Policy of The Australian Journal of Music Therapy (AJMT)

1. Articles representing diverse viewpoints will be sought so that The Australian Journal of Music Therapy may provide a forum for the dissemination of information to music therapists and other health and education professionals.

2. All articles must have clear relevance to the field of music therapy, extending the professional knowledge base and practice of music therapy.

3. Articles must make an original contribution to the field of music therapy through:
- Research articles
- Original reports of clinical work, such as case studies or group projects
- Original perspectives on material previously published, such as position papers reviewing the literature of specific areas of music therapy practice which include new perspectives or implication
- Reviews of books that have been published within the past three years.

4. Contributors are responsible for obtaining copyright clearance on illustrations, figures or lengthy quotes used in their manuscripts that have been published elsewhere. Once an article has been accepted, the author assigns literary rights on the published article to AMTA Inc., so that the author and the Association are protected from misuse of copyright material. An article will not be published until the author’s signed copyright waiver has been received by the Editor.

5. Style and Format

Articles should be no more than 5,000 words in length (approximately 15 pages double spaced), excluding tables, graphs and references.

As a guidelines only, the lay-out of an article may include:
a. a review of literature or introduction pertinent to the topic of the article

b. Description of the study/project including a justification of theoretical approach, or method used.
Statements regarding ethical clearance of client material must be included.

c. Results or findings of the topic

d. Discussion and conclusion

It is the responsibility of the authors to present material in a clear and unbiased manner, and that statements are adequately supported by fact and/or theory. Authors should prepare manuscripts for Volume 14 (2003) and beyond in accordance with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition. In particular, authors must follow the APA guidelines when preparing the list of references.

 
Requirements for Submission of Manuscripts

1. The cover sheet should contain a) the title of the article, b) author’s name’s and c) current affiliation.

2. The abstract should be presented on a separate page.

3. All identifying information must be excluded from the manuscript. This includes mention of the facility by name, and any identifying material within the manuscript.

4. Articles must be submitted on A4 paper, typed with double spacing and 2.5cm margins on left and right. Please do not justify the right hand margin.

5. Any music examples within the article must be ready for final copy, ie. In dark ink and neatly set out, or notated on appropriate software.

6. Four hard copies of the article should be submitted for blind peer review. Articles will not be accepted by e-mail attachment or facsimile transmission.

7. Copies of the article are sent to three peer reviewers of the Review Panel. Reviewers complete their comments about the article and these are relayed to the author for any changes to be made. The revised manuscript is then sent to the same reviewers, and further revision may be required.

8. Revised manuscripts must be re-submitted to the Editor in hard copy. E-mail attachments or facsimile transmitted material will not be accepted.

9. Once the manuscript is accepted for publication, authors will be requested to send final hard copy together with the article on disk. The preferred format is Word 6.