Dear MHTE Faculty and Graduate Students,
The Journal of Schenkerian Studies is published by the Center for Schenkerian Studies and the University of North Texas Press. The 12th volume of the Journal of Schenkerian Studies was released this summer. Following its publication, parties internal and external to the university, including faculty and graduate students in your department, raised concerns regarding this volume, including concerns about the process by which it was conceptualized and produced.
In August I charged a panel with reviewing the process by which the 12th volume of the Journal of Schenkerian Studies was conceptualized and produced. This panel has produced a report that identifies the findings of the review and makes recommendations that promote the standards of academic freedom and responsibility expected of a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, including recommendations concerning the editorial and publication processes.
Specifically, the panel was charged with the following: (1) identify the Journal of Schenkerian Studies standard conception and production criteria and practices; (2) identify the criteria and practices the journal used in past volumes; (3) determine the criteria that were applied and practices used in the production of volume 12; (4) determine whether the criteria and practices for volume 12 were consistent or inconsistent with those for past volumes; and (5) determine whether the standards of best practice in scholarly publication were observed in the conception and production of volume 12.
The panel has produced a report, with findings that there are opportunities to improve the journal’s production processes. I have asked the leadership of the Center for Schenkerian Studies to prepare a plan to implement the identified recommendations related to the editorial structure of the journal, editorial and review processes, and the relationships between the journal editorial team, editorial board, department and UNT Press. This plan will be reviewed and approved by Chair Benjamin Brand and Dean John Richmond.