40 free-to-publish Scopus journals in Music

40 peer-reviewed journals in the SCImago category Music charge no APC and no other author fees, according to the DOAJ. The quartile shown is the journal’s quartile in this category (not its best one elsewhere): 7 are Q1 and 13 Q2 here. Data snapshot: October 2026.

Of the Scopus-ranked journals here, 60% are Q1 or Q2 (site-wide: 40%). Their median self-reported time from submission to publication is 21 weeks. Most are published in Spain (7), United States (5) and Brazil (3). 90% accept manuscripts in English and 73% accept at least one other language.

All 40 free-to-publish journals in Music

Sorted by best SCImago quartile, then SJR. Click a column header to sort by it; click a second column to add a tiebreak. The search box narrows the list. Time to publish is the journal’s own DOAJ figure (average weeks from submission to publication).

Where these journals come from

About this list

Diamond open access (also called Platinum) means the journal is free to read and free to publish in: the DOAJ records it with “APC: no” and “other fees: no”. Quartiles come from the latest SCImago edition: Q1 is the top 25% of journals in a subject category, Q4 the bottom 25%; the lists show a journal’s best quartile. Read more in our open access guide.

Before submitting, always confirm the journal on its own website and in the DOAJ, verify Scopus indexing by ISSN with the Scopus check rather than trusting claims on the journal’s site, and watch out for look-alike titles (see the predatory journal checklist).

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