Journal Description

Founded in 2010 by its General Editor, Prof. Valentina Sandu-Dediu, Musicology Today: Journal of the National University of Music Bucharest (ISSN 2286-4717; e-ISSN 2067-5364; ISSN-L 2067-4717) is a double-blind peer-reviewed online quarterly, placed under academic cover of the National University of Music Bucharest.

It is designed entirely in English, German and French, with most of the material published in English – including all Abstracts, About the Authors and Editorials.

Musicology Today: Journal of the National University of Music Bucharest is also available in print editions, as annual volumes comprising the four issues of the previous year (see http://www.edituraunmb.ro/?t_lucrare=musicology-today).

Every journal number usually contains an Editorial, a section of Studies connected to a specific theme (studies with abstracts and with short presentations of the authors in English language), a compartment of opinion, Thoughts, and book reviews.

The high academic level of the journal is ensured by the peer-reviewed evaluation of the materials received for publication by two renowned specialists in the field, from the country and/or abroad.

Published with the institutional support of the National University of Music Bucharest, the journal is open to authors and readers from around the world. The editorial process is ensured by members of the academic community of the National University of Music in Bucharest. The editorial team – coordinated by Dr. Florinela Popa, Executive Editor – is advised by an Editorial Board consisting of leading scholars from different fields of musicology (see Contacts).

It is indexed by EBSCO, RILM, ERIH PLUS, and CEEOL. Starting from the year 2020, Musicology Today: Journal of the National University of Music Bucharest is classified in A category by National Council of  Scientific Research in Higher Education (CNCS).

 

Aims and Scope

The main purpose of this journal is to reflect what is new in the musicology research: either new topics or new perspectives on music from the past. Musicology Today: Journal of the National University of Music Bucharest seeks therefore relevant studies and articles for the actual state of musicology, with its specific tools, also involving an important amount of artistic intuition.

The journal proposes scholarly approaches in the field of systematic and historical musicology, focused on highlighting coordinates of musical style and aesthetics, musical analysis, historiography, while reflecting necessary interdisciplinary openings. Starting with No. 12 (4/2012), Musicology Today: Journal of the National University of Music Buchares has extended its thematic scope to the area of medieval and post-medieval liturgical music, in issues coordinated by Prof. Nicolae Gheorghiță (editor) under the title Musica Sacra.

The journal also aims to disseminate the results of important research projects that the National University of Music in Bucharest initiates, coordinates and implements or in which it participates as a partner institution.

The growing interest in approaching from new angles subjects that have remained taboo for decades, in resizing and recalibrating the history of Romanian music from a current perspective – going as far as an acute need to rewrite it – is a dominant feature of recent years.

 

Peer Review Process

The editorial staff propose a generic theme for each issue of the journal, after consulting the members of the Editorial Board on this matter. Then it announce the chosen theme on the site www.unmb.ro.

The manuscripts should be submitted to the editors in editable electronic format (.doc, .docx or .odt) at e-mail (musicologytoday@unmb.ro). The authors should also provide their e-mail address for correspondence, as well as their phone number.

The reception of the manuscript will be confirmed through e-mail, together with the registration number, the date of receiving the manuscript and the confirmation of the submission to the General/Executive Editor. The Executive Editor will check whether the manuscript corresponds to the publisher’s requests.

If the manuscript doesn’t correspond to the requests, the Executive Editor will send a brief e-mail to the author, asking him/her to modify it according to the editors’ requests.

If there are serious errors in the contents or editing errors, the manuscript will be rejected ab initio by the Executive Editor.

If the manuscript corresponds from the beginning to the editors’ requests, the editorial staff will pick two peer-reviewers. One of the peer reviewers must be from a different university centre than the author(s).

A member of the editorial staff will send via e-mail to the reviewer the verification request letter (asking for review within four weeks), accompanied by the anonymized manuscript.

The reviewers decision (acceptance without ammendments, acceptance with major/minor modifications, rejection) will be announced immediately by the Executive Editor to the author via e-mail.

Should the manuscript be accepted with ammendments, the anonymous comments of the reviewers will be sent together with their decision and the General/Executive Editor’s position.

The author must send the modified version of the manuscript (according to the previous protocol) within four weeks, together with a letter attached to the e-mail, answering to each of the reviewers’ comments, showing the way in which the work has been modified.

The e-mail will be sent to the Executive Editor who will forward this answer to the reviewers. Provided that they are satisfied with the answer they will send to the editorial staff the decision of acceptance of the modified version.

If the reviewers will agree only partially with the author’s answer, they will ask for a supplementary review of the manuscript, explaining each of their issues. The protocol will be the same as described previously.

If the reviewers consider that in any of these reviews the author hasn’t answer or the answer was not satisfactory to the requests, they will take the rejection decision, which will be communicated by the Executive Editor.

Once the acceptance decision has been taken, it will be announced in a meeting to the editorial staff. The staff will prioritize the manuscript, taking into account the following criteria:

• the reviewers’ opinions,
• no author should have more than one article in the same issue of the journal,
• the degree in which the different themed sections of the journal are covered.

