Scholarship and Research
Purpose and Content – The Scholarship and Research component serves as a vehicle for dissemination of the fruits of research in music and music teaching. Accepted content highlights concerns of general interest and reflects the work of the Society in all areas of music. Special symposia, usually in the form of collections of articles, focusing on specific topics may be developed if the need arises.
The Editor – After consultation with members of the Board of Editors, the Board of Directors, and other members of The College Music Society, the General Editor of College Music Symposium will make a recommendation or recommendations to the Board of Directors for the position of Editor of the Scholarship and Research component. The Editor is usually appointed for a three-year term.
Responsibility of the Editor – It shall be the responsibility of the Editor to receive and solicit materials, to distribute materials to the Editorial Board for review, to make final decisions on acceptance of articles, and to edit them for publication.
Editorial Board – An Editorial Board will consist of members appointed by the General Editor in consultation with the Editor of the Scholarship and Research component. The disciplines of music will be represented on the Editorial Board, as will three major areas of The College Music Society’s work: professional activities, engagement and outreach, and career development; a balance of representation of these areas will be maintained on the Editorial Board.
Editorial Objectives – The Scholarship and Research component presents the interdisciplinary interests and concerns of the music field. Its content consists of formal, refereed articles reflecting the broad interests of the Society's membership in two ways. First, Scholarship and Research may present articles that have a narrow individual focus but which collectively represent the breadth of the spectrum of specialized interests throughout the Society. Second, the journal may present interdisciplinary articles (i.e., articles that cross traditional boundaries between music areas), and transdisciplinary articles (i.e., articles that address topics of significance to broad segments of the membership). To both of these ends, the Editor of the Scholarship and Research component is expected to take an active role in seeking out high-quality contributions and encouraging officers and members of the Society to do likewise.
Editorial Procedures – The Editor of the Scholarship and Research component typically sends written acknowledgment of each contribution immediately upon receiving it. Within one to two weeks, the Editor sends each contribution to two or more members of the Editorial Board; the members provide a review to the Editor by an appropriate, agreed-upon time. The Editor will make every effort to notify the contributor of the results of the review within twelve weeks. The Editor has the final decision to accept or reject each contribution, and to determine the extent of revision needed for each text file. The Editor will normally transmit the completed text file for each article to the Executive Office at least one month prior to release (e.g., by August 1 for release in September).