Online submissions
Contributions to M&P must report original work and will be subjected to review by referees at the discretion of the Editorial Office. By submitting a manuscript, the authors grant the exclusive rights to first publication to M&P. Likewise, by submitting supplementary files (photos, sound and video files, etc.) the author declares that all necessary copyright questions have been cleared.
The instructions below are specifically directed at authors that wish to submit a manuscript to M&P.
Manuscript preparation, submission and acceptance procedure
M&P is always interested in contributions matching our focus areas. You may send your draft or article suggestion to erlend.hovland@nmh.no or christina.s.kobb@nmh.no. Papers are accepted in British English. A typical article is within the range of 4000–8000 words.
An abstract of 100 words, and a short author’s bio of 50 words are required for all papers submitted to the Scientific and Explorative sections. For the Reviews&Commentaries section, we ask for just 1–2 introductory sentences, along with a ‘one-sentence biography’, stating the author’s title/position and place of residence. Each paper should have 3 to 6 keywords.
Submission details
M&P encourages the authors to take advantage of the electronic format as much as possible by using sound and video files as well as photos/animations etc. as integral parts of their contributions. However, this material must be submitted to M&P to secure future access to all the material discussed (hyperlinks to external sites do not fulfill this requirement). Alternatively, website content may be referred to by a general footnote in cases where the article content as such is not dependent on this additional information/material.
The review process (for articles presented in M&P Scientific)
The review process involves single-fold review of all submitted articles for M&P Scientific, including those solicited by the editors. The manuscripts are reviewed both by our international peer reviewers and the editors of M&P. A request by an editor for a manuscript is not a guarantee that it will be published.
The editors will assess whether the submission is eligible for reviewing. After this formal assessment, the submission will be delivered to one of the editors of M&P. The editor will work with the author during the next stages:
◦ The submission will be sent to (at least) two external referees. They will each deliver a report, taking into consideration the points of attention listed below (see Guidelines for Peer Reviewers). The review reports will be communicated to the artists/authors.
◦ Based on the review reports the editors will make one of the following decisions:
- The submission is rejected. In this case, In this case, a written explanation will be provided.
- The submission is rejected in its current state. In this case, the artist/author will have the opportunity to re-submit the exposition, taking into account the comments of the referees and the editor.
- The submission is accepted.
◦ When the submission is rejected in its current state (b) and the author wants to improve the exposition, the dedicated editor will support the author.
Publication procedure for all submissions
Most manuscripts will require revision before final acceptance. M&P will assign an editor to each contribution, and he or she will work together with the author until both are happy and the editors approve of publication. Prior to publication, the author must ensure that
◦ all data and meta-data is provided for;
◦ each table, figure, illustration or photo is provided with a number and a caption, including the relevant information, including credits to photographers, owners, copyright holders, etc. where applicable;
◦ copyright issues have been addressed;
◦ translations are provided for quotations in languages other than English (the text in the original language is normally not necessary);
◦ the text is copy edited by an English native speaker;
◦ the contribution complies with the general requirements outlined in the Editorial style (see below).
Editorial style
M&P wishes to serve the international community of academics and practitioners who – irrespective of their individual competence and research discipline – all share a keen interest in practice studies in music. By providing a forum for exchange, debate and reflection, M&P is committed to the common efforts of sculpting out this relatively young research field. In the process, we anticipate that the bringing together of experience and knowledge across geographic, academic, instrument-dependent or other boundaries, will prove reciprocally inspiring and stimulating for all partakers.
This view is reflected in our editorial style in that we value clarity and accessibility in all contributions; in any of the sections and communicated by any medium:
- Present your subject clearly, avoiding excessively bureaucratic or abstract language. Structure your piece well by bringing out essential points, in the order that make your argument easy to follow.
- Keep in mind that your contribution should be understandable and potentially useful even to readers not sharing your expertise. Choose your focus and approach accordingly, and you will speak to a wider range of readers. References, or definitions of terms and methods that our readers might be unfamiliar with, are often helpful.
It may enhance both clarity and accessibility of your text to include photos, illustrations, sound or video; or – opt for a full-fledged video or multimedia presentation to get your message across.
For general guidelines concerning copy editing, we refer to the MHRA Style Guide, which can be obtained from https://www.mhra.org.uk/style/ . M&P also makes use of a style sheet that authors may request.