 

Certain issues of the journal are dedicated, in whole or in part, to disseminating the results of international projects and/or conferences organized by the National University of Music in Bucharest, or in which the University is a partner. In this case, participants are invited, at the end of the proceedings, to publish their contributions in Musicology Today: Journal of the National University of Music Bucharest (after reviewing them following the debates).

 

Peer Reviewers (from 2010 onward)

Dr. Maria Sabina Alexandru-Draga (University of Bucharest)
Dr. Oana Andreica (Academy of Music “George Dima”, Cluj)
Prof. Gabriel Banciu (Academy of Music “George Dima”, Cluj)
Prof. Sebastian Barbu-Bucur (Romanian Union of Composers and Musicologists)
Prof. Adriana Bera (Academy of Music “George Dima”, Cluj)
Dr. Irina Boga (National University of Music Bucharest)
Prof. Dan Dediu (National University of Music Bucharest)
Dr. Ștefan Firca (Ohio State University)
Corneliu Dan Georgescu (Berlin)
Dr. Nicolae Gheorghiță (Romanian Union of Composers and Musicologists)
Dr. John Graham (University of Princeton)
Dr. Monica Isăcescu (Radio Romania Music)
Alina Ledeanu (Editor-in-Chief, “Secolul XXI” journal)
Prof. Olguța Lupu (National University of Music Bucharest)
Dr. Laura Manolache (National University of Music Bucharest)
Dr. Costin Moisil (Museum of the Romanian Peasant, Bucharest)
Prof. Diana Moș (National University of Music Bucharest)
Dr. Haiganuș Preda-Schimek (University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna)
Prof. Antigona Rădulescu (National University of Music Bucharest)
Dr. Speranța Rădulescu (Museum of the Romanian Peasant, Bucharest)
Dr. Constantin Secară (“Constantin Brăiloiu” Ethnographic and Folklore Institute, Romanian Academy)
Daniel Suceava (“George Oprescu” Institute of Art History, Bucharest)
Dr. Erich Türk (Academy of Music “George Dima”, Cluj)
Prof. Laura Vasiliu (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iași)

 

Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

Musicology Today: Journal of the National University of Music Bucharest ensures the highest ethical and professional research standards. It follows the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and also adheres to the COPE Guidelines.

Authorship is recognised for submitting an original work that has not previously been published (see also Instructions to authors).

Authorship should only be stated for individuals who meet the following criteria, as they must be able to take responsibility for the content: they have carried out the research and documentation for the study; they have drafted the manuscript and, where appropriate, critically revised it; they have approved the final version of the work and agreed to publication in that form. If several authors have collaborated to a significant extent, they will have the status of co-authors and the intention to publish must be unanimous. Any person with a contribution to the research (who does not qualify as a co-author) must be acknowledged in the paper.

The confidentiality of the author’s name is ensured by the editorial team in relation to reviewers and any person not on the editorial team. The confidentiality of submitted texts in relation to any third party is ensured until the time of publication, and no part of the text may be used or quoted before publication by any member of the editorial team for any purpose whatsoever, except with the written consent of the author.

Both peer-reviewers and editors should take into account the application of high standards of objectivity. Evaluations should be fair, unbiased, prompt and should take into account the clarity of the research, the thoroughness of the argument, the importance of the results in the overall picture of the field and the integration into the thematic spectrum of the journal.

If an author (if the error relates to the submitted content) or editor (if the error occurred in the editorial process) identifies a substantial error or inaccuracy in the post-publication material, this should be reported immediately to the Executive Editor at musicologytoday@unmb.ro. An erratum will be published in the next volume (if the annual volume is already printed) and online, or online only in the current issue (if the error was reported before the printing stage).

Publication of the same material in more than one journal, in an international language and with a similar target audience, is prohibited and is considered self-plagiarism. Some scientific/thematic reasons may justify the utility of a secondary publication, but only with the agreement of the editorial teams of both publications. However, the author has the right to use his or her research results for educational purposes or in carrying out research projects of institutions with which he or she is affiliated. He/she also has the right to publish the work as part of his/her own book or anthologies.

If unethical research behaviour regarding a published paper is discovered – such as fabrication or falsification of data, plagiarism, or copyright infringement – by the editorial team or signalled by a third-party through a complaint with an allegation of misconduct, even a long time after publication, the following sanctions may be applied according to the severity of the infraction: the editors may publish a retraction, inform the author’s institution, and/or refuse to consider future work from the author. The concerned authors will be notified at the outset of the investigation to give them the right to express their views, and a committee made up of representatives of the editorial board will examine the complaint and determine the applicable sanction.

 

Copyright and Licensing

Musicology Today: Journal of the National University of Music Bucharest  publishes all the papers as Open Access articles distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/),  which  permits  non-commercial  re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (see also Instructions to authors).

The journal does not receive any revenue for its online viewing, covering its editorial and production costs from the National University of Music of Bucharest’s funds. The journal is also free of charges for submitting and processing the papers.

 

Archiving

The entire collection of Musicology Today: Journal of the National University of Music Bucharest  can be accessed on the journal’s website (see Back Issues) and is also archived by the National University of Music Bucharest.