Guide for Authors

Opera News: Journal of Music and Performing Arts is a monthly, diamond open-access, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to advancing scholarship, creativity, and critical dialogue in music and the performing arts.

The journal publishes original research articles, review articles, scholarly essays, practice-based research, case studies, performance and production reviews, interviews, and interdisciplinary studies in areas including opera, musicology, theatre, dance, performance studies, vocal and instrumental performance, stage production, music education, composition, cultural studies, and related creative practices.

The journal:

• Publishes 12 issues per year; 
• Uses a single-blind peer-review process; 
• Charges no submission, processing, or publication fees; 
• Makes all published articles freely and immediately accessible; and 
• Publishes articles under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0). 

The journal welcomes the following types of submissions:

The recommended word limits exclude the abstract, keywords, notes, acknowledgments, declarations, figure captions, tables, appendices, and Works Cited section. Longer manuscripts may be considered when their length is justified by the subject, methodology, documentation, or scholarly contribution.

By submitting a manuscript, the authors confirm that:

1. The work is original and has not previously been published in substantially the same form. 
2. The manuscript is not under consideration by another journal, publisher, or platform. 
3. All listed authors have approved the manuscript and consented to its submission. 
4. All individuals who made substantial scholarly or creative contributions have been appropriately credited. 
5. The manuscript does not contain fabricated, falsified, plagiarized, unlawfully reproduced, or improperly attributed material. 
6. All necessary permissions have been obtained for copyrighted music, scores, lyrics, scripts, photographs, recordings, artworks, production images, and other third-party material. 
7. Any related manuscripts, preprints, conference papers, theses, reports, or previous versions have been disclosed to the editorial office. 
8. All relevant funding sources and competing interests have been declared. 
9. Research involving human participants, interviews, performers, students, audiences, or identifiable personal information has received the necessary ethical approval and informed consent. 

Submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time is not permitted.

Preprints and Previous Versions

Authors may disclose a preprint, conference paper, thesis chapter, institutional report, or other earlier version in the cover letter. A manuscript developed from previously presented or publicly available material must contain substantial new analysis, interpretation, evidence, or scholarly contribution.

The authors must clearly identify the earlier version and explain how the submitted manuscript differs from it.

Manuscripts should be written in clear academic English. Authors may use either British or American English, but spelling and punctuation must remain consistent throughout the manuscript.

Authors should:

• Use clear, respectful, and inclusive language; 
• Avoid discriminatory, derogatory, or unnecessarily stereotypical descriptions; 
• Define specialist terminology and uncommon abbreviations at first use; 
• Provide English translations of non-English titles or quotations when necessary; 
• Identify the translator of translated quotations; 
• Preserve the original language where it is essential to the analysis; and 
• Explain discipline-specific performance, musical, theatrical, or choreographic terminology. 

Authors whose first language is not English are encouraged to have their manuscript reviewed for language and clarity before submission. The use of a professional editing service is optional and does not influence the editorial decision.

File Format

The main manuscript should preferably be submitted as a Microsoft Word file in .docx format. A PDF copy may also be supplied when necessary to preserve musical notation, specialist symbols, scripts, tables, or visual arrangement.

Authors intending to submit a LaTeX manuscript should contact the editorial office before submission.

General Layout

Manuscripts should use:

• A clear, readable 12-point font; 
• Double line spacing; 
• Margins of approximately 2.5 cm or 1 inch; 
• Consecutively numbered pages; 
• Continuous line numbering where possible; 
• Left-aligned text; 
• Clearly identified headings and subheadings; and 
• Italics rather than underlining, except in URLs. 

Do not use unnecessary manual formatting, decorative fonts, coloured headings, or complex page layouts. Final design and typesetting will be completed by the journal.

