Jazz and Culture

Editors

Editor-In-Chief
Dr. Michael Heller
University of Pittsburgh

Poetry Editor
Steffan Triplett, MFA
University of Pittsburgh

Editorial Board

• Dr. Dwight Andrews, Emory University
• Mr. Herb Boyd, Author/Journalist, City College of New York
• Dr. Kent Engelhardt, Youngstown State University
• Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin, Columbia University
• Dr. Vijay Iyer, Harvard University
• Dr. Travis A. Jackson, University of Chicago
• Dr. Robin D.G. Kelley, UCLA
• Dr. George E. Lewis, Columbia University
• Dr. Portia K. Maultsby, Indiana University
• Dr. Ingrid Monson, Harvard University
• Mr. Lester Monts, University of Michigan
• Mr. Dave Pistolesi, University of Pittsburgh (retired)
• Dr. Guthrie Ramsey, University of Pennsylvania
• Mr. Ed Sarath, University of Michigan

University of Pittsburgh Jazz Studies Department

Core Faculty
Nicole Mitchell Grant (Director)
Michael Heller
Aaron Johnson

Staff
Frank Hammond Jr.

Contact information
Jazz Studies 
University of Pittsburgh
130A Music Building
4337 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
412-624-4187
pittjazz@pitt.edu

 Website Links

 https://www.music.pitt.edu/subdisciplines/jazz-studies

 http://www.music.pitt.edu

PDF Policy

PDFs are permitted and issued for the following:

• Tenure dossier.
• Special workshops the author is moderating.
• Other requests to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
• All PDFs will include a statement of copyright and a provision that the articles will not be photocopied, distributed, or used for purposes other than the terms agreed to by UIP.

Preprints are permitted for:

• University repositories; UIP requires a publication statement to be posted along with the preprint.
• Some journals have their own established policies and procedures for preprints. Please be sure to first check their respective Web sites before sending your request.

Postprints are permitted for:

• Non-profit archives and repositories; Articles must be at least one year old. UIP requires a publication statement to be posted along with the postprint and a link back to the journal of publication's home page on the UIP website.
• Personal and commercial Web sites; Articles must be at least three years old. UIP requires a publication statement to be posted along with the postprint and a link back to the journal of publication's home page on the UIP website.

Please contact the Intellectual Property Manager for more information.

Please send all requests to:

Angela Burton
Intellectual Property Manager
UIP-RIGHTS@uillinois.edu

Submissions

Article submissions may be made by sending your article via email to pittjazz@pitt.edu. Please include the subject line: "Jazz and Culture: Article Submission."

All submissions should include the following as separate files:
- Article manuscript, with no identifying information regarding the author. 
- Separate information sheet including (1) Author’s name, contact information, and mailing address (2) Article Title and 250 word abstract (3) Author bio of 100 words or less, beginning with institutional affiliation.

Any questions may also be emailed to pittjazz@pitt.edu.

Style Sheet

In general, Jazz and Culture will follow the Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition, for all style decisions. Citations will be formatted as endnotes using the Notes-Bibliography style, given in the manual. A few exceptions to this are outlined below.

Manuscript Preparation:

Manuscripts should be submitted as Microsoft Word files, double spaced in 12 point font.

Please submit initial manuscripts anonymously, removing any identifying data from the text. If any section of the text would identify the author (i.e. “In my previous work on xxx, I stated”), please replace those sections with a note reading [MATERIAL REMOVED TO PRESERVE ANONYMITY].

Images should NOT be embedded within the primary text file, but provided as separate jpg or tiff files (see details below). A second Word file should be provided providing the caption for each image.

In addition to the primary manuscript, the author should also provide an information sheet providing:

Author’s name, contact information, and mailing address

Article Title and 250 word abstract

Author bio of 100 words or less, beginning with institutional affiliation.

To summarize, a full submission will consist of:

Article manuscript (anonymous) in Microsoft Word format.

Author Information Sheet

Separate files for all images (if applicable)

Caption list (Word format, must include all images)

Figures, Illustrations, Musical Examples:

All illustrative material should be submitted as separate files and NOT embedded into the text of the Word document. The text should then include a bracketed callout indicating where the image should be placed ([INSERT IMAGE 1 HERE]). Files should be clearly named and numbered using the following format: (AuthorLastName.Figure1.jpg).

Image files should be submitted in jpg or tiff format with a minimum resolution of 300dpi. Musical examples should be submitted in 1200 dpi.

Recorded Music and Multimedia Recordings:

Authors hoping to include audio or other multimedia examples have two options.

First, if the author is the rights holder, has received permission, or wishes to include examples protected under fair use, examples may be hosted on the journal web page, hosted at the U. of Illinois Press site. Hyperlinks to these examples can then be embedded in the text of the article. Please contact the editor as early as possible in the production process if you seek to pursue this route.

