Submission guidelines
Early Music Performance & Research (EMPR) is the bi-annual journal of the National Early Music Association (NEMA UK), established in 1999, and edited by Samuel Teague. The international reach of the journal, combined with the quality of its peer-reviewed Open Access content makes it a valued publication in the field of performance practice and early music research. With contributions by leading performers and scholars, featuring articles, reports, news items, and reviews of recent publications, it appeals to a broad spectrum of early music lovers, students, musicians and academics with interests in performance practice and general early music research.
EMPR (formerly Early Music Performer) builds on its twenty-five-year history of serving the early music community. The move to a digital format (with on-demand printing an option to be explored in the future), allows for the journal to move in a quick and efficient manner—without the need for tedious accounts, portals, and logins—whereby we can complete the process of submission, peer review, and publication within a window of six months. All EMPR content will be Open Access, forever, with no publication charge for the author. The journal already possesses an ISSN, with DOIs and metadata (allowing visibility on institutional search-engines) to commence from 2025.
The journal produces two issues a year, published on the final Friday of May and November, respectively (Spring and Autumn issues). Final submission for each issue will, under usual circumstances, be three months prior to each of these (final Friday of January and August, respectively). The remit of the journal has shifted from exclusively performance-related topics, so relevant topics still include the study of notation and performance, historical recordings, under-performed repertoire, any music-historical or organological topic of special relevance to research on historical performance but may also include any item of research that may be deemed to fall into the category of early music. We welcome inquiries from authors concerning submission topics, materials for review, or for themed issues.
Each issue will be structured with:
- Articles, usually between 4000 and 6500 words in length, sent for blind peer review by an expert
- Reports on recent performances, conferences, etc.
- Reviews of published materials
- News items
Without the immediate constraints of print publication, both longer and shorter submissions are welcome. They may be paired with a supplemental material, such as: a complete piece of music (which has not been published before, or in a reliable edition, or with parts, etc.); audio or video recordings or excerpts. Supplements will be published electronically on the NEMA website. Short supplements in score can be published within the journal itself as well as being made available separately.
Queries, submissions, and suggestions for news/report coverage should be sent directly to the editor at samuel.teague@queens.ox.ac.uk. .
The editorial board is comprised of experts in the fields of academia and performance, with the membership as follows:
- Chair: Professor Peter Holman (Leeds)
- Professor Clive Brown (Leeds)
- Dr Nancy Hadden
- Professor Christian Leitmeir (Magdalen College, Oxford)
- Professor Christopher Page (Sidney Sussex College , Cambridge)
- Professor Richard Rastall (Leeds)
- Professor Owen Rees (Queen's College, Oxford)
- Professor Michael Talbot (Liverpool)
- Dr Bryan White (Leeds)
We are also seeking to appoint new members to the editorial board - please send any suggestions or self-nominations to the editor at samuel.teague@queens.ox.ac.uk.