About Us

The Ancient History Bulletin was born in Calgary in 1987, as a result of the efforts of Brian M. Lavelle, John Vanderspoel and Waldemar Heckel, and with the trust and support of our generous original subscribers, most of whom are still contributing to the journal’s success.

After the publication of Volume 26, AHB moved to St. Olaf College and shifted to Open Access Status (see policy statement, below).  Volume 27 (2013) is the first to have been produced under the new editorial regime.

ISSN 0835-3638

Editorial Board:

Timothy Howe (St. Olaf College), Senior Editor
Conor Whatley (University of Winnipeg), Reviews Editor

Edward Anson (University of Arkansas, Little Rock)
Catalina Balmaceda (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile), South American Editor
Monica D’Agostini (Università degli studi di Bergamo), European Editor
Andrea Gatzke (SUNY, New Paltz)
Alex McAuley (Cardiff University), UK Editor
Sabine Müller (Marburg Universität), European Editor
Nandini Pandey (Johns Hopkins University)
John Vanderspoel (University of Calgary)
Pat Wheatley (University of Western Australia), Australasian Editor

Charlotte Dunn (Otago University), Assistant Editor

 

Open Access Policy

AHB is a Green Open Access Journal that produces content under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License24 months after publication articles are freely accessible in an institutional or subject archive or some other document repository selected by the authors.

Creative Commons License

Peer Review Policy

Following 
submission, an
 article is 
reviewed as 
follows: The Senior Editor 
assesses the
 article
 and
 decides 
whether
 it
 should be declined immediately or sent for
 double-blind peer-review 
by
 specialist academic 
referees. If
 the article is not declined
 immediately, it
 will
 be sent 
to two
 specialist 
referees. Following
 receipt 
of
 the
 referees’
 reports, 
the
 article 
is 
reassessed 
by
 the
 Senior Editor. 
At 
this
 stage,
 the article
 may 
be: (a) 
accepted 
subject 
to 
minor 
revisions,
 (b)
 returned 
for 
major
 revisions 
ahead 
of
 resubmission 
and
 re-review,
 if
 the
 editor 
believes 
that
 the 
article 
has
 merits 
and 
would
 benefit
 
AHB 
but 
has 
problems
 which
 mean
 that
 it is 
not
 yet
 ready 
for
 publication,
 or (c)
 declined.  Author(s)
 will
 be
 sent
 the 
referees’
 reports,
 whether 
the 
article
 is 
accepted
 or 
not. Revised
 versions
 of
 articles accepted 
subject to
 minor 
revisions
 or returned
 for major
 revisions
 ahead 
of
 resubmission 
must
 address 
all
 the 
issues 
raised
 in
 the
 initial
 report
 and 
authors
 must provide 
explanations
 for
 any suggested 
revisions
 they 
feel
 unable 
to
 undertake.

There
 will
 be
 only 
one
 opportunity 
for
 a re‐review
 in
 the
 case
 of revisions
 being
 requested.

Articles
 that 
have
 been 
subject
 to 
major 
revisions 
will
 usually 
be 
sent
 to
 referees 
for
 re-evaluation.

The 
Senior Editor
 aims
 to
 complete
 the 
initial
 review 
of
 an 
article
 within
 three months
 of 
submission. 
However,
 please
 be 
aware
 that
 the
 refereeing 
process
 relies 
on
 extremely 
busy
 academics 
and
 that
 it
 is
 not 
always 
possible
 to 
adhere 
to 
this 
timetable.

Publication Process

Once
 an
 article
 has 
been 
accepted
 the
 author(s) 
should
 submit
 the 
final
 text, 
tables
 and 
print‐quality
 figures 
to
 the
 Senior Editor
 who
 will
 pass
 on
 the
 material
 to
 the
 Area Editor.
 
