Bringing a Creative Bent to Music Teacher Education Research

When I decided to become a candidate for editor 6 years ago, one of my tasks was to prepare a statement of interest through which I articulated a vision for the Journal of Music Teacher Education (JMTE) and for music teacher education research more broadly. My primary goals, at that time, included (a) maintaining the highest standards for scholarship quality and ethics; (b) expanding journal circulation and article dissemination, particularly among music teacher educators (MTEs) who may be marginally connected to the Society for Music Teacher Education (SMTE)/National Association for Music Education (NAfME) or other professional associations; and (c) promoting innovative approaches to music teacher education research. I am confident that the quality of scholarship published in the journal has improved over the course of my editorship. This assessment is partially based on more objective publication metrics such as acceptance rates and citation rates as well as the journal’s improved standing among peer music and music education research journals. Currently, for example, the Scopus Cite Score, which measures total citations in relation to the total number of items published over a 4-year period, places the JMTE 18th among 147 music journals; the cite score increased marginally from 2015 (0.33) to 2016 (0.34) and 2017 (0.37), but has improved substantially since (0.65 in 2018, 0.90 in 2019, 1.20 in 2020). The SCImago Journal Rank or SJM metric, which weights citations according to the prestige of journals in which they appear, has the JMTE ranked eighth out of 156 music journals. Beyond objective metrics, however, I base my conclusion about scholarship quality and integrity on a subjective opinion, informed by my work as editor. I know how much effort has been invested by the journal’s editorial committee members in helping authors to improve their manuscripts before making a publication recommendation.