Editorial

Abstract

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 2020; Viglione 2020). 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 2020) and the topical Dark Emu debate (Porr and Vivian-Williams 2021), 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.