"Citius, altius, fortius" – faster, higher, stronger – is the Olympic motto. But sport events are more than a meeting between athletes to determine the fastest, highest or strongest. Participating in sport and leisure are a way to build community, explore new destinations as a tourist, and are used as a means of soft power between nations.

Today, Frontiers launches Sport, Leisure and Tourism, a new specialty of Frontiers in Sports and Active Living. The specialty highlights the value of multi- and interdisciplinary work within the areas of sport, leisure and tourism by publishing high-quality research that bridges the social sciences, humanities, business and sport sciences.

Meet the Chief Editors

Prof Gayle McPherson

Sport, Leisure and Tourism is led by two Chief Editors: Professor Gayle McPherson is the Chair of Events and Cultural Policy within the School of Media, Culture and Society at the University of the West of Scotland. Her work revolves around the public policy interventions of local and national state in events and festivity, as well as the social and cultural impact of sport events and culture on communities.

Dr Laura Misener

Associate Professor Laura Misener is the Director of the School of Kinesiology at Western University (in London, Ontario). Her research focuses on how sport and events can be used as instruments of social change, with an emphasis on how events for people living with a disability can positively impact communities and social inclusion.

Professor McPherson and Dr Misener are supported by an international board of outstanding researchers. Find out more.

Sport and Social Change

"In this specialty, we want to push the traditional boundaries of this field of research," says Dr Misener. "We want to publish research that brings together diverse disciplinary approaches and subject areas and ultimately catalyze new ideas and approaches to research in sport, leisure and tourism that have the potential to shift paradigms."

Professor McPherson adds: "We are interested in social change through sports and leisure. We therefore need to work with all stakeholders – this extends beyond academics and includes policy makers and practitioners too." Open Access research ensures new insights can be communicated widely: to other researchers from a range of fields, policy makers and elite and amateur athletes. 

Get involved

The first Article Collections are now open for submissions:  

• Hosted by our Chief Editors: Transforming Our World through Events: The Agenda 2030

• Liminality and the Third Space of Sport, Leisure and Events

Frontiers journals also consistently rank among the world’s most-cited in their fields and in the top Impact Factor and CiteScore percentiles. Discover more.