 Where
 required,
 authors
 will
 receive
 notification
 of
 “acceptance”
 for Open
 Access 
purposes
 at 
this
 stage. A 
first
 proof
 will
 be 
sent, as 
a
 pdf
 file.
 This 
will
 consist
 of
 the
 copy‐edited 
text,
 followed
 by 
any 
figures
 and
 tables. 
Queries
 from the
 Area 
Editor
 will
 be 
embedded
 within 
the
 file 
and
 highlighted
 using AdobeReaderTM.
 At
 this 
stage,
 authors
 are
 expected
 not
 to
 request
 any
 changes 
to 
the
 text,
 tables 
or
 figures 
aside
 from
 those
 necessitated in 
response 
to
 queries
 from 
the
 Area Editor.

Authors 
are 
responsible
 for
 the
 completeness
 and 
accuracy
 of
 proof 
corrections. A
 final
 proof
 will
 then
 be 
prepared
 with
 any
 figures 
and
 tables
 placed 
within
 the
 article.
 Authors
 will
 be
 sent 
a 
copy
 as
 a 
pdf
 file
 but
 are
 expected
 not 
to
 request
 any
 changes
 aside 
from
 any 
final spelling
 or 
grammatical
 corrections,
 or 
corrections
 of 
fact.

The
 article
 will
 then 
be 
published, 
initially
 on
 AHB’s 
24-month embargoed platform 
(at 
which
 point
 authors
 will
 be
 sent
 the pdf
 free
 of
 charge 
to 
provide
 offprints).

Copyright and Reproduction Policy

Authors 
publishing 
in 
the Ancient History Bulletin 
will retain copyright to their work according to the terms laid out by the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Authors
 are 
also 
asked,
 should 
the 
article 
be
 accepted
 for
 publication 
in
 the 
Ancient History Bulletin, 
to
 confirm
 that
 the
 article 
is
 an
 original
 work
 and 
is
 in
 no 
way
 whatever 
an 
infringement 
of
 any 
existing 
copyright,
 and
 that 
it
 contains
 nothing 
libelous.
 If 
an
 article includes textual or illustrative material not in the
 author’s copyright and not covered by fair use/fair dealing, permission must be
 obtained by the author from the relevant copyright owner for the non‐exclusive right to reproduce the material worldwide in all
 forms and media, including electronic publication. The
 author
 shall be 
held 
responsible 
for
 paying 
any 
fees
 required
 as
 a 
condition
 for
 obtaining
 such
 permission.
 Authors
 should
 initially
 seek
 the
 permission
 of
 the 
publisher
 to
 reproduce
 copyrighted
 material
 that
 has
 been 
published.
 For
 unpublished
 material, 
authors
 should
 seek 
permission
 of
 the 
owners,
 whether 
individuals
 or 
institutions.
 Please
 note
 that
 permission should 
also 
be
 sought, 
from 
the 
institution 
in
 which
 the
 original 
is 
held, 
to 
publish
 an 
author’s
 personal
 photographs
 of
 material
 held 
in
 the
 collections
 of 
museums, 
libraries,
 
etc.
 The relevant permission correspondence should be submitted by the author to the Senior Editor when first proofs are returned.

Ethical Expectations:

A) Editors’ responsibilities:

  • To act in a balanced, objective and fair way while carrying out their expected duties, without discrimination on grounds of gender, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, ethnic or geographical origin of the authors.
  • To handle submissions for sponsored supplements or special issues in the same way as other submissions, so that articles are considered and accepted solely on their academic merit and without commercial influence.
  • To adopt and follow reasonable procedures in the event of complaints of an ethical or conflict nature, in accordance with the policies and procedures of the Society where appropriate.To give authors a reasonable opportunity to respond to any complaints. All complaints should be investigated no matter when the original publication was approved. Documentation associated with any such complaints should be retained.

B) Reviewers’ responsibilities:

  • To contribute to the decision-making process, and to assist in improving the quality of the published paper by reviewing the manuscript objectively, in a timely manner.
  • To maintain the confidentiality of any information supplied by the editor or author. To not retain or copy the manuscript.
  • To alert the editor to any published or submitted content that is substantially similar to that under review.
  • To be aware of any potential conflicts of interest (financial, institutional, collaborative or other relationships between the reviewer and author) and to alert the editor to these, if necessary withdrawing their services for that manuscript.