Recommended Manuscript Order

The manuscript should normally be arranged as follows:

1. Article title 
2. Author names and affiliations 
3. Corresponding-author information 
4. Abstract  
5. Keywords  
6. Main text 
7. Acknowledgments  
8. Author Contributions 
9. Funding  
10. Ethics Approval, where applicable 
11. Informed Consent, where applicable 
12. Data Availability Statement 
13. Conflicts of Interest 
14. Artificial Intelligence Use Statement, where applicable 
15. Notes 
16. Works Cited 
17. Appendices  
18. Figure, table, and musical-example captions 

Because the journal uses single-blind peer review, authors are not normally required to remove their names or identifying information from the manuscript.

The title page should contain:

• The complete manuscript title; 
• A short running title, where appropriate; 
• The full name of each author; 
• Each author’s department, institution, city, and country; 
• The email address of each author; 
• The ORCID identifier of each author, where available; 
• The name and email address of the corresponding author; and 
• Any relevant note concerning shared or equal authorship. 

The title should be concise, informative, and accurately reflect the main subject of the manuscript.

Research articles, review articles, scholarly essays, interdisciplinary studies, practice-based studies, and case studies should include an abstract of approximately 150–250 words.

The abstract should clearly state, where relevant:

• The context or research problem; 
• The objective or research question; 
• The approach, methodology, or artistic process; 
• The principal findings or arguments; and 
• The significance of the contribution. 

The abstract should be understandable without reference to the main text. It should not normally contain citations, unexplained abbreviations, footnotes, tables, or figures.

Authors should provide four to seven keywords that are specific, searchable, and not merely repetitions of words already used in the title.

The structure of the manuscript may vary according to the discipline and article type.

Empirical Research

Empirical or data-based studies should normally include:

• Introduction;  
• Literature Review or Theoretical Framework; 
• Materials and Methods; 
• Results or Findings; 
• Discussion;  
• Limitations; and 
• Conclusion.  

Humanities and Theoretical Research

Historical, theoretical, interpretive, archival, and critical studies may use a flexible structure appropriate to their argument. The manuscript should nevertheless present:

• A clearly defined research problem or central argument; 
• Appropriate engagement with relevant scholarship; 
• A transparent analytical or interpretive approach; 
• Coherent development of the argument; and 
• A conclusion explaining the study’s contribution. 

Practice-Based and Artistic Research

Practice-based submissions should clearly identify:

• The research question or creative problem; 
• The artistic and scholarly context; 
• The creative or performance methodology; 
• The process of development, rehearsal, production, or experimentation; 
• The documentation used; 
• The relationship between practice and critical reflection; and 
• The original contribution to knowledge or artistic practice. 

Reviews and Interviews

Performance, production, book, recording, and media reviews should provide more than description. They should offer informed critical analysis, contextualization, and evaluation.

Interviews should include an introductory note explaining the interviewee’s significance, the context and date of the interview, the method of recording or transcription, and confirmation that the interviewee approved publication where required.

Use a clear and consistent hierarchy of headings. No more than three heading levels should normally be used.

Headings should be concise and descriptive. Avoid numbering headings unless numbering is necessary for a technically structured manuscript.

Do not create a heading immediately followed by another heading without introductory text.

Short quotations should be placed within quotation marks and incorporated into the main text.

Prose quotations longer than four typed lines and verse quotations longer than three lines should normally be presented as indented block quotations without quotation marks.

Any omission, addition, emphasis, or translation introduced by the author must be clearly indicated.

Footnotes or endnotes may be used for brief explanatory or supplementary comments. They should not be used merely to avoid providing necessary information in the main text. Bibliographic citations should normally appear in the text according to MLA style rather than only in notes.

Notes must be numbered consecutively.

The journal uses MLA reference style. Authors should follow the current edition of the MLA Handbook consistently throughout the manuscript.

In-Text Citations

MLA uses parenthetical author–page citations.

