[sent on behalf of the Musical Care International Network]
We are delighted to report that a call for papers for the Special Collection "Interdisciplinary and intercultural perspectives on musical care" is up on the Music & Science journal website:
The final deadline for submissions is 8 September 2025, but papers are welcome at any time before that date.
How did we get here?
The idea for this collection came from the Network's Research and Funding group meeting in January 2024 where the need for routes to submission were discussed and the idea of a special issue raised. Since then, the three of us applied to the journal Music & Science to guest edit a special collection on the topic. This journal seemed an appropriate home for this collection as the Network and the Journal share much in their respective goals, including our emphasis on interdisciplinary work and of communication among researchers from a range of disciplinary backgrounds in order to understand music and the roles it can play in our lives. The application was immediately successful, so we formulated a call for papers about which we consulted with the Network's Research and Funding group.
What do I need to know now?
As a first step, do take a look at the call
As with any submission to a peer-reviewed journal, if you'd like to submit, please familiarise yourself with the journal's submission guidelines: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/music-science/journal202491#submission-guidelines.
Submissions will need to fit with the quality and scope criteria of the journal. Some papers may not fit – if that's the case, that may indicate we need another special collection/issue in another journal but in the meantime, we can suggest alternative journals to submit to.
The journal charges an article processing charge (APC) of 854 USD. If you work at a university, you can check whether the university has an arrangement with the publisher with respect to the APC. If you don't work at a university or if your institution does not have such an arrangement, a fee waiver might be an option (https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/gold-open-access-article-processing-charge-waivers).
Finally, all members of SEMPRE get a 50% discount (https://sempre.org.uk/membership).
How can I be involved?
We have designed the call to reflect the Network's values and scope and we do hope you will consider submitting your research. The collection will be guest edited by us and (conflicts of interest permitting) we hope to draw on your expertise during the review process. Moreover, if you would be open to mentoring someone in the Network as they work up their paper, please let us know.
The call is not exclusive to Network members, do pass the link along to anyone who might be interested. It would be particularly helpful if you have links to organisations who can share the link with their members.
Whether you end up being an author, reviewer, mentor, and/or reader of the final papers, we hope you find this initiative helpful.
Warm regards,
Musical Care International Network
