Abstract
The ethics of archaeological publication mirror the quagmire of ethical questions that bedevils other parts of the discipline. This chapter outlines five key principles of ethical archaeological publishing in the context of these larger ethical issues. Archaeological information should be promptly published and that publication should usually, but not always, involve prior peer review. Archaeological authors must address multiple audiences, constituents, and stakeholders using language and media appropriate for them. They should maintain sensitivity to, and collaboration with, the communities from which the research was drawn. Despite the problems of the publishing establishment residing within a system of global capitalism, that system is pervasive, and scholars should consider how to accommodate it ethically as well as seek other sustainable publication options.
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Notes
- 1.
I was responsible for its publication at AltaMira Press. The manuscript languished in the files of the Field Museum at Kroeber’s death in 1962 and a combination of politics, funds, and priorities left it there for a quarter century until David Collier, son of the late Field Museum South American curator Donald Collier, brought it to my attention. Without that accidental network connection it might still be there today.
- 2.
She ended up self-publishing and coauthoring with a professional writer. The amount of popular press for her theory was inversely proportional to how little solid research lay behind it.
- 3.
Such as the Archaeological Research Facility publication program at UC Berkeley or UCLA’s Cotsen Institute Press.
- 4.
Like the University of Arizona Press or British Archaeological Reports.
- 5.
Only English speaking publishing world is discussed here, though this range of publication outlets exists in other languages as well.
- 6.
Including the Alexandrina Archive and Digital Antiquity.
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Allen, M. (2015). Ethics in the Publishing of Archaeology. In: Gnecco, C., Lippert, D. (eds) Ethics and Archaeological Praxis. Ethical Archaeologies: The Politics of Social Justice, vol 1. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1646-7_12
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