It has been another big year for AA, celebrating the rich diversity and vibrancy of contemporary archaeology across Australia and nearby areas. It has also been two years (and six AA issues) since we began our latest term as Editors. We take this opportunity to reflect on what we set out to do, what we have achieved to date, and where we would like to see the journal head in the future.
AA has published articles ranging from meta-analyses to specialist studies of bone points, from advanced rock art recording and analysis to experimental studies of quartz knapping. Indigenous researchers, Traditional Owners and representative bodies authored many articles and we see this as an important trend in partnership approaches to archaeology, especially as the Association works towards dedicated reconciliation actions.
International journals have reported a steep reduction in the number of women submitting papers to journals, linked to increased caring responsibilities and job losses disproportionately impacting women during COVID-19 (McCormick Citation2020; Viglione Citation2020). For AA over the last two years we have seen a steady reduction in women lead author publications (∼70% to 40%), but a gradual improvement in this authorship trend has been observed across the last two issues of 2021, where there is a balance of women and men lead author publications (5 women lead authors; 6 men lead authors).
One of the most important reintroductions in the journal is the Forum section, which we initially introduced when we were last editors. Over the past two years we have hosted two Forums: on the future of Australian archaeology (Wallis Citation2020) and the topical Dark Emu debate (Porr and Vivian-Williams Citation2021), with a further Forum on conceptualising ‘contact’ finalised and due to appear in the journal next year. These Forum sections are important vehicles for airing key debates and facilitating a range of voices to be heard on topical and sometimes controversial issues.
We are pleased to report that all three issues of AA for 2021 were published on or ahead of schedule, with all copy published immediately online ahead of print publication. We have also worked to improve the turnaround time on decisions on manuscripts submitted to the journal. The average number of days from submission to first decision is now 48 days, largely reflecting the time taken to source three reviews of each paper.
Impact and performance
When we began our term as Editors we aimed to build AA’s national and international profile and ranking performance by improving the quality of articles in the journal through rigorous editing and peer review.
AA’s profile has increased through establishment of dedicated social media handles and campaigns. We are pleased to welcome Dr Katie Woo (James Cook University) as the inaugural AA Social Media Editor. Up to the beginning of 2021, Anna Kreij (James Cook University) was supporting AA from the AAA Social Media Officer position. We created a dedicated position to maintain and expand AA’s social media footprint. AA’s Twitter handle @AustArchJ already has over 500 followers.
We have also extended our reach in partnering authors with The Conversation to simultaneously publish accessible plain-language versions for selected articles appearing in AA. Four articles have appeared in The Conversation over the last two years linked to AA articles: ‘Magic, culture and stalactites’ by Bruno David et al. (Citation2021); ‘Introducing the Maliwawa Figures’ by Paul Taçon et al. (Citation2020); ‘How a stone wedged in a gum tree shows the resilience of Aboriginal culture in Australia’ by Caroline Spry et al. (Citation2020); and ‘Threat or trading partner?’ by Sally May et al. (Citation2021). These articles have already garnered more than 150,000 readers. Spry et al.’s piece was also featured in The Conversation Yearbook − 2020: The Year That Changed Us.
On a number of formal journal metric measures, AA is performing well. Metrics on impacts and performance are important, but it can be difficult to understand the meaning behind the numbers sometimes. Here we report on some of the recent metrics that have become available.
For the tenth consecutive year, AA has been ranked in the first quartile of the SCImago Journal Rank (SJR). In the SJR Archaeology (arts and humanities) ranking, AA slipped slightly from 28/335 in 2019 to 31/318 in 2020 (for comparison Archaeology in Oceania is now 49/318).
On a number of other measures, individual AA articles published over the last two years are performing well, with downloads of AA articles in 2021 more than double the same period last year.
