Write a submission-ready Journal of Archaeological Science manuscript: correct structure, abstract, and references from the first draft, so it clears editorial screening.
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Simone Parisotto
Qin-Qin Lü
Zandra Fagernäs
Francis Albarede
Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 26 August, 2026
Submitting to Journal of Archaeological Science goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Journal of Archaeological Science guide for authors before peer review, so formatting, structure, and required statements should be right on the first draft rather than repaired during upload. This template sets that structure up for you.
It is a manuscript shell aligned to Journal of Archaeological Science. It covers front matter, the abstract the journal expects, a body organized to the journal's article types, and a reference list in the journal's required style. Confirm current scope and article types on the Journal of Archaeological Science journal page before you draft.
Prepare the title, authors, affiliations, and ORCID iDs. Write the abstract to the journal's rule and word limit, organize the body to the article type, and apply the required reference style from the first citation. Complete every declaration (ethics, competing interests, funding, data availability) the Journal of Archaeological Science guide for authors lists, and cite figures and tables in order.
The common failure modes are formatting or reference style that does not match the guide for authors, missing required statements, and an incomplete portal checklist. Clear all three against the Journal of Archaeological Science guide for authors before you submit.
The shell mirrors what editorial staff check first: article-type fit, the abstract rules, required declarations, and the journal's reference style. For more detail see the author resources. When your draft is ready, upload it through Editorial Manager.
| Element | Journal of Archaeological Science requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | No structured format or article-type headings are specified. Provide a concise, factual abstract of no more than 250 words, briefly stating the purpose of the research, principal results and major conclusions. It should stand alone; avoid references and non-standard or uncommon abbreviations (define any essential abbreviations at first mention) |
| Main text | Article submissions should not normally exceed 5,000 words excluding tables and references; Focus articles should be no more than 2,500 words. The manuscript should use clearly defined, numbered sections. The recommended/order-described sections are Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion; a stand-alone Conclusion is optional and conclusions may instead be included in a subsection of Discussion or Results and Discussion. Acknowledgements must be a separate section directly before the reference list. Authors must paginate the manuscript and provide line numbering throughout |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | 3 to 7 keywords are required for indexing. They must be in English; authors should try to avoid keywords consisting of multiple words using ‘and’ or ‘of’. Abbreviations are recommended only when firmly established in the field |
| References | Author-date citations: single author name and year; two authors’ names and year; three or more authors, first author followed by ‘et al.’ and year. Citations may be direct or parenthetical. The reference list is arranged alphabetically, then chronologically if necessary; same-author same-year items use a, b, c, etc. Journal names are abbreviated according to the List of Title Word Abbreviations (LTWA) |
| Peer review | Single anonymized review process. Submissions deemed suitable are typically sent to a minimum of two reviewers for independent expert assessment; editors make the accept/reject decision |
| Submission | www.editorialmanager.com/yjasc/default.aspx |
Read the Journal of Archaeological Science guide for authors once before drafting and once before upload. Draft the abstract after results are stable. Set the reference style before adding citations. Keep a cover letter that states your contribution and fit to Journal of Archaeological Science in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Journal of Archaeological Science papers to calibrate depth and figure style. Make the novelty clear in the first two pages. Deposit data and code when the policy on the Journal of Archaeological Science journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Journal of Archaeological Science guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through Editorial Manager.