Open Data

The journal strongly encourages authors to make all data associated with their submission openly available, according to the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). This should be linked to from a Data Accessibility Statement within the submitted paper, which will be made public upon publication. If data is not being made available with the journal publication then a statement from the author should be provided within the submission to explain why. Data obtained from other sources must be appropriately credited.

Any open publication of data from primary Indigenous contexts (such as excavations, interviews, or other information obtained through connection with an Indigenous group), must include a statement from them indicating they have been informed and consent to the data being published.

Structured Methods

As the traditional Materials and Methods section often includes insufficient detail for readers to wholly assess the research process, the journal encourages authors to publish detailed descriptions of their structured methods in open, online platforms such as protocols.io. By providing a step-by-step description of the methods used in the study, the chance of reproducibility and usability increases, whilst also allowing authors to build on their own works and gain additional credit and citations.

Open Code

If research includes the use of software code, statistical analysis or algorithms then we also recommend that authors upload the as supplementary data or to an online repository such as GitHub.

For more information on how to incorporate open data, protocols.io or code into a submission, please visit our reproducibility page.

Preprint Policy

The author retains copyright to the preprint and developed works from it, and is permitted to submit it to the journal.

The author declares that a preprint is available within the cover letter presented during submission. This must include a link to the location of the preprint.

The author acknowledges that having a preprint publicly available means that the journal cannot guarantee the anonymity of the author during any review process, even if they anonymise the submitted files.

Should the submission be published, the authors are expected to update the information associated with the preprint version to show that a final version has been published in the journal, including the DOI linking directly to the publication.

 

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

CAA Proceedings is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of ethical conduct in scholarly publishing. We follow the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and meet the ethical requirements set out by Scopus for indexed journals. This statement outlines the responsibilities of editors, authors, reviewers, and the publisher in maintaining publication integrity.

1. Editorial Responsibilities

• Fair and Objective Decisions
  Editors assess manuscripts based solely on scholarly merit, relevance to the journal’s aims, originality, and clarity. Decisions are made without bias regarding the authors' race, gender, ethnicity, religion, nationality, or institutional affiliation.

• Confidentiality
  All submissions are treated as confidential. Editors will not disclose any information about a manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, or journal staff.

• Conflict of Interest
  Editors must not use unpublished material disclosed in submitted manuscripts for their own research without written permission from the author.

• Publication Decisions
  The Editor-in-Chief has full authority to accept or reject manuscripts based on the results of peer review and the journal’s editorial policies.

2. Author Responsibilities

• Originality and Plagiarism
  Authors must ensure their submissions are original works and appropriately cite or quote the work of others. All submissions are screened for plagiarism.

• Multiple Submissions
  Manuscripts must not be submitted to more than one journal simultaneously. Duplicate or redundant submissions will be rejected.

• Acknowledgement of Sources
  Authors must properly acknowledge all sources of data, ideas, or methods used in the research.

• Authorship and Contributions
  Authorship should be limited to those who have significantly contributed to the research. All contributors should be listed and agree to the final version of the manuscript.

• Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest
  Authors must disclose any financial or personal conflicts of interest that could influence the findings or interpretation of their manuscript.

• Data Availability
  Authors may be asked to provide the raw data for editorial review and should retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

3. Reviewer Responsibilities

• Confidentiality
  Reviewers must treat all manuscripts as confidential documents and must not share or discuss them with others.

• Objectivity
  Reviews must be conducted objectively and constructively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate.

• Recognition of Sources
  Reviewers should identify relevant works that have not been cited by the authors.

• Conflict of Interest
  Reviewers must decline to review manuscripts if they have conflicts of interest with the authors or institutions involved.

4. Publisher Responsibilities

• Editorial Independence
  The publisher respects the editorial independence of CAA Proceedings and supports editors in upholding publication ethics.

• Addressing Misconduct
  In cases of suspected or confirmed misconduct (e.g., plagiarism, data fabrication, or unethical research), the publisher will work with the editorial board to investigate and take appropriate action, which may include retraction or correction.

5. Handling of Complaints and Appeals

The journal will respond promptly to complaints and will investigate all concerns regarding ethical misconduct following COPE guidelines. Appeals and disputes related to editorial decisions will be handled transparently and fairly.

COPE

The journal is committed to following Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines for publication ethics and malpractice.

ORCID

The journal strongly recommends that all authors submitting a paper register an account with Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier (ORCID). Registration provides a unique and persistent digital identifier for the account that enables accurate attribution and improves the discoverability of published papers, ensuring that the correct author receives the correct credit for their work. As the ORCID remains the same throughout the lifetime of the account, changes of name, affiliation, or research area do not effect the discoverability of an author's past work and aid correspondence with colleagues.

The journal encourages all corresponding authors to include an ORCID within their submitting author data whilst co-authors are recommended to include one. ORCID numbers should be added to the author data upon submission and will be published alongside the submitted paper, should it be accepted.

Authorship

All listed authors must qualify as such, as defined in our authorship guidelines, which have been developed from the ICMJE definitions. All authors must have given permission to be listed on the submitted paper.

A section on author contributions should be included within the submitted paper using the CRediT taxonomy. This section will be removed for any blind peer-review.

Competing Interests, Funding and Ethics

To ensure transparency, all authors, reviewers and editors are required to declare any interests that could compromise, conflict or influence the validity of the publication. Competing interests guidelines can be viewed here.

In addition, authors are required to specify funding sources and detail requirements for ethical research in the submitted manuscript (see Author Guidelines). All authors must confirm that they fit the definition of an author (see Author Guidelines), during submission.

Corrections and Retractions

In accordance with guidelines from the Committee on Publication Ethics (where applicable), the editors handle different kinds of error. All articles have their proofs checked prior to publication by the author/editor, which should ensure that content errors are not present. Please contact the journal if you believe an article needs correcting.

Post-publication changes to the publication are not permitted unless in exceptional circumstances. If an error is discovered in a published article then the editors will assess whether a Correction paper or Retraction is required.

Appeals, Complaints & Misconduct

Appeals, complaints, or allegations of misconduct will be taken with utmost seriousness, regardless of whether those involved are internal or external to the journal, or whether the submission in question is pre- or post-publication. If an allegation is made to the journal, it must also be passed on to the supporting agency (New Zealand Archaeology Association), who will follow guidelines from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) on how to address the nature of the problem.

Should an individual wish to submit an appeal, complaint or raise an issue of potential misconduct regarding the journal or its content, they should then contact the editor and/or the New Zealand Archaeology Association to explain their concerns.

Expected behaviour

The journal does not tolerate abusive behaviour or correspondence towards its staff, academic editors, authors, or reviewers. Any person engaged with the journal who resorts to abusive behaviour or correspondence will have their contribution immediately withdrawn and future engagement with the journal will be at the discretion of the editor and/or supporting agency.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.