Guidance for contributors to the KAS Magazine and eNewsletter
Research articles, Features and Book Reviews
The Kent Archaeological Society welcome short articles from professional and amateur archaeologists, commercial organisations and local societies, academics, research students, local historians and all with an interest in the history and archaeology of Kent. Articles, features and book reviews should be sent to the Magazine Editor responsible for content, Craig Campbell.
The submissions will be considered based upon significance, novelty and relevance.
Research articles include all aspects of Kents material past. Submissions will be considered for all aspects of the history, archaeology and cultural heritage of the historic and modern counties of Kent.
Features include topical or newsworthy events and articles giving varied insight into the history and archaeology of the county. These might include interviews with people in cultural heritage positions or employment, news and interviews with authors, details or reviews of awards, prizes and grants etc, profiles of notable sites or individuals which are not full articles, artefact and ecofact discussions, excavation or project updates, archaeological or historical initiatives, ventures, outreach and community projects, exhibition or collection reviews and cultural heritage visits and tourism. This list is not exhaustive and other features are acceptable.
Book reviews are accepted for any publication which is recent and involves the history, archaeology and cultural heritage of the county of Kent, both historic and modern.
All submissions will be reviewed by the Magazine Editor and/or the Archaeologia Cantiana editor to determine the best placement for the material.
Once accepted for publication, contributors are expected to comply with the process, style guide and standards set out in the Notes for Contributors guidance, available below.
Contributors will be expected to source necessary images, illustrations and other figures and to ensure copyright permission is obtained for publication; and to complete the copyright form available below.
For examples of articles and content, please see previous issues of the Kent Archaeological Society Magazine and Newsletter which can be found here.
Notes for Contributors
The Kent Archaeological Society Magazine and Newsletters offer a wide range of article opportunities for contributors. These cover special features, newsworthy finds and discoveries, interviews, employment within the historical/archaeological profession, initiatives to increase participation and understanding, and special events.
The core of the content will remain research articles. These can be submitted by professional bodies such as Commercial Archaeological Units or Council Teams, or by others such as amateur archaeologists, local societies, academics, research students and local historians.
In order to keep the newsletter and magazine running in a timely and productive manner, please see the following notes on submission of articles. These notes form a minimum expectancy for anyone wishing to publish in the magazine or newsletter. They are not meant to be in any way restrictive, and so if there are any queries or issues following the guidance, please contact the magazine editor for assistance.
This guidance will ensure that the publications:
Publish brief excavation reports (interim or complete) and historical studies concerned with the archaeology and history of the county of Kent. This includes historic regions within the county boundaries.
Are written in a style and for an audience to help achieve the magazine and newsletter aims.
Minimise the effort required for all parties from author to publication.
Policy and Content
The limit on magazine and newsletter size necessitates shorter articles. There is not scope for full final reports or longer articles. For submission of such work, please contact the Archaeologia Cantiana editor, Jason Mazzocchi at jason.mazzocchi@kentarchaeology.org.uk
Sentence long summaries of excavations, events, or news should be noted as such. These will be used in a segment of the magazine dedicated to short informative notes.
The Kent region covers both the modern and historic county boundaries, so long as relevance is attributed.
We are keen to promote any discussion of Kents material past. Articles of an unorthodox or controversial nature will be considered so long as they are based upon strong evidence and have sound bibliographical sources, and do not offend readers.
Articles should be written with our diverse readership in mind. This includes all levels from professional archaeologists and historians to students, amateurs and local interest enthusiasts.
Articles must provide content which will entice and enthuse readers. This includes both a regular readership and new readers alike. The significance and interest of the article should be clear, topical and appealing. Whilst remaining professional, the material should be provided in non-technical language to ensure wide understanding.
Articles should be suitably illustrated, labelled, and clearly referenced.
Format and Media
Articles should aim to be between 1000-2500 words in length with approximately 4-5 illustrations. Shorter articles can be submitted, and slightly longer ones will be considered.
References should be by means of endnotes. This may also include short comments not meant for the main body of text.
Articles should be submitted in digital format, preferably in word document format. If it is not possible for an author to produce digital text, text may be submitted in hard copy and the article can be digitised in-house. This must be in word-processed format, it will not be possible to transcribe hand written articles without prior discussion.
Please submit the main body of text, endnotes, figure captions and illustrations. If possible, please also provide a very brief biographical sentence including background and interests.
Illustrations can include photographs, maps, drawings and plans. Please remember to include scales and relevant legends. Illustrations are preferable in .tif or .jpg format though other image formats are acceptable.
Once an author has submitted an article, the magazine editor will consider the article for publication. Once publication is agreed, the magazine editor will respond to the author with any further changes, work or material required. The article will be made acceptable for publication and submitted to the designer for the relevant publication.
The magazine editor will supply the author with details of the publication date and with a copy of the article in completed form.
Authors may request publication in a particular edition or a particular section of the magazine or newsletter. This will be considered by the magazine editor.
Book Reviews
Book reviews should aim to offer the reader information on the publication. It should be a brief description of the publication which will encourage a reader to decide whether it is something they wish to purchase or to read in a library etc. It should highlight the positive and negative aspects of the publication and may critique the work, and compliment the work but should not be offensive or a dedicated sales pitch. Please provide an image of the cover of the publication.
Book reviews should aim to be between 100 – 750 words, depending on relevance and size of the publication.
Each review should include the Author, Title, publisher, date of publication, number of pages, whether there are illustrations, figures, tables and bibliography, and the price.
Copyright
Authors should ensure they have all the necessary permissions to publish material submitted to the Kent Archaeological Society. This includes all text and images. This material should have permission to be reproduced by the Society in print and by electronic media on the world wide web. Kent Archaeological Society is unable to obtain copyright on your behalf.
As an author with the Kent Archaeological Society Magazine and Newsletters, you will retain the copyright to your text. However, the Society retains the rights to the design and implementation of the magazine and newsletter articles.
It is the authors responsibility to provide written permission from the copyright holders of any text, art or images, or any other work that you want to use in your article which is not your own. It is therefore also the authors responsibility to deal with any requests for reproduction fees.
We ask authors to sign an Author Licence (below), which is non-exclusive, and clearly sets out who owns the rights to the article.
These copyright regulations are for the magazine and newsletter only. For Archaeologia Cantiana copyright information, please find details here.
The Editor
Kent Archaeological Society
Maidstone Community Support Centre
39-48 Marsham Street
Maidstone
ME14 1HH
This is to confirm that I give permission for the Kent Archaeological Society to publish the below entitled work, in hard copy, and on the World Wide Web, as part of the Kent Archaeological Society Magazine or Newsletter.
I confirm that I hold the copyright to all elements of the work or have obtained written permission from the copyright holders for the use of their text or images or other work, including multimedia files, in your publication, and I hereby enclose copies of their permission statements. I furthermore absolve the Kent Archaeological Society from any responsibility for views which I promote in my work, and confirm that the work is my own and is not to the best of my belief libellous or defamatory.
I understand that I retain the right to publish my work elsewhere in an electronic medium but that the Kent Archaeological Society holds the copyright to its design, markup and implementation. I undertake to inform the Kent Archaeological Society in writing of any related electronic publication that I produce.
Yours faithfully,
