Instructions to Contributors

Manuscripts should be sent both elec-
tronically (to cmj@mitpress.mit.edu,
with the text “[CMJ MS]” included in
the subject line) and in hard copy.
Please send the electronic version in
Adobe Portable Document Format
(PDF), if possible, with the author’s
identity removed and figures inserted
into the text. Send one hard copy to:
George Tzanetakis, Associate Editor,
Computer Music Journal, Department
of Computer Science, Faculty of Engi-
neering, University of Victoria, P.O.
Box 3055, STNCSC, Victoria, British
Columbia, V8W 3P6 Canada; and an-
other to: Douglas Keislar, Editor, Com-
puter Music Journal, 2550 9th Street
#207B, Berkeley, California 94710,
USA.

Before submitting a manuscript,
please study the Journal’s guidelines,
manuscript template, style guide,
spelling guide, and checklist, available
at mitpressjournals.org/cmj. (Click
“Submission Guidelines” in the left-
hand column.)

Manuscripts are accepted with the
understanding that the editors may re-
vise them for greater conciseness, clar-
ity, and conformity with the Journal’s
style. Manuscripts are anonymously
refereed, and authors are sent proofs
before publication.

Copyright Policy. Manuscripts are re-
ceived with the understanding that
they represent original material, are
not being considered for publication
elsewhere, and will not be posted to
the Internet nor otherwise publicly
distributed by anyone other than MIT
Press. Authors will be requested to
sign a transfer of copyright to the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
so that authors and publishers may be
protected from misuse of copyrighted
material. If an earlier version has been
or will be published in conference pro-
ceedings, please send it also; extensive
rewording and substantive additions are
required.

Acceptable Formats. Manuscripts
must be submitted both on paper and
as PDF or Microsoft Word files. PDF is
preferred for submissions, but separate
Word files and art files will be required
upon acceptance.

Specifications. Please put your text
into the Journal’s Word template, then
apply the appropriate style to every
paragraph, including headings, code
examples, references, etc. Use of the
template is recommended for submis-
sions, and required upon acceptance.
All material should be double-spaced,

including references and figure cap-
tions. If possible, insert figures into the
document where first discussed; other-
wise, supply figures separately and use
clearly visible figure callouts in the
text, e.g., “(INSERT FIGURE 3 ABOUT
HERE).” Using Adobe Acrobat or a PDF
utility, generate a PDF file from the
Word template; otherwise send the
Word file itself.

Print the manuscript on one side of
letter-bond paper with liberal margins,
and include page numbers. The submit-
ted material should not exceed 25
pages, including references and figures.
To ensure anonymity during the re-
view process, the author’s name, affilia-
tion, and address should appear on a
separate cover page only, and must be
omitted from the electronic file. Ac-
knowledgments and other revealing
material may be added after acceptance.

Editing Guidelines. Computer Music
Journal articles should be presented in a
formal writing style, with a flow of
text that reads as an essay. Employ
parenthetical expressions sparingly,
and write in complete sentences. The
Journal uses neither footnotes nor
lists of bulleted items.

There are, at most, three levels of
headings. Sections are not numbered.
Their titles are printed with initial up-
percase letters on all important words
(not all uppercase).

The running text must contain a
mention of each figure: e.g., “Figure 3
demonstrates this dependency.”

Fonts are used sparingly. Program
code is placed in a fixed-width font.
Italicize the first use of a new term or
item of jargon; do not use italicization
or fonts for emphasis.

References. Cite references in the text
by author’s last name and year of pub-
lication, in parentheses with no
comma. Multiple citations from the
same author are separated by commas,
e.g., “(Keislar 1991, 1996).” Citations
from different authors use semicolons,
e.g., “(Roads 1981; Roads and Pope
1997).”

References should be listed (un-

numbered) alphabetically—chronologi-
cally for a particular author—at the
end of the article. List cited references
only, not a general bibliography. The
Journal uses the Chicago Manual of
Style format, with periods separating
most items, e.g.,

(for a journal article)
Makan, K. 1985. “Formatting Refer-

ences.” Computer Music Journal
13(3):51–55.

(for a proceedings paper)
Leider, C., and B. Terry. 1996. “All
About References.” Proceedings of the
1996 International Computer Music
Conference. San Francisco, California:
International Computer Music Associa-
tion, pp. 51–54.
(for a book)
Harley, J., and G. Tzanetakis. 2004.
Book References. New York: John Wi-
ley and Sons.

See a recent issue of the Journal for

more examples.

Algorithms. The Journal publishes
algorithms but not program listings.
Algorithms should be described in a
well-known programming language
and should be thoroughly commented
(i.e., more English than program).
Lengthy examples are usually pre-
sented as figures.

Art. Please submit all artwork (except
photos) in a machine-readable form.
We require encapsulated PostScript
(EPS, not plain PostScript) for line art
(such as graphs), and uncompressed
TIFF (266 dpi minimum) for bitmaps
(such as screen pictures). Avoid con-
verting bitmaps to EPS, or line art to
TIFF. To ensure legibility of line art,
line settings should be no thinner
than 0.5 points. The first word of each
label in the artwork should start with
an uppercase letter. Because artwork is
published in grayscale, diagrams reliant
on color must be avoided.

For the initial submission, figures
placed in-line in the PDF or Word docu-
ment are preferred. Upon acceptance,
each figure must be supplied in a sepa-
rate file, without the figure caption or
figure number. Each subfigure must be
in its own file, without the subfigure
letter, e.g., “(a)” or “(b).” Include a
README file describing the art files,
their captions, and the programs that
generated them.

Sound Examples. Sound examples that
supplement the manuscript are en-
couraged. Sounds should be submitted
on CD, video examples on DVD. Send
three discs to George Tzanetakis and
one to Douglas Keislar (addresses
above). Please include short program
notes.

Style. For all other questions of style,
please refer The Chicago Manual of
Style, 15th edition, published by the
University of Chicago Press (2003),
and to the style guide on the Journal’s
Web site.

108

Computer Music Journal

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