Music Theory Spectrum, featuring rigorous and critical studies on a wide range of topics in music theory and analysis, is a flagship journal of the Society for Music Theory. Contemporary Music Review is one of the leading publications that focuses on the critical study and discussion of contemporary music from around the globe and diverse methodologies and approaches. In this reflective essay, I present an autoethnographic assessment of the rigor of academic publishing from the perspective of Editor-in-Chief of Music Theory Spectrum and the challenges and fruitions of collaborative projects through the lens of Editor of Contemporary Music Review, the positions I currently hold.
Laura Emmery (2025) studied this question.