A second option is to provide links to material already online. We ask, however, that these not be third party links on YouTube or other similar sharing sites, which are often removed or changed. Links to the author’s webpage, institutional web sites, or more robust streaming platforms are preferable.

Bibliography and Discography:

Each article should conclude with a bibliography and discography (where necessary) listing all cited sources. Bibliography entries should follow the format given in the Chicago Manual of Style.

Discography entries diverge slightly from Chicago Style, and should follow the following format:

Reference List Format:

Ayler, Albert. Spiritual Unity. Recorded July 10, 1964. ESP-Disk 1002, LP (1965).

Ellington, Duke. “Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue” on Ellington at Newport (Complete). Recorded July 7-8, 1956. Columbia C2K 64932, 2 CDs (1999).

Mitchell, Nicole. “Egoes War” on Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds. Recorded May 2, 2015. FPE Records 12, CD/LP (2017). Accessed via Spotify.com, June 12, 2017.

Footnote Format:

Albert Ayler, Spiritual Unity, recorded July 10, 1964, ESP-Disk 1002 (1965), LP.

Duke Ellington, “Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue” on Ellington at Newport (Complete), recorded July 7-8, 1956, Columbia C2K 64932 (1999), 2 CDs.

Nicole Mitchell, “Egoes War” on Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds, recorded May 2, 2015, FPE Records 12 (2017), CD/LP, accessed via Spotify.com, June 12, 2017.

Note that wherever possible, entries should include both the recording date and the date of the release being used by the author. Record company catalog numbers should be included where possible and material accessed online can also be noted as such, including an access date (similar to other web sources).

Capitalization and Usage:

In general, do not capitalize genres or styles (bebop, dixieland, avant garde, etc.)

Following the Chicago Manual of Style, capitalize designations based on proper names such as African American (no hyphen), European American. The journal leaves it to each author's discretion whether to capitalize "Black." In most cases, authors should refer to social or cultural groups by that group’s chosen designation at the time of writing.

Musical Terms for Notes and Keys:

Letters used to indicate musical tones are usually capitalized and set in roman type, with designations for sharps or flats hyphenated and written out (do not use # or b symbols). Write out designations for major or minor mode in lowercase letters, roman type:
middle C
F-sharp minor
the A string
the D-major chord
the key of G major

An exception to this rule is when identifying chords, for which authors can feel free to use standard jazz chordal nomenclature (e.g. C#7b9#11, Bbsus4, Galt, etc.).

Abbreviations:

Spell out most terms in text. Use abbreviations such as e.g. and i.e. only in parenthetical references.

The following abbreviations are acceptable:

A&R — artists and repertory
R&B — rhythm and blues
bpm — beats per minute
CD — compact disc
LP — long-playing record
ed. — editor or edition
eds. — editors
rev. ed. — revised edition
ex. — example
exs. — examples
fig. — figure
figs. — figures
m. — measure
mm. — measures
n.d. — no date
n.p. — no place
no. — number
nos. — numbers
vol. — volume

General Notes:

Acknowledgment notes should appear in the notes section as unnumbered notes before the first numbered ones.

Journal articles are to be referred to as articles or essays, not papers.

Avoid sexist language.

Always use American spellings.

Dates should be given in the format April 12, 2016. For decades, use 1920s, not 1920’s.

For numerals, write out any numbers less than 100, round numbers, or numbers that begin a sentence.

Peer Review Policy

This journal conducts two external double-blind peer reviews for each article manuscript.

Reviews undergo internal peer review by both the journal editor and reviews editors. Interview transcriptions that appear in the journal's Oral History meeting are primarily reviewed internally by the oral history editor but the material is sometimes sent to a single external reader to gauge it for appropriateness in the journal. These interviews are not double blind, since the identity of the subject is inherent to the content. Poetry published in the journal is curated by the editor and therefore not sent out for review.

Special Issue Editorial Policy

Proposals for special issues may be submitted at anytime by email to the journal's editorial assistant (pittjazz@pitt.edu). Typically, special issues curated by guest editors are released as each fall issue of the journal. A special issue proposal should be sent at least one year in advance of the expected publication date, and should consist of a 500 word abstract explaining the theme, along with possible topics for research articles, 3-5 potential authors to invite, and/or oral histories to solicit. If accepted, the guest editors will work with the editor-in-chief in the curation of the issue, including the peer-review process. For research articles solicited for special issues, guest editors may serve as one peer reviewer, but at least one additional double-blind peer review must also be completed. Other sections of special issues (oral histories, roundtables, reviews, colloquy, etc.) may be arranged at the discretion of the guest editors, in consultation with the editor-in-chief. 

View our Publications Ethics and Malpractice Statement

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