Coming of age: the proto-history of a journal

Coming of age: the proto-history of a journal

In November 2004, issue 1 of the journal Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte (CCD) was published. What today has established itself as one of the most important scientific journals in the field of sports science in Spain, was conceived in a tiny warehouse, next to the Director's office, of the then Departmental Area (shortly after, Department) of Sciences of Physical Activity and Sport of the Catholic University of Murcia (UCAM), today the Faculty of Sport, which then depended on the Faculty of Health Sciences, Physical Activity and Sport.

Three neophytes (Antonio Sánchez Pato, Juan Bada Jaime and Luis Carrasco Páez), in the first years of their respective academic careers, excited about making a significant contribution to the incipient degree in sports science at this institution, put this exciting project, to create a space for multidisciplinary scientific dissemination in Spanish, before their own scientific productivity.

What at first seemed full of enthusiasm, cheers and encouragement, soon became a challenge. Landing a project of these characteristics, even with institutional support from the outset, was difficult because of the need to find scientific backers willing to support a project that was still in its infancy (it was still a project).

In February 2004, after much work, the journal project was presented to the authorities of the Institution. The reception was good, and the support of the President of the UCAM, Mr José Luis Mendoza, the Rector Magnificent, Mr Antonio Montoro, the Vice-Rector for Research, Mr Antonio Flores Sintra, the Director of the Degree in Sports Sciences, Mr Eduardo Segarra and the Secretary of the Degree, Mr José María Escudero, was definitive.

But to make a journal, you need articles and reviewers. The latter, the former, and the former, the latter. As daring argonauts, we took on the task of prowling around, assaulting or questioning some of the leading scientists in the field at the time, to convince them of the relevance of this scientific publication, and to ask them to endorse such an enterprise with their names. In return, just a sincere "thank you", and their inclusion in the scientific committee of the journal.

It was during some important academic and scientific events in 2004 that we took on the task of recruiting these leading figures to form the scientific committee of the journal. Between the II Congreso Mundial de Ciencias del Deporte in Granada, the Fórum Universal de la Culturas de Barcelona, as well as multiple phone calls, choruses and visits, we persuaded such distinguished figures as Klaus Heinemann (with whom we discussed the title of the journal), José Antonio Calvet (who encouraged us to develop our career as authors, rather than editors), Gloria Balagué (whom we assaulted during a brief stay in Barcelona), María Teresa Anguera, Vicente Añó, Jorge Bento, Andreu Camps, Onofre Contreras, Julio Garganta, Rafael Martín Acero, Rui García, Nuria Puig, Fernando Sánchez Bañuelos, Jorge Teijeiro, Manuel Vizuete, among others, and to whom we would like to pay a heartfelt tribute for supporting a project that, although exciting, was still daring.

Issue 1 finally came out in November, after more than a year of work, with Antonio Sánchez Pato as Director, Juan Bada Jaime as Secretary, and Eduardo Segarra and José María Escudero as Editorial Board. The Scientific Committee was finally made up of forty-one renowned doctors from Spain, USA, Portugal, France, Germany, UK and Brazil. It consisted of an Editorial, five articles (distributed as follows: one in Culture, two in Science and two in Sport), one essay (in Free Street) and two Reviews.

At this point, thanks are due to the authors, to those who trusted in CCD to submit their manuscripts to a journal that had not yet published an issue. We will always be grateful to them for their courage and for the quality of their work: María Teresa Anguera Argilaga, Carmen Villaverde Gutiérrez, José María Roa Venegas, Eliane Araujo de Oliveira, Francisco Cruz Quintana, Gonzalo Ruiz Villaverde, Jesús Ramírez Rodrigo, David Cabello Manrique, Alberto Carazo Prada, Amelia Ferro Sánchez, Antonio Oña Sicilia, Fernando Rivas Corral, Antonio Ruiz Gil, Raúl Reina Vaíllo, Vicente Luis del Campo, Rafael Sabido Solana, Francisco Javier Moreno Hernández, Eduardo Segura Fernández, José Luis López Elvira, Enrique Ortega Toro.

It is also worth highlighting the formal quality of the journal, which has presided over the production of this journal over the last eighteen years, and which has been the responsibility of the Quaderna Editorial imprint since its inception, under the direction of Joaquín Iborra and Juan Fernández, and with the technical expertise of Juan Carlos Pérez. As well as the Legal Advice provided by the lawyer Javier Albacete, and the Technical Secretariat of Ginés Jiménez.

We began this project almost 18 years ago, with a six-monthly periodicity. Today, on the verge of coming of age, Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte publishes four issues a year and offers itself to the international scientific community as a multidisciplinary journal faithful to its principles, in accordance with the ethics that should govern scientific research and dissemination. Because this journal has never been a place to do or pay favours to friends or acolytes. On the contrary, it has grown hand in hand with those professionals who understood that science without ethics is as harmful as ignorance.

We are a non-profit journal, like the institution that owns it; without intending to do so, we have found talent in selfless, generous people who have managed, reviewed and edited a significant number of articles to humbly contribute to the development of our area. Many are the people who have contributed greatly to its growth, highlighting the directors of the journal's section that have been, and continue to be, a key part of this process. And very specially, we want to thank their work, support and commitment to the teaching staff of the Faculty of Sport at UCAM, the true soul of our journal: thank you colleagues!

Among them are many colleagues from this and other universities, who had great responsibilities in this journal (Antonio Calderón, José Luis Arias, Enrique Ortega, José Manuel Palao, Jacobo Rubio, Pablo García, Francisco Argudo, Aurelio Olmedilla, Arturo Abraldes, Pilar Sainz de Baranda, Rui Garcia, Peter Hastie, Klaus Heinemann, Jorge Bento, among many others) but let us distinguish some of the women who have brought CCD to a remarkable position and to whom we want to pay tribute: Drs Ferragut, Vila, Abenza, Meroño, Gallardo and Vaquero.

Antonio Sánchez Pato and Juan de Dios Bada Jaime

Founders of the journal Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte

Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte
ISSN: 1696-5043
Vol. 17
Num. 52
Año. 2022

Coming of age: the proto-history of a journal

,