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ACSM PUBLICATIONS CRITERIA FOR BOOKS OR MULTIMEDIA PROPOSALS

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To see examples of the type of projects covered click here. Each journal has its own requirements; visit the respective journal home page for more information.

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The ACSM publishing program applies stringent criteria in selecting its projects. All projects are either Indefinite/Ongoing or Finite:

• Indefinite/Ongoing: the project must be able to demonstrate the potential for growth and long-term profitability as a market leader in its market segment.
• Finite: the project will be developed along an ad hoc pathway with no intent to have subsequent editions or sustained mechanisms of support or updating.

Each project should have strong revenue potential and be mission specific. The baseline criterion for financial viability:

• Indefinite/Ongoing: the project must be able to generate revenue of at least $10,000 in royalties each year for at least three years.
• Finite: the project must be able to generate revenue of at least $7,500 in royalties its first year.

ACSM relies primarily upon its publishing partners for competitive analysis, market analysis, financial modeling, a result-oriented project/publishing plan, technological assessment, beta-testing, project re-evaluation, and a final scale up of the project into a viable and free-standing business.

ACSM's intra-corporate process is charged with the identification of strategic alliances, project evaluation and business management.

BASELINE CONSIDERATIONS BY ACSM
Operating under the governance of the Publications Committee's operating code and policies & procedures document, the Publications Committee employs a simplified and expedient project review and approval process. The initial decision-to-advance process takes approximately 15 work days and enables ACSM to make expedient, but informed publishing decisions.

Incomplete proposals will be returned without comment. ACSM centers its publishing decisions based upon the project proposal satisfying the following criteria:

• Must be ACSM mission specific - "The American College of Sports Medicine advances and integrates scientific research to provide educational and practical applications of exercise science and sports medicine."
• Must be authored by verified content-specific experts
• Must contain supportive examples and cases - including all questions concerning competition, marketplace, etc.
• Must provide decision-support tools such as key metrics, etc.

How to Propose a Project

• Complete the "ACSM Publication Proposal Form," found by clicking here. It is a simple MS Word document that can be easily completed and returned.
• You typically will receive confirmation of receipt within 5 work days that the form has entered the evaluation process. Incomplete proposals will be returned without comment. The complete evaluation process can take between 30 and 60 days.

ACSM PROPOSAL EVALUATION PROCESS
The ACSM pathway, from evaluating a proposal, through submission of final manuscript to the publisher is as follows (excerpted from "AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SPORTS MEDICINE PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES, The Developmental, Review Pathway, Version 3.2, 05/10/04"):

I. Evaluating a proposal...

1. Proposal received by ACSM.
2. Proposal to the Publications Committee (PubC) chair and the appropriate PubC member area representative.
3. Where appropriate, the PubC area representative then contacts the appropriate standing committee (SC) chair and shares the proposal for related-committee feedback.

II. Evaluation Recommendations...

1. If the proposal is not unanimously supported by the SC and the PubC, the opportunity is declined following the advisory of same to the Administrative Council/Board of Trustees. If a minority opinion or a split opinion is held, this is conveyed to the Administrative Council/Board of Trustees.
2. If the proposal passes muster, the Administrative Council/Board of Trustees will direct the PubC to either:

2.1 Pursue a formal working agreement [contract, letter-of-agreement]

2.2 Close on the submitted agreement

ACSM PROPOSAL EVALUATION CRITERIA
All projects must pass review and satisfy the criteria below. You will be asked to complete a checklist on the "ACSM Publication Proposal Form" regarding continuity with ACSM's mission.

• consistency with the most recent edition of ACSM's practice guidelines (if applicable);
• consistency with other related or associated ACSM publications and pronouncements.
• consistency with other, related or associated ACSM activities in the same subject area; e.g., conferences, advocacy efforts, etc.
• manuscript with respect to accuracy, currency of information, grammar/syntax and any other issues specified by the editor.

COPYRIGHT AND OWNERSHIP
ACSM holds copyright of all published projects. Authors of a submitted manuscript must sign a copyright assignment form in the event the project is accepted. Accepted manuscripts become the permanent property of ACSM and may not be published elsewhere without written permission from the ACSM or its designated licensee/publisher.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

D. Mark Robertson
Assistant Executive Vice President
Publishing, Editorial Services,Membership & Chapter Services
American College of Sports Medicine
401 W. Michigan Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3233 USA
Telephone: (317) 637-9200, ext. 118
Fax: (317) 634-7817
Email: dmrobertson@acsm.org
www.acsm.org