35 Music journals with no fee to publish with at least 10 papers in 2025. No fee means the journal, DOAJ or OpenAlex states the fee as zero. A journal that has not published a fee is not listed here, and neither is a subscription journal that charges only for open access.
As of 2 October 2026. From OpenAlex, Crossref and DOAJ. ORBIT Tier is our own ranking within a field, not a Scopus or Web of Science quartile.
| Journal | ISSN | Papers in 2025 | ORBIT Tier | Fee to publish | Open access | DOAJ | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai Musica | 1844-4369 | 111 | 3 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Romania |
| Música Hodie | 1676-3939 | 71 | 1 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Brazil |
| Russian musicology. | 3034-3836 | 51 | 2 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Russia |
| Res Facta Nova Teksty o muzyce współczesnej | 1897-824X | 38 | 3 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Poland |
| Music Theory Online | 1067-3040 | 36 | 1 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | United States |
| Contemporary Musicology | 2587-9731 | 34 | 1 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Russia |
| ANTEC revista peruana de investigación musical | 2521-8565 | 31 | 3 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Peru |
| Dedica | 2182-0171 | 31 | 1 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Portugal |
| IASPM Journal | 2079-3871 | 29 | 1 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Canada |
| Muzikologija | 1450-9814 | 25 | 3 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Serbia |
| Svetovi revija za etnologijo antropologijo in folkloristiko | 2820-6088 | 25 | 2 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Slovenia |
| ASIAN-EUROPEAN MUSIC RESEARCH JOURNAL | 2625-378X | 24 | 1 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Germany |
| Musica Theorica | 2525-5541 | 23 | 4 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Brazil |
| Musicological Annual | 0580-373X | 23 | 3 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Slovenia |
| Transposition | 2110-6134 | 23 | 3 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | France |
| Traditiones | 0352-0447 | 22 | 1 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Slovenia |
| Edukacja Muzyczna | 1895-8079 | 21 | 4 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Poland |
| Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie [Journal of the German-Speaking Society of Music Theory] | 1862-6742 | 21 | 2 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Germany |
| Dancecult | 1947-5403 | 20 | 2 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | United States |
| Global Hip Hop Studies | 2632-6825 | 20 | 1 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | United Kingdom |
| Journal of sonic studies | 2212-6252 | 17 | 2 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Netherlands |
| El oído pensante | 2250-7116 | 16 | 3 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Argentina |
| Musicologica Olomucensia | 2787-9186 | 16 | 3 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Czechia |
| Ex Chordis | 3034-8781 | 15 | 4 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Italy |
| liquid blackness | 2692-3874 | 15 | 1 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | United States |
| Journal of Research in Music | 2961-5666 | 14 | 2 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | |
| Revista Electrónica Complutense de Investigación en Educación Musical - RECIEM | 1698-7454 | 14 | 2 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Spain |
| Epistemus Revista de Estudios en Música Cognición y Cultura | 1853-0494 | 13 | 2 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Argentina |
| Sound Stage Screen | 2784-8949 | 13 | 3 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Italy |
| Zbornik Akademije umetnosti | 2334-8666 | 13 | 4 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Serbia |
| De musica disserenda | 1854-3405 | 12 | 3 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Slovenia |
| Musica docta | 2039-9715 | 12 | 4 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Italy |
| Journal of Jazz Studies | 2158-1401 | 10 | 3 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | United States |
| Music and Politics | 1938-7687 | 10 | 2 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | United States |
| Popular Music Research Today Revista Online de Divulgación Musicológica | 2659-6482 | 10 | 2 | Free to publish — per DOAJ | Yes | Yes | Spain |