C) Authors’ responsibilities:

  • To maintain accurate records of data associated with their submitted manuscript, and to supply or provide access to these data, on reasonable request. Where appropriate and where allowed by employer, funding body and others who might have an interest, to deposit data in a suitable repository or storage location, for sharing and further use by others.
  • To confirm/assert that the manuscript as submitted is not under consideration or accepted for publication elsewhere. Where portions of the content overlap with published or submitted content, to acknowledge and cite those sources. Additionally, to provide the editor with a copy of any submitted manuscript that might contain overlapping or closely related content.
  • To confirm that all the work in the submitted manuscript is original and to acknowledge and cite content reproduced from other sources.
  • To obtain permission to reproduce any content from other sources.
  • Authors should ensure that any studies involving human or animal subjects conform to national, local and institutional laws and requirements (e.g. WMA Declaration of Helsinki, NIH Policy on Use of Laboratory Animals, EU Directive on Use of Animals) and confirm that approval has been sought and obtained where appropriate. Authors should obtain express permission from human subjects and respect their privacy.
  • To declare any potential conflicts of interest (e.g. where the author has a competing interest (real or apparent) that could be considered or viewed as exerting an undue influence on his or her duties at any stage during the publication process).
  • To notify promptly the journal editor or publisher if a significant error in their publication is identified. To cooperate with the editor and publisher to publish an erratum, addendum, corrigendum notice, or to retract the paper, where this is deemed necessary.

Procedures for Dealing with Unethical Behavior

AHB does not encourage research misconduct of any kind, or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place. The Editors of the Ancient History Bulletin take all reasonable steps to prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred.

Identification of unethical behavior:

The Editors of AHB shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, including plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification/fabrication, among others.

  • Misconduct and unethical behaviour may be identified and brought to the attention of the editor and publisher at any time, by anyone.
  • Misconduct and unethical behaviour may include, but need not be limited to, examples as outlined above.
  • Whoever informs the editor or publisher of such conduct should provide sufficient information and evidence in order for an investigation to be initiated. All allegations should be taken seriously and treated in the same way, until a successful decision or conclusion is reached.

Investigation:

In the event that the Editorial Board of AHB are made aware of any allegation of research misconduct the allegations will be examined by a misconduct subcommittee composed of no less than 3 editors selected by the Senior Editor (to correct for any possible conflict of interest) to determine their accuracy and suggest next steps as follows:

(1) Evidence should be gathered, while avoiding spreading any allegations beyond those who need to know.
(2) The misconduct subcommittee shall take all allegations and suspicions of misconduct seriously, but will recognize that they do not usually have either the legal legitimacy or the means to conduct investigations into serious cases.
(3) The misconduct subcommittee shall determine the degree of misconduct (minor or serious) and inform the Senior Editor of their conclusions.
(4) If the subcommittee is presented with convincing evidence—perhaps by reviewers—of serious misconduct, the subcommittee shall confidentially seek expert advice.
(5) If the experts find no evidence of serious misconduct, the subcommittee shall make a recommendation to the Senior Editor regarding dismissal of the charges or further investigation.

Minor breaches:

Minor misconduct might be dealt with without the need to consult more widely. In any event, the author should be given the opportunity to respond to any allegations.

Serious breaches:

Serious misconduct might require that the employers of the accused be notified. The Senior editor, in consultation with the Editorial Board as appropriate, should make the decision whether or not to involve the employers, either by examining the available evidence themselves or by further consultation with a limited number of experts.

Outcomes (in increasing order of severity; may be applied separately or in conjunction):

If the misconduct subcommittee has found evidence of research misconduct sanctions may be applied separately or combined. The following are ranked in approximate order of severity:

(1) A letter of explanation (and education) to the authors, where there appears to be a genuine misunderstanding of principles.
(2) A letter of reprimand and warning as to future conduct.
(3) A formal letter to the relevant head of institution or funding body.
(4) Publication of a notice of redundant publication or plagiarism.
(5) An editorial giving full details of the misconduct.
(6) Refusal to accept future submissions from the individual, unit, or institution responsible for the misconduct, for a stated period.
(7) Formal withdrawal or retraction of the paper from the scientific literature.

– In the event of typographical, editing or imaging errors, AHB shall publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when needed.