Submissions

As part of NCCO’s commitment to access, equity, and inclusion, The Choral Scholar and American Choral Review's Editorial Board welcomes a broad array of topics and formats, including columns, interviews, peer-reviewed articles, and other forms of scholarly expression. Our Editorial Mentors are available to provide feedback on potential article submissions. Depending on the format you’re considering, there are multiple ways to connect with us regarding your scholarship.

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Article Ideas in Progress: If you have an idea for an article for which you’d like feedback, or an article for which you’d like to be assigned an editorial mentor, please fill out our Article Idea Form. Your responses will be shared with the Chief Editor of Publications. Depending on the availability of our editorial mentors, works in progress may be eligible for additional guidance.

Articles Ready for Submission: If you have an article that is complete and ready for the peer review process, please consult our style guidelines below, then fill out the Peer-Reviewed Article Submission Form.

Recording, Book, and Score Reviews

If you have a recording, book, or score that you would like to propose be reviewed in The Choral Scholar and American Choral Review, OR if you would like to express your interest in writing a preselected review, please contact the Associate Editors as follows:

Recordings: Morgan Luttig, [email protected]
Scores: Nathan Reiff, [email protected]
Books: Andrew Crow, [email protected]

Additional Formats for Scholarly Expression, Topic Requests

If you have a submission that doesn’t fall into the above categories, or if you have requests for topics you would like for the Choral Scholar and American Choral Review to cover, please fill out our Topics and Ideas Form.

Research Memorandum Series

The Research Memorandum Series is a bibliographic resource that includes recent dissertation and thesis abstracts from masters and doctoral students. Published annually, the RMS provides conductors, scholars, and students access to the latest choral research. Please submit new dissertation and thesis abstracts by filling out this form.

Style Guidelines

The Choral Scholar and American Choral Review welcomes articles in English on topics relating to choral music. The primary focus of the journal is music research, but scholars from all fields are encouraged to submit relevant articles. The Choral Scholar will also publish reviews of books, recordings, and musical scores. Please consult NCCO’s The Choral Scholar Style Guide. Please note the following guidelines:

articles should be approximately 4,000–10,000 words in length (although submissions of greater or lesser length may be considered as well)
rights to (re-)publish all copyrighted materials must be obtained and available (in written form) on demand
it is the sole responsibility of the submitting author to obtain said rights
use standard American English spellings, musical terminology, and grammatical conventions
all images, tables, graphs, charts, and musical examples should be included within the document and clearly labeled
musical examples may be produced with computer typesetting programs (such as Finale or Sibelius) or written out by hand
articles may have endnotes or footnotes, though final publication will use footnotes
for matters of style and grammar, please refer to the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., and to the following:
- double-spaced
- 12-pt Times, Times New Roman, or Courier
- flush-left, unjustified text (“ragged-right”)
- place all references in footnotes (or endnotes), rather than within the text
- for the spelling and alphabetization of composers' names, refer to the current edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
please prepare a brief abstract, suitable for publication, done in conformity with RILM guidelines, and a list of works cited, following Chicago Manual of Style bibliography guidelines.

Please note that The Choral Scholar reserves the right to re-scan any submitted image, or to re-typeset any submitted tables, graphs, charts, or musical examples.

Procedure

articles, abstracts, and lists of cited works should be prepared in either Word (.doc) or Rich Text (.rtf or .rtfd) format with either footnotes or endnotes
any audio files should be in .mp3 format
the file name for the article should be the article title, or some reasonable portion thereof
the file name for the abstract should be the article's file name with "_abs" added to the end
the file name for the list of cited works should be the article's file name with "_bib" added to the end
To preserve the anonymity of the review process, the author's name should appear only in the submission form. Authors should avoid identifying themselves within the article itself (title page, header, notes, etc.).
contributors should expect to receive an acknowledgment of receipt within one week of submission
it is the intent of the editorial board to notify contributors with a final decision within 3 months of submission

Please feel free to contact us [email protected] if you are unable to submit your article electronically.

Technical Considerations

Observing the following technical considerations will facilitate the publication process.

images should be available as separate files (preferably in TIFF format) with a resolution of at least 300 ppi, or as scannable media
musical examples may be produced with computer typesetting programs (such as Finale or Sibelius), or written out by hand
electronic musical examples should be available as separate files in native Finale or Sibelius format (.mus / .sib)
other formats may be accepted by the typesetter on a case-by-case basis

Please note that The Choral Scholar reserves the right to re-scan any submitted image, or to re-typeset any submitted tables, graphs, charts, or musical examples.