SKAS, or the journal of the Society for Medieval Archaeology in Finland (Suomen keskiajan arkeologian seura – Sällskapet för medeltidsarkeologi i Finland ry.) uses the license for peer-reviewed scholarly publications granted by the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies. The journal is committed to the terms of the license, the rules of the peer-review process of the Finnish Association for Scholarly Publishing, and the ethical code for research of the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity (TENK).
The description of the publication and peer-review processes
SKAS, issued by the Society for Medieval Archaeology in Finland, has published peer-reviewed articles since the issue no. 1 of 2017.
Submitting manuscripts for publication
Manuscripts intended for peer-review are submitted to the editorial board (skas-lehti[AT]skas.fi) following these deadlines:
The first issue of the year: 28 February
The second issue of the year: 31 August
Manuscripts must follow the guidelines provided separately.
Peer-reviewed contributions
Before their publication in the journal, all scholarly articles and other contributions, which can be considered as original publications (cf. class A of the guidelines for the list of publications by the Academy of Finland), must go through the peer-review process.
The editorial board will carry out reviewing internally when the contribution is an editorial, review of current events, research report, column, debate piece or other similar contribution, book review etc., and thus they can be published without the full peer-review process.
Processing the manuscript, and decision regarding its publication
The manuscript submitted to the journal will be processed by the editor-in-chief, and the editorial board. The board will conduct a preliminary evaluation on whether the manuscript is suitable for the journal’s publishing program, and it will make a decision regarding the initiation of the peer-review process.
Based on the review reports, the editor-in-chief and the editorial board will decide whether the manuscript will be published as a peer-reviewed article.
The editorial board makes also decisions on whether other contributions will be published in the journal.
If the author is also a member of the journal’s editorial board, decisions regarding the initiation of the peer-review process, and the publication of the article is made by the chairperson or vice chairperson of the Society for Medieval Archaeology in Finland, or the editor-in-chief of the Archaeologia Medii Aevi series (published also by the society) on the basis of the review reports.
Schedule for the peer-review process
The author of the manuscript will be informed about the initiation of the peer-review process within a month after the deadline for manuscripts the next issue. Depending on afore mentioned deadlines, this means no later than 31 March, or 30 September.
The author will be informed about the decision regarding the publication of the manuscript, the review reports, and possible further changes to the manuscript required to have it published in the journal within two months of the deadline after manuscripts for the next issue. Depending on afore mentioned deadlines this means no later than 30 April, or 31 October.
The author must provide the corrected manuscript within three months after the deadline for manuscripts for the next issue. Depending on afore mentioned deadlines this means no later than 31 May, or 30 November.
The issue is usually published in five months after the manuscript deadline.
The peer-reviewers
After the manuscript is approved for the peer-review process, the journal’s editorial board will request review reports from at least two experts.
The reviewers are scholars with a doctoral degree, or other experts in the disciplinary field. They are impartial in relation to the manuscript, and independent in relation to the editorial board. The reviewers cannot be persons that are close relatives of the authors, or a foreperson, employee or supervisor of the authors, and they have not authored joint articles with the authors within the last three years.
The peer-review process is anonymous (the so-called double-blind review).
The journal’s editorial board documents the peer-review process following the requirements of the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies:
In case of peer-reviewed but rejected manuscripts, the names of the authors, name of the manuscript, and names of the peer-reviewers are filed.
In case of published articles, at minimum, the initially submitted manuscript, the reports of the peer-reviewers and the editorial board’s decisions regarding the publication are filed.
The filed information is not public record, but the editorial board submits them to the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies, and Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity when needed (for more information, see: https://www.tsv.fi/en/services/label-for-peer-reviewed-scholarly-publications/requirements-for-use).
What is evaluated?
In peer-review process, the coverage of source materials, appropriate understanding of the theoretical framework as well as the reliability and accuracy of the research process, and the originality and novelty of conclusions in relation to previous scholarly work are evaluated, following the common practices of the respective fields of research.
Each reviewer states in their report whether the manuscript is to be rejected, accepted for publication, or accepted for publication with changes.