Another measure of the performance and impact of AA is how often work published in AA is cited in the literature. The field-weighted citation impact (FWCI) of an article compares the citations received by an article to the average number of citations received by similar publications in the same field. Several papers published over the last two years have performed very well. Taçon et al. (Citation2020) paper on Maliwawa figures has a FWCI of 4.43; that is, it has been cited 343% higher than the world average. Similarly, David et al.’s (Citation2021) paper on revisiting Cloggs Cave has a FWCI of 2.76 and Jalandoni and May (Citation2020), on using 3 D photogrammetric recording of rock art, has a FWCI of 2.21.
Yet another common measure of impact is the Altmetric Attention Score, which measures the quality and quantity of online attention that an article receives. Two papers published over the last year have received exceptional online attention. Kowlessar et al. (Citation2021) on transfer learning in rock art has an Altmetric Attention Score of 894 and Taçon et al. (Citation2020) of 288. These scores place both papers in the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric across all fields.
The real key to improving performance is publishing high quality copy. So please consider submissions to AA from your research groups and encourage your colleagues to do the same.
Editorial Advisory Board
Alan Williams stepped-down from the AA Editorial Advisory Board during the year. We thank Al for his dedicated service to the journal and for bringing a wealth of experience across industry and research contexts to the role. We also welcomed ben Gunn to the Editorial Advisory Board. With the number of rock art papers we have received over the past two years, having another rock art specialist is important for our future.
In closing, we acknowledge that AA is now a big enterprise. We take this opportunity to thank our tireless Editorial Committee, Editorial Advisory Board, referees, authors and the AAA Executive.
As always, we appreciate hearing any comments, suggestions and advice you may have on the journal.
References
- David, B., J. Fresløv, R. Mullett, J-J. Delannoy, M. McDowell, C. Urwin, J. Mialanes, F. Petchey, R. Wood, L. Russell, L.J. Arnold, B. Stephenson, R. Fullagar, J. Crouch, J. Ash, J. Berthet, V.N.L. Wong and H. Green 2021 50 years and worlds apart: Rethinking the Holocene occupation of Cloggs Cave (East Gippsland, SE Australia) five decades after its initial archaeological excavation and in light of GunaiKurnai world views. Australian Archaeology 87(1):1–20.
- Jalandoni, A. and S.K. May 2020 How 3D models (photogrammetry) of rock art can improve recording veracity: A case study from Kakadu National Park, Australia. Australian Archaeology 86(2):137–146.
- Kowlessar, J., J. Keal, D. Wesley, I. Moffat, D. Lawrence, A. Weson and A. Nayinggul 2021 Reconstructing rock art chronology with transfer learning: A case study from Arnhem Land, Australia. Australian Archaeology 87(2):115–126.
- May, S.K., D. Wesley, J. Goldhahn, R. Lamilami and P.S.C. Taçon 2021 The missing Macassans: Indigenous sovereignty, rock art and the archaeology of absence. Australian Archaeology 87(2):127–143.
- McCormick, C.M 2020 Disparities in the toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on publishing: Evidence from submissions to Hormones and Behavior. Hormones and Behavior 124:104814.
- Porr, M. and E. Vivian-Williams 2021 The tragedy of Bruce Pascoe’s Dark Emu. Australian Archaeology 87(3).
- Spry, C., E. Hayes, K. Allen, A. Long, L. Paton, Q. Hua, B.J. Armstrong, R. Fullagar, J. Webb, P. Penzo-Kajewski and L. Bordes 2020 Wala-gaay Guwingal: A twentieth century Aboriginal culturally modified tree with an embedded stone tool. Australian Archaeology 86(1):3–20.
- Taçon, P.S.C., S.K. May, R. Lamilami, F. McKeague, I.G. Johnston, A. Jalandoni, D. Wesley, I. Domingo Sanz, L.M. Brady, D. Wright and J. Goldhahn 2020 Maliwawa figures—A previously undescribed Arnhem Land rock art style. Australian Archaeology 86(3):208–225.
- Wallis, L.A 2020 Disrupting paradise: Has Australian archaeology lost its way? Australian Archaeology 86(3):284–294.
- Viglione, G 202 0 Are women publishing less during the pandemic? Here's what the data say. Nature 581(7809):365–366.