Examples:

• One author: (Ahmed 42) 
• Two authors: (Ahmed and Brown 42) 
• Three or more authors: (Ahmed et al. 42) 
• Author named in the sentence: Ahmed argues that performance is shaped by cultural memory (42). 
• Source without page numbers: (Ahmed) 
• Two sources in one citation: (Ahmed 42; Brown 19) 
• Two works by the same author: (Ahmed, Opera and Memory 42) 

The citation should direct the reader unambiguously to the corresponding entry in the Works Cited section.

For dramatic works, musical works, archival sources, performances, recordings, and audiovisual materials, authors should use the most precise locator available, such as:

• Act, scene, and line numbers; 
• Measure or bar numbers; 
• Rehearsal numbers; 
• Track numbers; 
• Time stamps; 
• Catalogue identifiers; 
• Archival folder or document numbers; or 
• Page, folio, or manuscript numbers. 

Works Cited

The reference list must be titled Works Cited.

Entries should:

• Be arranged alphabetically by the first author’s surname; 
• Include only works actually cited in the manuscript; 
• Give complete and accurate bibliographic information; 
• Include DOI information where available; 
• Use a hanging indent; and 
• Follow MLA capitalization and punctuation consistently. 

Authors are responsible for verifying every citation, page number, title, author name, date, DOI, and URL before submission.

MLA Reference Examples

Book

Surname, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Book with Two Authors

Surname, First Name, and First Name Surname. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Chapter in an Edited Book

Surname, First Name. “Title of Chapter.” Title of Book, edited by First Name Surname, Publisher, Year, pp. 00–00.

Journal Article

Surname, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, vol. 00, no. 0, Year, pp. 00–00. DOI.

Online Journal Article

Surname, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, vol. 00, no. 0, Year, pp. 00–00. DOI or stable URL.

Website

Surname, First Name. “Title of Webpage.” Name of Website, Publisher or Sponsoring Organization, Day Month Year, URL. Accessed Day Month Year.

Edited Collection

Surname, First Name, editor. Title of Collection. Publisher, Year.

Thesis or Dissertation

Surname, First Name. Title of Thesis or Dissertation. Year. Name of Institution, degree type.

Musical Score

Composer Surname, First Name. Title of Work. Edited by First Name Surname, Publisher, Year.

Sound Recording

Performer or Composer Surname, First Name. “Title of Track.” Title of Album, Label, Year. Platform or Format.

Film or Recorded Performance

Title. Directed by First Name Surname, performances by First Name Surname and First Name Surname, Distributor or Platform, Year.

Live Performance

Title of Performance. By First Name Surname, directed or conducted by First Name Surname, performance by First Name Surname, Venue, City, Day Month Year.

Interview Conducted by the Author

Surname, First Name. Personal interview. Day Month Year.

Archival Material

Creator Surname, First Name. “Title or Description of Item.” Date. Collection Name, box number, folder number, Archive or Library, City.

The journal may return manuscripts with substantially incomplete or inconsistent references before peer review.

Musical examples, figures, photographs, diagrams, illustrations, and tables must be directly relevant to the manuscript and discussed in the text.

Numbering

Number each category separately and consecutively:

• Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3; 
• Table 1, Table 2, Table 3; and 
• Musical Example 1, Musical Example 2, Musical Example 3. 

Refer to each item in the text before or near its first appearance.

Captions

Each item must have a concise and informative caption. Captions should identify:

• The work, production, performance, or subject represented; 
• The composer, creator, director, choreographer, photographer, or performer, where relevant; 
• The date and venue, where relevant; 
• The source of the material; 
• Copyright or permission information; and 
• Any modifications made by the author. 

Technical Quality

Photographs and other continuous-tone images should normally have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi at the intended publication size. Line drawings, notation, and diagrams should preferably have a resolution of 600 dpi or higher.

Preferred formats include:

• TIFF; 
• JPEG; 
• PNG; 
• EPS; and 
• High-quality PDF. 

Tables must be editable and should not be submitted only as images. Each table should have a title and any necessary explanatory notes.

Colour material may be submitted without a publication charge.

