The Savart Journal is an open access online journal featuring peer reviewed research articles on all aspects of the science and technology of stringed musical instruments. Topics include instrument acoustics, psychoacoustics, preference testing, general physics of stringed musical instruments, geometry and proportion of instruments, manufacturing technology, etc. Research on materials, including finishing materials and adhesives is also appropriate for the journal. These are just a few examples of topics appropriate for the journal. All topics in science and technology as applied to bowed and/or plucked stringed musical instruments are suitable for inclusion. If you have questions about the appropriateness of a topic, please contact the editor.
The journal does not charge page fees or any other fees for publication.
There are a number of reasons we are able to publish this journal using a small volunteer staff. One of the most important is that submissions should be publication ready as far as their formating goes. Keeping the amount of copy editing needed for publication of articles to a minimum is critical to the success of the journal. For this reason we request that you download and make use of one of our templates when preparing your paper for submission. These templates are available below.
Note that we need the document source file for editing purposes, but articles are published to the journal site in PDF format only.
Please be aware that we use a san serif font (arial) for paragraph text because papers are viewed online by default.
Please note that authors are encouraged to include with submission any supplementary files that would enhance readers' engagement with their work. Sound clips and other audio files, video and other multimedia files, calculation spreadsheets and large format images of detailed graphs and photos are just some of the supplementary files that are appropriate.
We provide the following templates for papers. The templates contain important additional information for authors.
Authors submitting work to the journal's Research Notes section can do so without using the templates if the content consists of only title and text. Research notes containing sections, photos, figures, or citations should make use of the templates and follow their instructions for use with a research note.
Savart Journal articles are peer-reviewed and archival. Authors should consider the following points:
1) Papers submitted for publication must advance the state of knowledge and must cite relevant prior work;
2) The length of a submitted paper should be commensurate with the importance, or appropriate to the complexity, of the work. For example, an obvious extension of previously published work might be adequately treated in just a few pages, while one making exceptional claims must provide exceptional documentation;
3) Authors must convince both peer reviewers and the editors of the scientific and technical merit of a paper. Note that the standards of evidence are higher when extraordinary or unexpected results are reported;
4) Because replication is required for scientific progress, papers submitted for publication must provide sufficient information to allow readers to perform similar experiments or calculations and use the reported results. Although not everything need be disclosed, a paper must contain new, useable, and fully described information. Authors should expect to be challenged by reviewers if the results are not supported by adequate data and critical details;
5) The science and technology of stringed musical instruments is not an area where a high level of research funding is the norm. As a result, much research in this field will be preliminary in nature. The editors and reviewers understand this and the journal accepts preliminary research such as pilot studies and studies with less than significant sample populations. The journal also accepts reasonably supported hypotheses, replication studies and studies with negative outcomes, i.e. where study results do not support the hypothesis of the study. However, authors of preliminary research and other research mentioned in this section must be sure that the limitations of their work are clearly stated in their papers.
