Instructions to Contributors
- Instructions to Contributors
Manuscripts should be sent both electronically (to cmj@mitpress.mit.edu, with the text "[CMJ MS]" included in the subject line) and in hard copy. Please send the electronic version in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), if possible, with the author's identity removed and figures inserted into the text. Send one hard copy to: George Tzanetakis, Associate Editor, Computer Music Journal, Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3055, STNCSC, Victoria, British Columbia, V8W 3P6 Canada; and another to: Douglas Keislar, Editor, Computer Music Journal, 2550 9th Street #207B, Berkeley, California 94710, USA.
Before submitting a manuscript, please study the Journal's guidelines, manuscript template, style guide, spelling guide, and checklist, available at mitpressjournals.org/cmj. (Click "Submission Guidelines" in the left-hand column.)
Manuscripts are accepted with the understanding that the editors may revise them for greater conciseness, clarity, and conformity with the Journal's style. Manuscripts are anonymously refereed, and authors are sent proofs before publication.
Copyright Policy.
Manuscripts are received with the understanding that they represent original material, are not being considered for publication elsewhere, and will not be posted to the Internet nor otherwise publicly distributed by anyone other than MIT Press. Authors will be requested to sign a transfer of copyright to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology so that authors and publishers may be protected from misuse of copyrighted material. If an earlier version has been or will be published in conference proceedings, please send it also; extensive rewording and substantive additions are required.
Acceptable Formats.
Manuscripts must be submitted both on paper and as PDF or Microsoft Word files. PDF is preferred for submissions, but separate Word files and art files will be required upon acceptance.
Specifications.
Please put your text into the Journal's Word template, then apply the appropriate style to every paragraph, including headings, code examples, references, etc. Use of the template is recommended for submissions, and required upon acceptance. All material should be double-spaced, including references and figure captions. If possible, insert figures into the document where first discussed; otherwise, supply figures separately and use clearly visible figure callouts in the text, e.g., "(INSERT FIGURE 3 ABOUT HERE)." Using Adobe Acrobat or a PDF utility, generate a PDF file from the Word template; otherwise send the Word file itself.
Print the manuscript on one side of letter-bond paper with liberal margins, and include page numbers. The submitted material should not exceed 25 pages, including references and figures.
To ensure anonymity during the review process, the author's name, affiliation, and address should appear on a separate cover page only, and must be omitted from the electronic file. Acknowledgments and other revealing material may be added after acceptance.
Editing Guidelines.
Computer Music Journal articles should be presented in a formal writing style, with a flow of text that reads as an essay. Employ parenthetical expressions sparingly, and write in complete sentences. The Journal uses neither footnotes nor lists of bulleted items.
There are, at most, three levels of headings. Sections are not numbered. Their titles are printed with initial uppercase letters on all important words (not all uppercase).
The running text must contain a mention of each figure: e.g., "Figure 3 demonstrates this dependency."
Fonts are used sparingly. Program code is placed in a fixed-width font. Italicize the first use of a new term or item of jargon; do not use italicization or fonts for emphasis.
References.
Cite references in the text by author's last name and year of publication, in parentheses with no comma. Multiple citations from the same author are separated by commas, e.g., "(Keislar 1991, 1996)." Citations from different authors use semicolons, e.g., "(Roads 1981; Roads and Pope 1997)."
References should be listed (unnumbered) alphabetically—chronologically for a particular author—at the end of the article. List cited references only, not a general bibliography. The Journal uses the Chicago Manual of Style format, with periods separating most items, e.g., (for a journal article)