Accessibility

Authors should provide brief alternative text for figures and important visual material. Audio and video files should, wh

The journal may consider audio recordings, video recordings, performance documentation, datasets, interview transcripts, appendices, musical examples, production materials, and other supplementary files.

Supplementary material should:

• Be directly relevant to the article; 
• Be clearly identified and cited in the manuscript; 
• Use stable and commonly accessible file formats; 
• Include an explanatory title or description; 
• Comply with copyright, privacy, and consent requirements; and 
• Avoid unnecessary duplication of information already contained in the article. 

Large files may be submitted through a secure file-transfer or repository link included in the submission email. The link must remain accessible throughout editorial review and production.

Acceptance of a manuscript does not automatically guarantee publication of every supplementary file. The editors may request conversion, reduction, revision, or removal of material that is technically unsuitable or legally restricted.

Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission to reproduce any material that they do not own or that is not clearly available under a compatible licence.

Permission may be required for:

• Musical scores and notation; 
• Song lyrics and libretti; 
• Scripts and dramatic texts; 
• Production photographs; 
• Stage, costume, lighting, and set designs; 
• Recorded performances; 
• Audio and video clips; 
• Archival documents; 
• Artwork and illustrations; 
• Screenshots;  
• Interview transcripts; 
• Images of identifiable persons; and 
• Substantial extracts from copyrighted works. 

Permissions must cover online open-access publication and, where applicable, distribution under the journal’s CC BY 4.0 licence.

When third-party material is not covered by the article’s open-access licence, this restriction must be stated clearly in the caption or credit line.

The journal may remove any material for which adequate permission has not been provided.

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial contributions to the conception, design, execution, interpretation, writing, or critical revision of the work.

Every author must:

• Approve the submitted version; 
• Approve the final version for publication; 
• Accept responsibility for their contribution; 
• Cooperate in addressing questions about the integrity of the work; and 
• Disclose relevant competing interests. 

Individuals who contributed to the project but do not qualify for authorship should be acknowledged with their permission.

The corresponding author is responsible for communication with the journal and for confirming that all authors have approved the submission.

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must be explained in writing and approved by all affected authors. Authorship changes after acceptance will be permitted only in exceptional circumstances.

Research involving people must comply with applicable institutional, national, and disciplinary ethical standards.

This requirement may apply to research involving:

• Performers;  
• Directors and production teams; 
• Students;  
• Teachers;  
• Interview participants; 
• Audiences;  
• Community groups; 
• Survey respondents; 
• Workshop participants; 
• Patients or vulnerable individuals; 
• Identifiable images or recordings; and 
• Personal or sensitive information. 

Where ethical approval was required, the manuscript must state:

• The name of the approving institution or committee; 
• The approval or reference number, where available; and 
• The date or relevant approval details. 

Authors must obtain informed consent for participation and, where applicable, separate consent for publication of identifiable information, photographs, audio recordings, or video recordings.

When ethics approval was not required, authors should provide an appropriate explanation, such as:

Ethics Approval: Ethics approval was not required because this study did not involve human participants, identifiable personal data, or animals.

For research involving Indigenous, traditional, community, sacred, or culturally restricted materials, authors must respect relevant community protocols, ownership interests, access restrictions, and expectations concerning attribution and consent.

Authors should include the following declarations before the Works Cited section.

Acknowledgments

Recognize individuals, institutions, archives, companies, ensembles, theatres, venues, or organizations that supported the work but do not qualify for authorship.

Author Contributions

A brief statement should explain each author’s contribution.

Example:

Author Contributions: N.A. developed the study concept, conducted the analysis, and prepared the original manuscript. S.K. contributed to the methodology, interpretation, and critical revision. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.

A recognized contributor-role taxonomy may also be used.

Funding

All financial support must be identified, including the funder’s name and grant number.

Example where funding was received:

Funding: This research was supported by [name of funding organization] under Grant No. [number].

Example where no funding was received:

Funding: This research received no external funding.

