The Archaeological Journal
Well this is actually 'old news' in that I've known about it for quite a few months now, but I thought it best to wait until the transition process was well underway. Also, it's on the website now so I guess that means it's official - I will be taking over as editor of the Royal Archaeological Institute's Archaeological Journal in May 2017. I have been shadowing the outgoing editor Prof. Howard Williams for a few months now to get a feel for things, and am in the process of handling my first few submissions, as we transition from an email submission system to an online editorial management system with Taylor and Francis (side note, go and check out Howard's Archaeodeath blog!).
When I saw the position advertised earlier this year I jumped at the chance to apply. Strangely enough I really do enjoy editorial work, and having gained a lot of experience as a guest editor and assistant editor for a number of other journals, figured I could take on this new challenge. Despite the fact that some aspects of this sort of work can be frustrating (finding suitable reviewers, and particularly those who can give a quick turnaround is remarkably difficult), I also like being able to contribute to the dissemination of new archaeological research, and this post in particular, being linked to the Royal Archaeological Institute, will enable me to become more involved in the wider archaeological community in the UK.
Although a lot of my earlier work has been outside the UK, I've always said I'm a thematic person rather than a regional specialist, and this I hope gives me a good overview of the wide remit of The Archaeological Journal, which covers all periods and topics within the British Isles and Europe. My more recent work as part of the Feeding Stonehenge project, and current work at the Ness of Brodgar, is the sort of thing that I am hoping to encourage more of in the journal, namely that multiple proxies within archaeological science be discussed together in the process of interpretation, rather than the short report style papers that we are more used to in pure science journals. The longer submissions that are encouraged in The Archaeological Journal makes it an ideal venue for this sort of work.
Another thing I like about the Archaeological Journal is that it encourages submissions from across the commercial and heritage sectors as well as academia, and this is something else that I will continue to encourage during my tenure.
When I saw the position advertised earlier this year I jumped at the chance to apply. Strangely enough I really do enjoy editorial work, and having gained a lot of experience as a guest editor and assistant editor for a number of other journals, figured I could take on this new challenge. Despite the fact that some aspects of this sort of work can be frustrating (finding suitable reviewers, and particularly those who can give a quick turnaround is remarkably difficult), I also like being able to contribute to the dissemination of new archaeological research, and this post in particular, being linked to the Royal Archaeological Institute, will enable me to become more involved in the wider archaeological community in the UK.
Although a lot of my earlier work has been outside the UK, I've always said I'm a thematic person rather than a regional specialist, and this I hope gives me a good overview of the wide remit of The Archaeological Journal, which covers all periods and topics within the British Isles and Europe. My more recent work as part of the Feeding Stonehenge project, and current work at the Ness of Brodgar, is the sort of thing that I am hoping to encourage more of in the journal, namely that multiple proxies within archaeological science be discussed together in the process of interpretation, rather than the short report style papers that we are more used to in pure science journals. The longer submissions that are encouraged in The Archaeological Journal makes it an ideal venue for this sort of work.
Another thing I like about the Archaeological Journal is that it encourages submissions from across the commercial and heritage sectors as well as academia, and this is something else that I will continue to encourage during my tenure.
Comments
Post a Comment