Journal of General Music Education

For any queries to the Editor, please email: rekha_rajan@att.net

Manuscript Submission Guidelines: 

The Journal of General Music Education is a peer-reviewed journal and welcomes manuscripts of interest to general music professionals at all levels. We are specifically interested in manuscripts that describe successful practices, share teaching strategies and/or materials, and suggest new ideas or issues of concern to professionals exploring the influence and impact of general music education across the lifespan.

Unless specifically noted, articles in JGME do not necessarily represent the official policy of the National Association for Music Education.

Manuscripts should be written in a style that is clear and concise, avoiding technical jargon. A consistent style should be used for both format and references. Preferred manuscript style should conform to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th edition; 2019); however, a manuscript that has been consistently formatted with any of the generally accepted styles will be considered. All manuscripts should include an abstract of approximately 150 words, be about 6 to 12 double-spaced pages in length, and be submitted electronically as MS Word files. Authors should also submit 4 to 6 key words relating to their article's content. To avoid delays in typesetting, please convert any music-specific symbols and notation (using MusiSync or MS Reference font, for instance) to images. Place any lesson plans, sample lessons, or resource lists in an appendix section at the end of the article.

Please note that this journal does not allow submissions from papers that are already available as a preprint.

Images, graphics, and tables: Images should be easily readable, clear, and neat; color images are preferred. Except for notation files created with Finale* software, all images should be submitted in the original program in which they were created (JPG, TIFF, or EPS; Microsoft Application Files are acceptable for line art). Any scanned images should be set at 1200 dpi for line art and 300 dpi for color or grayscale. *Finale files should be saved and submitted as images (JPG, TIFF files).

All diagrams, images, photographs, and tables should be placed at the end of the manuscript file and numbered in the order they appear in text. Insert callouts for figures and tables on a separate line just after the paragraph where each image or table should appear (example: “[Figure 1 here]”).

Permission to reprint: Material taken directly from a copyrighted source must be clearly identified in a source line, and the copyright holder’s written permission to reproduce it must be submitted in a separate file along with the manuscript. Obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted material is the author’s responsibility, as is payment of any fees the copyright holder may request. Because obtaining reprint permission can be time consuming, it is recommended that authors begin this process as soon as possible. *Note that material created by children (for example, artwork and song lyrics) is considered copyrightable and will require permission from the parent or guardian to reproduce. Music examples, figures, photographs, and other illustrations must be checked for accuracy before submission. If any copyrighted materials are used, documentation verifying that the author has permission to use the material must be included. See the Sage Journal Permissions page for more information.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to publish any author-submitted photographs or illustrations, and written permission to Sage of a parent or guardian of any minor pictured is needed before such images are published. Please complete an Audio/Visual Likeness Release form.

Audio and video files: Authors are encouraged to submit audio/video clips to further illustrate their work. Acceptable video file types are QuickTime (.mov), MPEG Movie (.mpg), and Microsoft AVI Video (.avi); acceptable audio files include Windows Media Player (.wma) and MP3 (.mp3). Signed release from all participants in audio and video clips is needed; please download the audio/visual likeness release form below.

Strategic Plan: Authors should briefly review the new NAfME Strategic Plan at https://nafme.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/NAfME-2022-Strategic-Plan.pdf to include information in their submissions that reflects the NAfME Mission, Vision, and Belief Statement and addresses one or more of the following cornerstones and keystone: Advocacy and Public Policy, Professional Learning and Growth, Research and Music Teacher Education, and Equity in Music Education. 

Journal of General Music Education is a refereed journal; manuscripts are reviewed by a panel of nationally recognized leaders in general music. The review process typically takes one to two months. If accepted, a manuscript will be edited to conform to style policies and the edited copy e-mailed to the author for approval prior to publication.

Journal of General Music Education is copyrighted as an entity by the National Association for Music Education. Authors must transfer copyrights to GMT, and NAfME controls the rights to each article. Written permission must be received from the NAfME office if an author wants to reprint the article, but this generally poses no problem.

For consideration, all manuscripts must be submitted online, via the link found at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/gmt

ORCID: As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. ORCID iDs cannot be added after a paper has been accepted, so we strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID iD please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

Publication Ethics and Policies. Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics' International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.

• Authorship. All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.
• Acknowledgments. All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.
• Funding. JGME requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
• Declaration of conflicting interests. JGME encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends authors review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway. Please include any declaration in file separate from the main text, after any acknowledgements, under the heading “Conflicts of Interest.” When making a declaration, the disclosure information must be specific and include any financial relationship that all authors of the article has with any sponsoring organization and the for-profit interests the organization represents, and with any for-profit product discussed or implied in the text of the article.
• Plagiarism. JGME and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the Journal against malpracice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. When an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permissoin or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of teh article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of teh author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.
• Prior Publication. If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway. 
• Peer review. JGME conducts double-anonymous peer review with final decisions made by the editor.

For more information, please refer to the Sage Manuscript Submission Guidelines.