Critical Studies in Improvisation / Études critiques en improvisation

Focus and Scope

Critical Studies in Improvisation/ Études critiques en improvisation is an open-access, peer-reviewed, electronic, academic journal on improvisation, community, and social practice housed at the University of Guelph. The editorial and advisory boards are made up of leading international scholars spanning diverse disciplines.

While improvisational music has historically been analyzed within specific musical disciplines, what distinguishes the research profiled in CSI/ECI is its emphasis on improvisation as a site for the analysis of social practice. We contend that improvisation demands shared responsibility for participation in community, an ability to negotiate differences, and a willingness to accept the challenges of risk and contingency. Yet improvisation is a contested term. Its cultural significance is in dispute both in the academy and in the broader public understanding. CSI/ECI seeks to reveal the complex structures of improvisational practices and to develop an enriched understanding of the social, political, and cultural functions those practices play.

We are particularly interested in historically and contextually specific articles that interrogate improvisation as a social and musical practice, and that assess how innovative performance practices play a role in developing new, socially responsive forms of community building across national, cultural, and artistic boundaries.

Section Policies

Editorial

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Interviews

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Articles

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Notes and Opinions

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

In Memoriam

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Book/Media Reviews

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Library

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

News and Announcements

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Peer Review Process

1. A paper is submitted by email to CSI/ECI at which point the Managing Editor sends an email to the author acknowledging receipt of the submission.
2. The General Editors then make an initial decision about whether the submission should proceed to the next stage of the editorial process. If the editors decide that this is not the case, an email is sent to author indicating that the submission has been rejected.
3. If the Editors decide that the paper should be submitted for review, the paper is sent electronically, ideally, to one member of the editorial board and one member of the advisory board. In the case that a paper cannot be reviewed by a member of each board, two members of the advisory board will be asked to conduct the review. In certain circumstances, outside consultant readers will be invited to review a paper.
4. Within five weeks the reviewers must forward their comments to the General Editors or Managing Editor who in turn forward the reviewers’ comments to the author.
5. If both the reviewers have advised that the submission be accepted for publication, the submission is edited by one of the Editors and then published. If one reviewer accepts the publication and the other reviewer rejects the publication, the submission is either forwarded to a third reviewer, or left with one of the General Editors, for further consideration.
6. The reviewers may decide that the submission should be revised and resubmitted, at which point the author must revise and then re-submit the paper. The author must attach to his or her resubmitted paper a statement indicating what revisions have been made. The re-submitted paper will then be forwarded to at least one of the two initial reviewers who must decide at this point whether or not the submission should be published.

Publication Frequency

Critical Studies in Improvisation/Études critiques en improvisation will be published electronically twice yearly in December and May. An advance inaugural issue will be published in September 2004 and launched at the 2004 Guelph Jazz Festival Colloquium.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides open access to all of it content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Such access is associated with increased readership and increased citation of an author's work. For more information on this approach, see the Public Knowledge Project, which has designed this system to improve the scholarly and public quality of research, and which freely distributes the journal system as well as other software to support the open access publishing of scholarly resources.