Data Availability

Authors should explain whether and how the material supporting the study can be accessed.

Examples:

Data Availability: The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Data Availability: The data generated during this study are available in the [repository name] at [persistent identifier].

For an article that did not create or analyse research data:

Data Availability: No new data were created or analysed in this study.

Restrictions caused by privacy, consent, contractual obligations, cultural sensitivity, or copyright must be explained.

Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose financial, professional, personal, institutional, or other relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the work.

Example:

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethics Approval

Provide the relevant ethics information or explain why formal approval was not required.

Informed Consent

Example:

Informed Consent: Informed consent was obtained from all participants involved in the study.

For identifiable material:

Consent for Publication: Written consent for publication was obtained from the identifiable participants represented in this article.

Artificial intelligence systems and automated writing tools cannot be listed as authors because they cannot accept responsibility for the content, approve the final manuscript, disclose conflicts of interest, or enter into publishing agreements.

Authors remain fully responsible for:

• The originality and accuracy of the manuscript; 
• The validity of citations and references; 
• The integrity of data, images, and recordings; 
• The absence of fabricated content; 
• Compliance with copyright and confidentiality requirements; and 
• The final language and interpretation of the work. 

Substantive use of generative artificial intelligence in writing, translation, data analysis, image production, coding, transcription, or research design must be disclosed transparently.

A disclosure may be written as follows:

Artificial Intelligence Use Statement: During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used [tool and version] for [specific purpose]. The authors reviewed and verified all resulting content and accept full responsibility for the final manuscript.

Routine spelling, grammar, and reference-management tools generally do not require disclosure unless they materially generated or altered scholarly content.

Authors must not use artificial intelligence to fabricate quotations, references, evidence, data, performances, images, or research findings. Confidential manuscripts, personal data, unpublished recordings, and restricted materials must not be uploaded to external artificial-intelligence systems without appropriate authorization.

Manuscripts must be submitted by email to:

submission@operanews.org

The subject line should follow this format:

Manuscript Submission – [Article Type] – [Short Article Title]

Example:

Manuscript Submission – Original Research Article – Contemporary Opera and Digital Performance

Submission Email

The submission email should include:

• The full manuscript title; 
• The selected manuscript type; 
• The names of all authors; 
• The name and contact information of the corresponding author; 
• A brief explanation of the manuscript’s relevance to the journal; 
• Confirmation that the manuscript is original and not under consideration elsewhere; 
• Confirmation that all authors approved the submission; 
• Disclosure of related manuscripts, preprints, or conference versions; 
• A statement concerning competing interests; 
• A list of attached files; and 
• Details of any supplementary audio, video, or large files. 

Required Files

Authors should normally attach:

1. A cover letter; 
2. The complete manuscript in .docx format; 
3. A PDF version when layout, notation, or specialist symbols require it; 
4. Figures and musical examples as separate high-resolution files; 
5. Editable tables, where submitted separately; 
6. Supplementary audio or video files, or an accessible secure link; 
7. Copyright-permission documents; 
8. Ethics or consent documentation when requested; and 
9. Any relevant reporting checklist or supporting material. 

Suggested file names include:

• CorrespondingAuthor_ShortTitle_Manuscript.docx  
• CorrespondingAuthor_ShortTitle_CoverLetter.docx  
• Figure_1.tif  
• Musical_Example_1.pdf  
• Supplementary_Audio_1.mp3  

Authors may suggest qualified reviewers in the cover letter. Suggested reviewers should have relevant expertise and should not have a close personal, professional, institutional, supervisory, or recent collaborative relationship with any author. The editors are not required to use suggested reviewers.

The cover letter should:

• State the manuscript title and article type; 
• Summarize the manuscript’s original contribution; 
• Explain its relevance to the journal’s scope; 
• Confirm that the work is original and not under consideration elsewhere; 
• Confirm that all authors approved the submission; 
• Identify any related or overlapping publication; 
• Disclose preprints, conference versions, or thesis origins; 
• Disclose competing interests; 
• Identify any special media, permission, or ethical considerations; and 
• Provide the corresponding author’s complete contact information. 

