JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY

Scope & Guideline

Connecting past and present through music scholarship.

Introduction

Immerse yourself in the scholarly insights of JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY with our comprehensive guidelines detailing its aims and scope. This page is your resource for understanding the journal's thematic priorities. Stay abreast of trending topics currently drawing significant attention and explore declining topics for a full picture of evolving interests. Our selection of highly cited topics and recent high-impact papers is curated within these guidelines to enhance your research impact.
LanguageEnglish
ISSN0003-0139
PublisherUNIV CALIFORNIA PRESS
Support Open AccessNo
CountryUnited States
TypeJournal
Convergefrom 1970 to 2024
AbbreviationJ AM MUSIC SOC / J. Am. Musicicol. Soc.
Frequency3 issues/year
Time To First Decision-
Time To Acceptance-
Acceptance Rate-
Home Page-
Address155 GRAND AVE, SUITE 400, OAKLAND, CA 94612-3758

Aims and Scopes

The JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY serves as a leading platform for scholarly discourse in musicology, emphasizing diverse methodologies and interdisciplinary approaches. The journal aims to explore the multifaceted nature of music within various cultural, historical, and social contexts.
  1. Interdisciplinary Musicology:
    The journal promotes an interdisciplinary approach to musicology, integrating insights from fields such as cultural studies, anthropology, history, and cognitive science to deepen the understanding of musical phenomena.
  2. Cultural and Historical Contexts:
    A consistent focus is placed on examining music within its cultural and historical contexts, exploring how music interacts with societal changes, politics, and identity.
  3. Emerging Music Genres and Practices:
    The journal covers a wide range of music genres, including classical, popular, folk, and experimental music, often addressing contemporary practices and their implications for music scholarship.
  4. Technological Innovations in Music:
    An emphasis on digital scholarship and technological innovations in music analysis and preservation, reflecting the evolving nature of music production and consumption.
  5. Social Justice and Music:
    The journal increasingly addresses themes of race, gender, and social justice in music, exploring how these factors influence musical creation, performance, and reception.
  6. Global Perspectives:
    The journal seeks to broaden the scope of music scholarship by including global perspectives, particularly regarding non-Western musical traditions and their interactions with Western music.
The journal has seen a dynamic evolution in its thematic focus, with several emerging trends indicating the direction of contemporary musicological discourse. The following points encapsulate these trends.
  1. Intersections of Music and Identity:
    There is a growing trend of exploring how music intersects with various aspects of identity, including race, gender, and nationality, reflecting societal movements and cultural shifts.
  2. Digital and Multimedia Scholarship:
    The rise of digital tools and platforms for music analysis and dissemination has led to an increase in articles discussing digital scholarship, multimedia projects, and the implications of technology on music.
  3. Global Music Histories:
    A notable trend is the exploration of global music histories, emphasizing the interconnectedness of musical traditions and the impact of globalization on music practices.
  4. Music and Social Justice:
    The journal is increasingly focusing on music's role in social justice movements, examining how music can be a form of resistance, expression, and community building.
  5. Cognitive and Psychological Approaches to Music:
    Emerging themes include the cognitive aspects of music perception and performance, exploring how psychological theories can enhance understanding of music's impact on individuals and societies.

Declining or Waning

While the journal has consistently explored a wide array of musicological themes, certain areas of focus appear to be waning in prominence over recent years. The following points highlight these declining themes.
  1. Traditional Classical Music Analysis:
    There is a noticeable decline in the publication of papers strictly analyzing traditional classical music forms and composers without integrating broader cultural or thematic contexts.
  2. Historical Music Theory:
    Papers solely dedicated to historical music theory concepts without contemporary relevance or interdisciplinary connections have become less frequent.
  3. Eurocentric Music History:
    The focus on Eurocentric narratives in music history is diminishing as the journal increasingly embraces global music perspectives, leading to fewer articles centered exclusively on Western musical traditions.
  4. Biographical Studies of Composers:
    While biographical studies remain relevant, there has been a shift away from purely biographical accounts towards analyses that connect composers' lives with broader social and cultural movements.
  5. Musicological Pedagogy:
    The exploration of pedagogical approaches in musicology is becoming less prevalent, with fewer articles discussing teaching methodologies or music education frameworks.

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