PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN MUSIC
Editors
Attendance at Meetings
Approval of Publications
Standing Periodicals
American Music
The Bulletin of the Society for American Music
Membership Directory and Handbook
Society for American Music Web Site
1. Editors.
The Board appoints the editors of American Music, the Bulletin,
and the Directory, and appoints the editorial Board of American
Music in consultation with the editor and the publisher.
2. Attendance at meetings.
Editors may be invited to attend those Board meetings at which deliberations
of direct import to their work are being held. If such deliberations require
attendance at interim Board meetings, with approval of the president,
financial assistance for half of the travel expenses may be requested.
3. Approval of publications
The Board must approve any publication which bears the Society's name.
Publications other than American Music, the Bulletin, and the Directory
are screened by the Book or Non-Print Publications Committee and forwarded
to the Board with recommendations for action.
STANDING PERIODICALS
a. American Music is the journal of the Society. It is published by the Society and the University of Illinois Press, is issued quarterly, and is devoted to all aspects of American music and music in America.
b. The editor is appointed by the Board in consultation with the publisher of American Music, for a term of four years, with a possible two-year extension at the pleasure of the Board. A committee for the recommendation of a new editor of the Journal needs to be convened three years before the appointment is to take effect. This is to insure adequate lead time for the new editor to arrange for release time and staff support.
c. The editor is responsible for establishing and maintaining a production schedule for the Journal that assures its publication in timely fashion, for upholding standards of incisive and relevant contents, and for following editorial and production guidelines that place American Music among the leading scholarly journals in music.
d. Editorial Board
The editor recommends an editorial Board to the president for approval, first by the publisher of the journal and finally by the Board. The Editorial Board has twenty members, each serving a three year term. These are staggered so that five are replaced each year.
e. Editorial Staff1. In consultation with the Editor, the President of the Society shall appoint a book review editor, a recorded sound editor, and a multi-media editor who will be charged with soliciting, editing, and submitting reviews to the Editor. In consultation with the Editor and The Press, reviews are scheduled for publication. Editors are always active members of the Society and their appointment is approved by the Board.??
a). All review editors be appointed for a six-year term, which would be non-renewable under normal circumstances. In the event that an editor resigns during his/her term, a replacement would be appointed for the remainder of that term. Re-appointment for a subsequent full term would be considered if the replacement term is for three years or less [i.e., less than 50% of a full term].
b). Appointments of the different review editors are based on the calendar year (terms ending in December) and are staggered so that one individual is appointed to one of the posts every two years.f. Book, Recorded Sound, and Multi-Media Reviews
1. Criteria
All reviews of books, recorded sound, and multi-media material are published solely in American Music. Book, recorded sound, and multi-media reviews in American Music are limited to those items which deal substantively with American music, intended to elicit major discussion, point out conjunctions, and add significantly to the literature or repertoire on American music. Pioneering works, work that represent a substantial advance in scholarly research and knowledge, and works which are intended as substantial, universal, and enduring standard sources will normally be reviewed in American Music. A periodic update of all book publications received shall be submitted to the Web Editor for inclusion in a Books Received list.
Standard popular recordings, recordings that are exhaustively reviewed in the regular press, or new recordings of works frequently recorded need not be reviewed unless a reviewer can contribute something not found elsewhere. Also not normally reviewed are printed works of music (except for Denkmal-type editions), music education materials, classroom materials, consumable workbooks, trade press, children's press, Festschriften honoring Americans, but not on American topics, or outdated materials. However, the review editor, in consultation with the Editor may decide that an exceptional case substantially affecting a large segment of the membership will merit special consideration.
Before sending a book, record, or multi media item to a reviewer, the review editor will make a predetermination of (a) the probable merit of the book; (b) the relevance of the book to the Society's membership; and (c) the appropriate nature and length of the review. Editors should not prejudge the quality of the lightness; of the subject; and reviewers may, on more extended perusal, offer alternate suggestions as to the merit, relevance, and nature of the review.
2. Review Process
Review editors should receive all materials for review (materials received by the American Music editor or the Press shall be forwarded to the appropriate review editor). The appropriate American Music review editor should keep a master list of all review materials submitted to reviewers and should maintain an updated list of reviews and reviewers in correspondence with both the editor and the Press. Decisions about potential reviewers, whether to group reviews, and all other matters affecting the content and length of the reviews are the purview of each editor separately, consulting as necessary with the American Music editor.
3. Procedures
Reviewers are chosen carefully, and are persons of recognized authority and integrity. They may be members of the Society, but are not required to be so. The review editor shall send a standardized initial communication to a potential reviewer. Upon a positive response, the item to be reviewed shall be sent, with standard guidelines on content and intent of the review, word length, a suggested deadline (normally three months) and a statement to be signed affirming that the reviewer is unbiased and has no conflict of interest in reviewing this record, book, or multi-media material. A statement concerning copyright clearances shall be sent by the Press at the time that proof sheets are circulated ot the reviewer for final approval.[NEEDS OKAY FROM THE PRESS?]. Unsolicited reviews may occasionally be accepted at the discretion of the appropriate review editor, if both the material to be reviewed and the reviewer meet Society criteria.
