proceedings. These were followed by five European countries (France, Germany, Greece, Norway, and Belgium) accumulating 10% of the total publications. The continents of Asia, Africa, and Latin America represented less than 4% of the publications but 28.2% of congress proceedings. There was a very high correlation between continents' representation in journal editorial boards and journal publications. Reviewers and readers should be aware of systematic errors that might happen in the review process of submitted manuscripts describing studies which have been conducted in non-English-speaking countries but which are eventually rejected in English language journals of sport and exercise psychology.