The Royal Musical Association invites applications for the post of Assistant Editor for both the Journal of the Royal Musical Association and Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle. You are invited to consult the RMA website for more information about the distinctive nature of the two journals, both of which are published by Cambridge University Press.

• The Journal of the Royal Musical Association was established in 1986 (replacing the Association’s Proceedings) and is now one of the major international refereed journals in its field. Its editorial policy is to publish outstanding work in the field of music studies, broadly conceived, including historical and critical musicology, theory and analysis, ethnomusicology, popular music studies, music pedagogy, audiovisual media, and practice-led research. The journal is one of the only musicology journals to publish substantial peer-reviewed review articles, rather than standard reviews. JRMA works to disseminate knowledge across the discipline and communicate specialist perspectives to a broad readership, while maintaining the highest scholarly standards. Two issues are published each year, in spring and autumn.
• The RMA Research Chronicle’s aim is to publish submissions from all areas of music research that make extensive use of primary sources such as recordings, digital-borne files, results of ethnographic work, and/or archival materials. The journal is published online, and the editors will consider submissions of any length (with a recommended length of up to 15,000 words), including short essays, position papers, forums and roundtables, and material in non-written formats such as video and audio. Submissions that make use of extensive apparatus such as indexes, catalogues, inventories and calendars are also welcome and can be in addition to the recommended article length. All articles published in the Research Chronicle undergo rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and refereeing by at least two anonymous referees. The journal’s new Reviews section concentrates particularly on publications that are relevant to its distinctive content. It includes short reviews, longer review articles, and reviews of projects and editions, as well as ‘discursive’ reviews involving 2–3 scholars in conversation (published in both text and audio formats). The Research Chronicle is published annually at the start of the year.

Job Description

The Assistant Editor’s role is to sub-edit all articles, review-articles, reviews and other written content for both journals, following completion of editing. The key responsibilities and duties comprise:

• Copy editing submissions to ensure they conform to the journals’ style guide
• Liaising with authors to raise and resolve queries
• Liaising with the journal’s music setter to arrange processing of music examples and checking set music examples before submission to the publisher
• Liaising with the publisher before, during and after the production process; acting as the main channel of communication between journal and publisher staff
• Checking first proofs and revised proofs
• Liaising with the journal’s proof-reader and collating proof corrections received from the proof-reader and author

Person Specification

The Assistant Editor will be able to demonstrate the following essential knowledge, skills, experience and qualifications:

• Substantial experience of copy-editing academic text, music and illustrative material to a professional standard for a leading academic publisher
• Demonstrable research experience in musicology to postgraduate level
• Broad-ranging knowledge of the discipline of musicology enabling him/her to engage critically with musicological subjects ranging from the ancient to the contemporary, across all genres and in the context of both Western and non-Western musics
• Exceptional command of written and spoken English and of academic writing styles in the English language
• Exceptional attention to detail, accuracy and consistency appropriate for the highest standards of academic writing
• Excellent communication skills and experience in applying such skills in both academic and professional working environments, and with both junior and senior colleagues
• Ability to work to tight deadlines
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team

The following knowledge, skills and experience are desirable for the post:

• Good reading knowledge and understanding of one or more European languages, particularly German, Italian and/or French

The Assistant Editor is offered remuneration at £10 per page. While the number of pages published annually within each journal inevitably varies, the current total annual page count across all issues of both journals is approximately 700–750 pages.

Informal enquiries should be directed to the Chair of the Search Committee, Prof. Catherine Tackley (catherine.tackley@liverpool.ac.uk). Applications should be sent by email to Prof. Tackley and should include a CV, a covering letter outlining the details of the candidate’s relevant experience in relation to the person specification, and the contact details of two referees. The deadline for applications is 28th March 2022.  Interviews will be held online in the week commencing 19^th April 2022.

We particularly encourage applications that reflect the full diversity of music studies and from individuals who self-identify as members of groups that are often under-represented in the RMA and music academia more broadly.