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Jazz in Long Form: Papers Wanted

All About Jazz is home to a diverse and wide variety of authors who write about jazz from multifaceted and numerous different perspectives. From recording and concert reviews that help promote jazz musicians and jazz venues across the world, to in-depth articles that cover the richness of jazz in all its historical, sociological, theoretical, and cultural contexts, AAJ has provided a worldwide online promotional and educational resource for jazz musicians and jazz enthusiasts for nearly 30 years.

To broaden our offerings even further, AAJ is pleased to announce an opportunity for authors who would like a more robust and formal reviewing process. We invite authors who are writing about jazz history, sociology, theory, and jazz culture, to consider submitting their articles to our new channel "Jazz in Long Form,” where articles are peer-reviewed by our editors in a double-blind process.

FAQ

What kind of articles should be submitted to JLF?

Generally, these articles are those that delve into topics that are more specialized, more formal, more topic focused, and more detailed. These articles will often be longer in length than other AAJ articles, which may require that they be released in a multi-part series. They may also have footnotes to provide appropriate references when needed.

Who are these articles intended for?

While these articles are more in-depth and more formal, they must still be accessible to a general audience, albeit one that has a strong interest in jazz, and in learning more about jazz from different disciplinary perspectives.

I wrote a 10-page analysis of Coltrane’s use of the Euler-Fokker Genus 337 scale. Is that a good article for JLF?

That depends on whether it is accessible to an interested and knowledgeable jazz fan or not. An article that would only be understood by a trained music theorist or by a professional jazz musician would not be a good fit for JLF. However, an article that explained what the scale is in a way that a knowledgeable jazz fan could understand, and then explains how the scale was used by John Coltrane in a step-by-step manner, perhaps, with short examples, in a way that a general jazz readership could understand, would be a great fit for JLF.

What does “double-blind peer review" mean?

A double-blind peer review means that the author of the paper is not known to the editors, nor is the identity of the editors, known to the author. It’s simply a way of making the review more robust and less prone to cronyism. (This process is popular in academic writing.)

How long will it take to hear back from the editors and how long until the article is published if it is accepted?

The AAJ editorial staff will work on them in the order they were received. Authors will know when their articles have been submitted to an editor and are then “under review.” Unlike other articles on AAJ, JLF articles, deal with topics that are, so to speak, “timeless” and thus do not have “due dates” or “expiry dates.” The release dates of the JLF articles are set by the editorial staff and may coincide with other thematic or seasonal offerings.

Can I ask for the article to be published sooner?

Generally, JLF articles will be published in the order in which they are received; the editorial staff may, however, consider publishing sooner if there is a compelling rationale to do so.

I like AAJ the way it is—are you turning into an academic journal or something?

Absolutely not. We are simply broadening our scope and opening an avenue for publication to authors who may prefer a more traditional review process.