About the journal

Archaeology International is the official journal of the UCL Institute of Archaeology. The Institute is one of the largest centres for archaeology, cultural heritage and museum studies in Britain. Founded in 1937, it is one of very few places in the world actively pursuing research on a global scale in the archaeological sciences, heritage studies and world archaeology. The Institute offers Undergraduate, Graduate Taught and Graduate Research Programmes to UK/EU and overseas students. Opportunities are also available to members of the public to take courses at the Institute and to affiliate students wishing to spend some time at the Institute during their own degree programmes. In addition the institute hosts events on many different aspects of archaeology and it is linked to a wide range of heritage organisations, museums and archaeological societies internationally, providing an outstanding research environment for staff, students and visitors. Read more about the UCL Institute of Archaeology at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology.


  1. Aims and Scope
  2. What we publish
  3. Editorial process and Peer Review
  4. Acceptance criteria
  5. Open Access and Licensing
  6. Article publication charges (APCs)
  7. Discoverability and Indexing
  8. Journal metrics
  9. Journal Details
  10. Contact and Community
  11. Journal archive

Aims and scope

Archaeology International combines news about Institute activities with reports on research, both on new and on-going projects, carried out by members of staff. Refereed articles reflect the broad geographical, theoretical and methodological scope of research at the Institute. Reports and news items cover topics such as recent publications by Institute staff, current fieldwork and aspects of the history of the Institute. The intended audience is both academic researchers and those with a general interest in archaeology and heritage.


What we publish

We welcome a wide range of content formats, including:

  • Research articles
  • Research update articles
  • News articles
  • People and places articles

Find out more about how to format and submit to the journal in our Author Guidelines:

Author guidelines

Editorial process and Peer Review

Archaeology International operates double anonymised peer review, meaning that authors and reviewers remain anonymous to each other during the review process. The review period is expected to take around four to eight weeks, although this may vary depending on reviewer availability. Reviewers are asked to provide formative feedback, even if an article is not deemed suitable for publication in the journal.

All submissions to Archaeology International are initially assessed by the Editor who decides whether or not the article is suitable for peer review. Submissions considered suitable for peer review are assigned to two or more independent experts, who assess the article for clarity, validity, and sound methodology.

Authors may be invited to recommend or ask for the exclusion of specific individuals from the peer review process. The journal does not guarantee to use these suggestions. All reviewers must be independent from the submission and will be asked to declare all competing interests.

Based on the reviewer reports the editor will make a recommendation for rejection, minor or major revisions, or acceptance. Overall editorial responsibility rests with the journal’s Editor-in-Chief, who is supported by an expert, international Editorial Board.

Members of the editorial board are permitted to submit their own papers to the journal. In cases where an author is associated with the journal, they will be removed from all editorial tasks for that paper and another member of the team will be assigned responsibility for overseeing peer review. A competing interest must also be declared within the submission and any resulting publication.

Reviewers cannot be from the same institution as the author, based at any funding bodies connected to the paper and cannot be recommended by authors or anyone else connected to the paper. Author(s) should submit an anonymous version of the manuscript, stripped of all identifying references to the author(s) for peer review.

Further information regarding peer review can be found on the UCL Press Editorial Policy pages (https://journals.uclpress.co.uk/site/editorial_policy).


Acceptance criteria

We assess submissions based on:

  • Relevance to our aims, scope and mission.
  • Clarity and soundness of argument and findings.
  • Evidence of new knowledge and meaningful contribution to the field.
  • Responsiveness to reviewer and Editorial feedback.

Submissions are unlikely to be accepted if they:

  • Are primarily commercial or self-promotional.
  • Contain excessive self-citation.
  • Lack clear conclusions or conceptual rigour.
  • Provide minimal updates on prior work.
  • Are not suitable for peer review due to clarity or fit with the journal.

Articles accepted for full publication will be those where the Editorial Board has received at least two favourable peer reviews and is satisfied that all reviewer and Editorial comments have been adequately addressed.

Experience suggests that few submissions are accepted after a single review round. The Editorial Board may decline a submission at any stage if reviewer concerns cannot be addressed to the Board’s satisfaction. In some cases, Editors may request revisions before peer review to support review effectiveness.


Preprints

Archaeology International is happy to accept submissions of papers that have been loaded onto preprint servers or personal websites, have been presented at conferences, or other informal communication channels. These formats will not be deemed prior publication. Authors must retain copyright to such preprints and are encouraged to link any prior posting of their paper to the final published version within the journal, if it is editorially accepted.


Open Access and Licensing

All content is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. This ensures:

  • Free access for readers worldwide.
  • Retention of copyright by authors.
  • Maximum flexibility for reuse, adaptation and sharing.

We follow the Budapest Open Access Initiative and are committed to author rights and open scholarship. Our Author Contributor Agreement outlines full terms for publication:

Author Contributor Agreement

Article publication charges (APCs)

The Archaeology International is a Diamond Open Access journal, meaning that UCL Press does not levy any Article-Processing Charges (APCs) for submission or publication.

UCL Press covers all the costs to publishing every article and publishing is free at every stage:

  • No submission fees
  • No peer review fees
  • No publication fees


This reflects our commitment to equity and non-profit publishing, especially for authors with limited funding or from underrepresented sectors.


Discoverability and Indexing

UCL Press works with subject specific indexers to deposit published articles in relevant repositories and search databases. Articles published in the Archaeology International are indexed in:


Journal metrics

We are committed to the responsible use of metrics and strongly encourage all readers, authors, reviewers, and Editors to read through our statement about the use of metrics across the journal, available online at https://journals.uclpress.co.uk/site/editorial_policy/#METRICS.


Citation metrics
  • Impact Factor (2024) 0.1
  • Q4 (Impact Factor quartile - Archaeology)
  • Five year Impact Factor (2024) 0.4

Journal Details

ISSN: 2048-4194
Publication frequency: one issue a year published in December

Archaeology International was previously published under the title Institute of Archaeology Bulletin (published until 1994, numbers 30 and 31).


Published by

UCL Press, University College London (UCL)
Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK

journals.uclpress.co.uk

uclpressjournals@ucl.ac.uk


Contact and Community

We are a community-led journal. Whether you’re submitting, reviewing, or simply reading, we invite you to be part of our network.

For pre-submission enquiries please contact the journal Editor, Prof Andrew Reynolds, by email at:
a.reynolds [at] ucl.ac.uk


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