4. Length of the Review
The following are general guidelines; exceptions may be made at the discretion of the editors.
All reviews require a minimum of 400 words and a maximum of 1,200 words. Flexibility to assign more extensive reviews and review essays is at the discretion of the review editor in consultation with the editor.
5. Responses to reviews
Communications which respond to reviews may, at the discretion of the editor, be printed in either publication of the Society. Communications which contain personal attacks on reviewers will be rejected or edited to remove anything of a personal nature. Corrections of fact and well-reasoned contrary opinion which, in the judgement of the review editor, in consultation with the editor-in-chief, have merit in themselves, will be printed under "Communications."g. Indexer
The indexer works chiefly with the staff of the University of Illinois Press to produce an annual index of authors and titles of articles, illustrations, and reviews which is printed in the fourth number of each volume.h. US-RILM Abstracts Coordinator
The US-RILM abstracts coordinator facilitates and assures complete coverage of articles and reviews published in American Music through collection of abstracts written by contributors to the journal. The coordinator works with the editor to prepare and distribute abstracting instructions, collects completed abstracts, and sends them to the US-RILM office.
SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN MUSIC BULLETIN
a. Goals
The Society for American Music Bulletin is published three times yearly and provides a timely and informal means by which members communicate with each other. Issues contain short feature articles; reports on activities of the Society and its members; information about recent and forthcoming publications, upcoming conferences and calls for papers, concerts, broadcasts, meetings, and events; editorials, communications, and notes and queries.
b. The production of the Bulletin is the responsibility of the Executive Director and a content Editor. The Editor is appointed by the Board for a term of 4-6 years, non renewable.
c. The Executive Director's responsibilities are to:1) select a printing firm by obtaining cost estimates and work samples; contract with and supervise the firm's work;
2) arrange for the preparation in adequate and attractive format;
3) establish and observe publication schedule;
4) secure and manage the bulk mailing permit;
5) prepare camera-ready typescript for submission to the print shop;
6) arrange and supervise the bulk mailing of the Bulletin and certain other mailings, including affixing labels and sorting per bulk-mail regulations;
7) file copyright papers after each publication date;
8) keep accurate records of all financial transactions.d. The responsibilities of the Editor are to:
1) solicit, select, sort, and edit materials from Society members and Bulletin staff editors, including the President's column and summaries of Board actions and the annual business meeting;
2) write columns and editorials, original or based on submitted material;
3) keep correspondence, original manuscripts, and other appropriate material for the Society archives. Send leftover photographs to the executive director for possible use in the scrapbook or other promotional activities;e. Sequence of inclusions in the Bulletin:
Winter issue (January):
Short announcements concerning annual conference.
Book auction announcement;
Announcements of committee meetings to be held at annual conference;
Summary of fall Board actions;
Publication of bylaws changes to be voted on at annual meeting;
Index of previous volume.
Spring issue (May):
Illustrated report of annual conference;
Committee reports;
Summary of Board and Society actions at annual and other meetings;
Special reports on honorees - Lowens award, honorary member, citations;
Call for papers for next annual meeting;
Call for nominations for officers and Board
Solicitations of nominations for Lowens award.
Fall issue (September):
Feature article on venue of upcoming annual conference;
Articles in periodicals (compilation of "Some Recent Articles and Reviews")In all issues (in addition to major categories on cover page):
Publication and copyright information;
Change of address information;
Notice of where to send materials;
Letter from the President;
List of scheduled conferences;
List of officers;
Letter from England;
Letter from Canada;
Ad for Society publications;
Notice of information on back-issues in microfilm.e. Guidelines for editor
1. Feature articles
These are solicited, unsolicited, or reprinted from secondary sources with limited circulations. They may deal with current day special events, historical discoveries of significance or of interest, persons honored by the Society, or with research centers and sources of value of members. While all articles are subject to judicious editing, major changes are not made without consultation with the author; however, publication schedules do not normally permit submission of proof copies.
2. News of the Society.
Minutes of meetings are not printed in their entirety. All important actions of the Society are covered in separate articles or are summarized briefly, at the discretion of the editor. The editor works with the program and local arrangements chairs of conferences concerning advance and follow up publicity.
3. Notes about members
These deal briefly with activities of members. For composer members, premieres and special honors are noted, but performances of works are normally not. (See item 4 below.) An attempt will be made to use all items submitted by members; other items will be added from news releases and other sources when appropriate. Brief obituaries may be included for members or for well-known American composers.
4. Performances
Certain performances of special interest may be mentioned in the "Bulletin Board" section: criteria would be: historical significance, special observance, or unusual format or venue. Limited space precludes listing all performances of American music.
5. News of other Societies
This news is limited to brief mentions of meetings and to calls for papers.
6. Editorial staff
The editor may recommend additional editorial staff to the president for approval. At present this includes the SRAR compiler and the indexer.
MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY AND HANDBOOK
a. The Directory is published annually through the main office of the Society.
b. Charge
The Executive Director maintains the text during the year, receiving new members, changes of address, names of committee members, and updating the Society's database. The Executive Director prepares the text and indexes, formats and produces page proofs by 15 April for publication 15 May.