The cover letter should not contain promotional claims that cannot be supported by the manuscript.

Each submission undergoes an initial editorial assessment. The editors consider:

• Relevance to the journal’s aims and scope; 
• Originality and scholarly contribution; 
• Academic and artistic quality; 
• Methodological or interpretive soundness; 
• Ethical compliance; 
• Clarity and organization; 
• Reference quality and accuracy; 
• Compliance with submission requirements; 
• Copyright and permission issues; and 
• Evidence of plagiarism, duplicate publication, or inappropriate text reuse. 

The initial editorial screening normally has a target duration of 2–5 days.

A manuscript may be:

• Sent for external peer review; 
• Returned for technical or formatting corrections; 
• Referred to another editor; 
• Declined without external review; or 

Held while ethical, authorship, copyright, or originality concerns are investigated.

The journal uses single-blind peer review. Reviewers know the identities of the authors, but the identities of reviewers are not disclosed to the authors.

Research articles are normally evaluated by at least two qualified independent reviewers. Reviewers assess the manuscript’s:

• Originality;  
• Scholarly or creative significance; 
• Engagement with relevant literature and practice; 
• Methodological, analytical, or interpretive quality; 
• Accuracy and evidential support; 
• Ethical compliance; 
• Organization and clarity; 
• Appropriateness of figures, tables, scores, and media; and 
• Contribution to music and the performing arts. 

Possible decisions include:

• Accept;  
• Minor revision; 
• Major revision; 
• Resubmit for further review; or 
• Reject.  

The journal aims to provide a first decision within approximately 15–25 days of submission. These are target timelines rather than guaranteed deadlines. Complex submissions, specialist topics, reviewer availability, extensive revisions, ethical concerns, or technical issues may require additional time.

Invited editorials, introductions, interviews, and some review content may undergo editorial review rather than full external peer review.

When revision is requested, authors should submit:

1. A revised clean manuscript; 
2. A version showing tracked or highlighted changes; 
3. A detailed, point-by-point response to every editorial and reviewer comment; and 
4. Any revised figures, tables, musical examples, permissions, or supplementary files. 

The response document should reproduce each comment and explain exactly how it was addressed. When an author does not adopt a requested change, the response should provide a respectful and evidence-based explanation.

Minor revisions are normally expected within approximately 7–14 days. Major revisions may be allowed approximately 14–21 days or another period specified in the decision letter.

A request for revision does not guarantee acceptance.

After acceptance, the manuscript proceeds through:

• Copyediting;  
• Reference checking; 
• Formatting;  
• Typesetting;  
• Figure and media preparation; 
• Author proofreading; and 
• Final publication. 

The corresponding author will receive page proofs for review. Proofs should be checked carefully and returned within the period specified by the production editor.

At the proof stage, authors should correct only:

• Typographical errors; 
• Typesetting errors; 
• Minor factual inaccuracies; 
• Incorrect author details; 
• Broken references; and 
• Production-related problems. 

Substantial rewriting, new analysis, extensive new references, authorship changes, or major alterations are not normally permitted after acceptance.

The journal aims to publish accepted articles within approximately one to three weeks after final acceptance and completion of production requirements. Publication timing may depend on author responses, permissions, media preparation, and the monthly issue schedule.

Authors retain copyright in their published work.

Upon acceptance, authors grant Opera News: Journal of Music and Performing Arts the right of first publication and the right to identify itself as the original publisher of the article.

The published Version of Record is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0).

Under this licence, readers may:

• Read and download the article; 
• Copy and redistribute it in any medium or format; 
• Adapt, remix, transform, or build upon it; 
• Use it for educational, scholarly, creative, or commercial purposes; and 
• Deposit or reproduce it in repositories, databases, books, teaching materials, and other publications. 

