Decolonising music therapy: What’s the role of open access journals?

Open access publishing has been rapidly developed and prioritised across disciplines and professional fields. In addition to technological advancements, this development has been driven by societal, ethical and financial considerations around accessibility and dissemination of knowledge.

This roundtable brings together the editors of four open access, peer-reviewed music therapy journals: “Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy”, “Australian Journal of Music Therapy”, “Qualitative Inquiries in Music Therapy” and “Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy”. Drawing on each journal’s unique trajectory and current positioning, the presenters will promote a critical dialogue regarding the role and scope of open access publishing in music therapy. Issues pertaining to culture, language, accessibility, power and diversity will underpin this dialogue alongside advancements, findings and recommendations emerging from the wider open access world (Bosman et al., 2021; Becerril et al., 2021).

In an attempt to disturb conventional assumptions around scholarly publishing, the panel presenters will consider how open access journals can play a unique role in decolonising music therapy and fostering new forms of knowledge and knowing. New collaborative and community-led publishing approaches will be discussed while considering sustainability and funding implications for open access publishing in music therapy.