Instructions for submitting a contribution

SKAS is a biannual scholarly journal, published by the Society for Medieval Archaeology in Finland (Suomen keskiajan arkeologian seura – Sällskapet för medeltidsarkeologi i Finland ry.) We welcome scholarly articles covering medieval and post-medieval archaeology. The recommended length of submitted papers is 20,000–40,000 characters. They can be written in Finnish, Swedish or English.  It is the responsibility of the authors to ensure that the manuscript presents a technically as well as grammatically correct copy.

The journal is peer-reviewed. The editorial board will evaluate manuscripts submitted as peer-reviewed contributions, and will inform the authors within a month after the submission deadline of the next issue, if the article is accepted to the peer-review process.

In addition to peer-reviewed articles, we welcome a variety of reviews of current events, research reports, debate pieces, comments, and book reviews which can be published without a peer-review process.

All submitted contributions must follow the instructions below.

Please send the articles to skas-lehti[AT]skas.fi by:

The first issue – 28.2.

The second issue – 15.8.

The self-archival and e-publishing of the papers published in SKAS

The journal gives the authors the right to self-archive their articles and other contributions in digital form on public social media services (e.g. Academia.edu, ResearchGate), or in the digital publication archives of universities after they have been published in the printed journal.

In addition to the print form, all issues will be made freely available online by the Society for Medieval Archaeology in Finland after the publication of the following issue in print. When the authors submit an article to be published in the journal, they also approve publishing their work online. They are expected to take care that all the figures and maps in the contribution can be published online as well.

Instructions for contributors

The recommended length of peer-reviewed articles is 20,000–40,000 characters. With their text, the authors must include an abstract of approximately 100 words. It should summarise the main research questions and context. In addition, five keywords must be included. The editorial board will take care of checking the grammar of the abstract.

The author must use the Times New Roman font with a font size of 12pt, and a 1.5 line spacing. Any further formatting, the use of tabulators, forced line or page breaks, or manual hyphenation should be avoided. In addition to the heading, maximum of two levels of apt subheadings can be used. Dash is used between page numbers and years (1995–2011; 128–141). Special terms, and the names of publications are to be emphasised in italics.

Figures, formulas, and tables are not to be included within the text but must be delivered as separate files. The captions are placed at the end of the article, and they must always include the name of the photographer or draftsperson. The recommended number of figures is 5–10 with the minimum resolution of 300dpi when the figure is 15x10cm (1,800×1,200 pixels) in size. The figures must be titled and submitted in TIFF or JPG format (i.e. fig1.tif, fig2.jpg). In case of vector graphics, please contact the editorial board before submitting the contribution. Tables and formulas must be sent as separate Excel files. The main text must have references to all figures and tables (e.g. Fig. 1, Table 1), and they should also point out the place where the figure should be placed. The author is responsible for having the right to publish all the figures and formulas in the article.

Instructions for book reviews

The editorial board insists that all book reviews should be proper critiques with an introduction to the standpoint and the main arguments of the book, and an evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses. The recommended length of a book review is 5,000–10,000 characters. Please note that the editorial board reserves the right to shorten or modify the review.

A book review must include a heading and the following information on the work in question: the names of the authors or editors, name of the publication, possible series name and number, name of the publisher, year of the publication, number of pages and the ISBN. In case of an electronic publication, also the URL needs to be included. The author of the review must also provide a figure of the book’s front cover as a separate file (see Instructions for contributors).

Examples:

Sverre Bagge: From Viking Stronghold to Christian Kingdom. State Formation in Norway, c. 900-1350. Museum Tusculanum Press, University of Copenhagen 2010. 441 p. ISBN 9788763507912.

Visa Immonen, Mia Lempiäinen & Ulrika Rosendahl (eds.): Hortus Novus. Fresh Approaches to Medieval Archaeology in Finland. Archaeologia Medii Aevi Finlandiae XIV. Suomen keskiajan arkeologian seura 2009. 172 p. ISBN 978-951-96801-6-3.

Instructions for references

Literature

In the main text, present endnotes in the following manner: Last name The year of publication [colon] Pages referred to. If the referred publication has two authors, both are mentioned in the reference. If there are more than two authors, only the first author is mentioned along with the abbreviation et al. When referring to several works, the authors are listed in alphabetical order, separated by a semicolon.

Example:

Heikkinen 2008: 146; Mäkeläinen & Nurminen 2011: 120–130; Ristolainen et al. 2004: 145; Tolonen 2002.

Archival sources

References to archival sources must be clear, punctual, coherent, and detailed enough so that they can be used to individualise the document or the collection in question. The references are separated by a semicolon in the following manner: Archive name [comma] The name of the collection [comma] The name of the unit or signum, and, if needed, the specifier with a date (e.g. Letter from J. Rinne to A.M. Tallgren 3.3.1933).

The names of archival sources and documents (e.g. Diplomatarium Fennicum or DF) can be abbreviated if they are explained in connection with the bibliography. Archival documents are referred to with their catalogue or inventory number (e.g. DF 5146). Similarly, objects are referred to with their museum inventory number (i.e. NM 23332:1). The name of the museum collection is written in full when they are mentioned for the first time (e.g. National Museum of Finland, NM).

If the archival source is a digital publication, or it has been digitalized and published online, the aforementioned instructions apply regarding the publication type. However, the appropriate URL is added to the end of the reference with a date of when the source or the URL was accessed, e.g. DF 5146 (http://df.narc.fi/, 17/10/2016).

Newspaper sources should be accompanied by their publication date.

Bibliography

The archival sources and literature must be presented separately in the bibliography. If a great number of printed documents have been used in the article, they can also be separated from the rest of the literature. Similarly, research reports can be separated from the archival sources and literature. Unpublished dissertations and theses are placed among the other literature, but the reference must include the word ‘unpublished’ in parenthesis (unpublished). Newspapers are placed into a list of their own with possible abbreviations used.

The indication of the name of the archive, the name of the collection, and the name of the unit is usually sufficient with archival sources. The individualizing reference is usually attached to the endnote.

In the bibliography, the reference is presented in the following manner: Surname [comma] First name The year of publication [dot] The name of the book or the article with possible subheadings separated by dots [dot] The possible name of the series and the series number [dot] Publisher [comma] Publisher location [dot]. The name of the book or journal must be in italics.

Example:

Etting, Vivian 2010. The Royal Castles of Denmark During the 14th Century. Publications of the National Museum. Studies in Archaeology & History, vol. 19.  The National Museum of Denmark. Copenhagen.

In edited works, the additional information is presented in the following manner: The first name of the editor(s) [comma] Surname (ed.) [comma] The name of the publication with possible subheadings separated by dots [comma] Possible publications series and number [dot] Publisher [comma] Publisher location [comma] The pages referred to separated by a dash.

Example:

Luoto, Kirsi 2009. Artefacts and Enculturation. Examples of Toy Material from the Medieval Town of Turku. Visa Immonen, Mia Lempiäinen & Ulrika Rosendahl (eds.), Hortus Novus. Fresh Approaches to Medieval Archaeology in Finland, Archaeologia Medii Aevi Finlandiae XIV. Suomen keskiajan arkeologian seura, Turku, 10–20.

In the case of scholarly journals, information on the editors, publisher, or publisher location is not mentioned.

Example:

Grabowski, Radoslaw 2011. Changes in cereal cultivation during the Iron Age in southern Sweden: a compilation and interpretation of the archaeobotanical material. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany (2011) 20, 479–494.