Aims and Scope: Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education is devoted to the critical study and analysis of issues related to the field of music education. ACT welcomes submissions from diverse perspectives (e.g. education, music, philosophy, sociology, history, psychology, curriculum studies), dealing with critical, analytical, practical, theoretical, or policy development concerns, as well as submissions that seek to apply, challenge, or extend the MayDay Group’s Action Ideals. Critiques of publications relevant to music education are also welcome, including those that have appeared in ACT.

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement: ACT follows high standards for publication ethics as outlined by the Committee of Publication Ethics (COPE). Editors and members of the editorial board continually monitor and safeguard adherence to these ethical standards. For a complete statement regarding publication ethics and malpractice, see the ACT Ethics page.

Archiving: A permanent archive of ACT articles is maintained by the Weber State University library.

Legal Information: ACT does not publish articles that are under review for other journals or conferences. In submitting an article to ACT for review, the author certifies that it is not under review elsewhere. Authors retain the copyright and accept sole liability for the content of the article, releasing the MayDay Group and its members from liability for any actions resulting from the content and use of the material published.

Plagiarism: If plagiarism (including self-plagiarism) is detected at any point, the article will not be published until the issue is resolved. Depending on the severity of the plagiarism, the article may be permanently rejected, and it may be necessary to contact the author’s employer/institution.

Open Access: All articles are available immediately upon publication and free of charge to anyone with internet access. The work of editing and maintaining the website is completed primarily on a volunteer basis. Temporary or ongoing contracted services associated with maintaining the journal are funded through donations to the MayDay Group, royalties from MayDay Group Publications, and conference fees from MayDay Group Colloquia. Although donations are welcome, authors are not charged for publication. All ACT issues are permanently archived by the Weber State University Library.

Publication Schedule: Articles will be published as they are accepted through the refereeing process, are technically prepared for publication, and once there are sufficient articles to comprise an issue. Please note that ACT does not publish a set number of issues per year.

Peer Review Process: ACT submissions are subject to a rigorous process of double anonymous peer review. Final publication decisions rest with the editor (in light of reviewer recommendations).

Copyright: The author retains copyright for articles published in ACT. However, authors grant ACT the right to enter into agreements for full-text access in online databases. Also, as the copyright holders, authors may reproduce or redistribute all or part of an article as long as proper attribution is included acknowledging ACT as the original publisher.

All articles are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Article Length: ACT imposes no set restrictions on length. However, authors may be asked to shorten submissions where reviewers or the editor determine that an essay’s length is not warranted by its content.

Formatting: Please format submissions using the most recent edition of the Chicago Manual of Style’s “author-date system” with the following five adaptations: 1) omit quotations marks around titles in reference lists, 2) follow APA conventions for capitalization in reference lists, 3) use closed ellipses (necessary for html formatting), 4) when including URLs in references, do not include the date of access before or a period after the URL, and 5) do not include the place of publication. Endnotes are permitted. Audio and video materials are encouraged. Also, ACT encourages the use of “they” (and any derivation) as a singular, gender-neutral pronoun. Consult the most recent issue of ACT or contact the editor for more information if required.

Abstract and Keywords: Submissions must be accompanied by a brief abstract (ca. 100–150 words) and a short list of keywords.

About the Author: In a separate document, include a 100–150 word biography for each author.

Language: While ACT encourages submissions from authors in any location, the editorial team recommends that authors who are writing in English as a second language and are unsure of the quality of their written English should have their manuscripts checked by a native English speaker before submission. This will ensure that the submissions can be judged exclusively on academic merit. You can do this by:

Please email manuscripts as attachments to the editor, Lauren Kapalka Richerme (lkricher@indiana.edu).