Abstract
Greetings from us both as the new joint Editors-in-Chief of Psychology of Music.
We are delighted to have taken on this role in a joint capacity. We extend our deep gratitude to Professor Alexandra Lamont for her guidance and instruction during a generous transition period. We are indebted to Alex for her continued involvement as outgoing editor from late September to December 2024, and, of course, for her significant contributions to the ongoing health and success of the journal.
As the journal’s first joint Editors-in-Chief, we have enjoyed establishing our working partnership in our respective cities of Manchester and Edinburgh, with the excellent support of our Assistant Editors, Karen Wise (London) and Katerina Drakoulaki (Massachusetts and Athens). Throughout the transition period, we were pleased to meet the editorial and production teams Sage assigns to our journal, and gain insight into the global publishing and production context of the journal.
The start of our stewardship is an opportunity to reflect on Psychology of Music’s strengths and strategies, to set the course for the coming years, and to outline some of the practices that the editorial office will follow.
One of our first priorities has been to review and expand the Associate Editor team to keep pace with the increasing submission load. We are delighted to welcome Katherine (Mimi) O’Neill, Landon Peck, Fang Lui, Kelly Jakubowski, and Caroline Curwen. We intend to recruit more Associate Editors in the coming months, targeting areas such as immersive and generative technologies, music and evolution, and popular music.
Psychology of Music is a Sempre journal, and it is our pleasure to contribute to Sempre’s broader work as committee members. In this capacity, we are pleased to engage with students and early-career researchers, and to seek development opportunities for those new to academic writing and publication.
Regular contact with Sempre’s own network of journal editors has proven to be an invaluable resource. By working closely together, we are in the strongest position to navigate the fast-changing processes and demands of scholarly publishing and to advocate best for the research communities our journals serve. Throughout the editorial transition and the first months of our stewardship, we have explored important issues with colleagues, such as the challenges and opportunities presented by AI, how our journals can support the move towards open data, and how to ensure that published empirical research adheres to ethical practices, policies, and standards.
Our priorities for the journal are to uphold and develop its reach, quality, and impact. To deliver the best original research, we remain focused on fair, rigorous peer review. We are moving towards stricter triage at each stage of the evaluation and review process (Assistant Editor, Editor-in-Chief, and Associate Editor). This is necessary to focus our resources – namely, the expertise and time of Associate Editors and peer reviewers, and the labour of the editorial office – on submissions that best serve the journal’s aims.
Psychology of Music’s contribution to the international field of music psychology research is significant and long-standing, and it is bolstered by the wealth of journals and online repositories now available to our research community. We are an important Open Access platform, and we understand the significance of our free-to-publish status to many of our contributors. Since January 2025, we have chosen to focus exclusively on single research article submission formats. This decision allows us to prioritise high-quality peer review and timely publication of new research, regardless of author access to publication funds. We invite manuscripts in one of two categories, either Original Empirical Research or Theoretical Critical Paper. While this precludes Special Issues, we will continue to use our digital platform to offer the Research Spotlights series. This includes collections of free-to-access articles from the archive organised around key topics and themes. These are curated by individuals across the field, and include an introduction to the topic or theme.
We have reviewed our submission guidance to clarify journal policy in key areas, and to align with the most relevant resources for authors and reviewers that Sage provides. We are working with both Sage and Sempre to ensure that the journal’s web presence provides consistent, up-to-date content.
Thank you once again to Alexandra Lamont, and to all of the journal’s Assistant and Associate Editors, consulting Editorial Board members, and – last but by no means least – every single reviewer. Finally, thanks to everyone who has submitted to, published in, and read Psychology of Music over the years: It is an honour for us to take on the role of joint Editors-in-Chief of this wonderful journal and to serve the readers and academic community in the coming period.
Wishing you all the best for the remainder of the academic year and beyond.