Users must:

• Give appropriate credit to the author or authors; 
• Cite the original article and journal; 
• identify the CC BY 4.0 licence; 
• Provide the DOI or other persistent article identifier where available; 
• Indicate whether changes were made; and 
• Avoid implying that the authors or journal endorse the reuse. 

Third-party material is included under the CC BY 4.0 licence only when this is expressly stated. Material credited to another copyright holder may require separate permission.

Authors may deposit and share the submitted manuscript, accepted manuscript, and final published article without an embargo, provided that the journal publication is appropriately acknowledged.

Permitted locations include:

• Institutional repositories; 
• Subject repositories; 
• Personal or professional websites; 
• Funder repositories; 
• Academic profiles; 
• Research information systems; and 
• Teaching or course platforms. 

When sharing the final version, authors should provide the complete citation and DOI or permanent journal link where available.

Opera News: Journal of Music and Performing Arts follows a diamond open-access model.

Authors are not charged:

• Submission fees; 
• Article processing charges; 
• Peer-review fees; 
• Editorial fees; 
• Publication fees; 
• Page charges; 
• Colour-figure charges; 
• Supplementary-material charges; or 
• Mandatory language-editing fees. 

No fee waiver is required because publication is free for all authors.

Editorial decisions are based solely on academic quality, originality, ethical compliance, relevance, and contribution to the field.

Authors must promptly notify the journal if they discover a significant error or omission in a submitted or published article.

Depending on the nature of the issue, the journal may publish:

• A correction; 
• An author correction; 
• An editorial correction; 
• An expression of concern; 
• A retraction; or 
• A notice of removal in exceptional legal or safety circumstances. 

Minor typographical errors that do not affect the meaning, interpretation, or scholarly record may not require a formal correction.

The journal may investigate concerns relating to plagiarism, fabricated or falsified material, authorship disputes, manipulated images or recordings, undisclosed conflicts, copyright infringement, unethical research, or duplicate publication.

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe that:

• A significant factual error affected the decision; 
• Reviewer comments were based on a serious misunderstanding; 
• Relevant evidence was overlooked; 
• A procedural irregularity occurred; or 
• A conflict of interest affected the review. 

An appeal should be sent to submission@operanews.org and should include:

• The manuscript title and identifying information; 
• The editorial decision being appealed; 
• A concise explanation of the grounds for appeal; 
• Specific responses to the disputed points; and 
• Supporting evidence where relevant. 

An appeal should address the substance of the decision and should not merely express disagreement. Submission of an appeal does not guarantee reversal of the original decision.

Complaints concerning editorial conduct, peer review, ethics, discrimination, confidentiality, copyright, or publication procedures should also be submitted in writing to the journal.

Before submitting, authors should confirm that:

• The manuscript fits the journal’s aims and scope. 
• The manuscript is original and is not under consideration elsewhere. 
• All authors have approved the manuscript and its submission. 
• The corresponding author’s contact details are complete. 
• The title, abstract, and keywords accurately represent the article. 
• The manuscript is written in clear and consistent English. 
• MLA in-text citation and Works Cited style have been applied consistently. 
• Every in-text citation appears in the Works Cited section. 
• Every Works Cited entry is cited in the manuscript. 
• All names, titles, dates, page numbers, URLs, and DOIs have been verified. 
• Figures, tables, and musical examples are numbered and cited in the text. 
• High-resolution source files have been supplied. 
• Permissions have been obtained for copyrighted third-party material. 
• Ethics approval and informed consent information have been provided where required. 
• Author contributions, funding, data availability, and conflicts-of-interest statements are included. 
• Any substantive use of artificial intelligence has been disclosed. 
• The cover letter and all necessary supplementary files are attached. 
• The submission email is addressed to submission@operanews.org. 

Editorial Contact

All manuscripts, revised files, supplementary materials, and submission-related enquiries should be sent to:

Email: submission@operanews.org