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Journal of Material Culture

Journal of Material Culture


eISSN: 14603586 | ISSN: 13591835 | Current volume: 28 | Current issue: 3 Frequency: Quarterly

Journal of Material Culture explores the relationship between artefacts and social relations. It draws on a range of disciplines including anthropology, archaeology, design studies, history, human geography and museology.

"this journal is a good place to find the meat for seminar discussions, and should also be required browsing for students seeking new perspectives on artefacts as well as ways to study and view material culture in the field... There are good thoughts, good methodologies and good ideas to be found here for a wide range of people." Antiquity (Catherine S Fowler, University of Nevada)

The Journal of Material Culture is a peer reviewed, interdisciplinary journal, designed to cater for the increasing interest in material culture studies. It is concerned with the relationship between artefacts and social relations irrespective of time and place and aims to systematically explore the linkage between the construction of social identities and the production and use of culture.

The Journal of Material Culture transcends traditional disciplinary and cultural boundaries drawing on a wide range of disciplines including anthropology, archaeology, design studies, history, human geography, museology and ethnography. It aims to promote and develop a general comparative and international perspective by publishing papers on theory and methodology, interpretive strategies and substantive studies of key themes and issues.

Editor in Chief
Dr Timothy Carroll University College London, UK
Christopher Pinney University College London, UK
Antonia Walford University College London, UK
Managing Editors
Dr Rik Adriaans University College London, UK
Dr Ana Carolina Balthazar University College London, UK
Victor Buchli University College London, UK
Ludovic Couypaye University College London, UK
Adam Drazin University College London, UK
Haidy Geismar University College London, UK
Hannah Knox University College London, UK
Susanne Kuechler University College London, UK
Daniel Miller University College London, UK
Christopher Pinney University College London, UK
Rafael Schacter University College London, UK
Christopher Tilley University College London, UK
Editorial Assistant
Razvan Nicolescu University College London, UK
Editorial Board
Paul Basu University College London, UK
Debbora Battaglia University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Russell W Belk York University, Canada
Richard Bradley University of Reading, UK
Victor Buchli University College London, UK
James Clifford University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
Paolo Favero Universiteit Antwerp, Belgium
Pedro Paulo L. Funari University of Campinas, Brazil
Faye Ginsburg New York University, USA
Kevin Hetherington Open University, UK
Ian Hodder Stanford University, USA
Janet Hoskins University of Southern California, USA
Caroline Humphrey University of Hull, UK
Peter Jackson University of Sheffield, UK
Webb Keane University of Michigan, USA
Hannah Knox University College London, UK
Bruno Latour  
Orvar Löfgren Lund University, Sweden
John Mack University of East Anglia, UK
David McDougall Australian National University, Australia
W J T Mitchell University of Chicago, USA
Howard Morphy Centre for Cross-Cultural Research, Australian National University, Australia
Nancy Munn University of Chicago, USA
Ashis Nandy Indian Council of Social Science Research, India
Michael O'Hanlon Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, UK
Bjonor Olsen University of Tromso, Norway
Susan Pearce University of Leicester, UK
Christopher Pinney University College London, UK
Mike Rowlands University College London, UK
Jane Schneider City University of New York, USA
Anthony Shelton University of British Columbia, Canada
Patricia Spyer Universiteit Leiden, The Netherlands
Peter Stallybrass University of Pennsylvania, USA
Julian Thomas University of Manchester, UK
Nicholas J. Thomas Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge, UK
Chris Tilley University College London, UK
Dell Upton University of California, Berkeley, USA
Monika Wagner University of Hamburg, Germany
Antonia Walford University College London, UK
Jean-Pierre Warnier Universite de Paris, France
Graeme Were University College London, UK
Richard Wilk Indiana University, USA
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  •  Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Journal of Material Culture

    Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jmcu to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.

    Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Journal of Material Culture will be reviewed.

    There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.

    As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that Journal of Material Culture may accept submissions of papers that have been posted on pre-print servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines) and include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the journal's author archiving policy. If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.

    1. What do we publish?
      1.1 Aims & Scope
      1.2 Article types
      1.3 Writing your paper
    2. Editorial policies
      2.1 Peer review policy
      2.2 Authorship
      2.3 Acknowledgements
      2.4 Funding
      2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
      2.6 Data
    3. Publishing policies
      3.1 Publication ethics
      3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
      3.3 Open access and author archiving
    4. Preparing your manuscript
      4.1 Formatting
      4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
      4.3 Supplemental material
      4.4 Reference style
      4.5 English language editing services
    5. Submitting your manuscript
      5.1 ORCID
      5.2 Information required for completing your submission
      5.3 Permissions
    6. On acceptance and publication
      6.1 Sage Production
      6.2 Online First publication
      6.3 Access to your published article
      6.4 Promoting your article
    7. Further information

    1. What do we publish?

    1.1 Aims & Scope

    Before submitting your manuscript to Journal of Material Culture, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.

    1.2 Article Types

    Journal of Material Culture transcends traditional disciplinary and cultural boundaries, drawing on disciplines of anthropology, archaeology, design studies, history, human geography, museology and ethnography. It aims to promote and develop a general comparative and international perspective by publishing articles and review essays on theory and methodology, interpretive strategies and substantive studies of key themes and issues.

    1.3 Writing your paper

    The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.

    1.3.1 Make your article discoverable

    When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.

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    2. Editorial policies

    2.1 Peer review policy

    Journal of Material Culture operates a strictly anonymized peer review process in which the reviewer’s name is withheld from the author and, the author’s name from the reviewer. The reviewer may at their own discretion opt to reveal their name to the author in their review but our standard policy practice is for both identities to remain concealed. Peer Review Process: Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two referees. All manuscripts are reviewed as rapidly as possible, and an editorial decision is generally reached within 4 weeks of review.

    As part of the submission process you will be asked to provide the names of X peers who could be called upon to review your manuscript. Recommended reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Please be aware of any conflicts of interest when recommending reviewers. Examples of conflicts of interest include (but are not limited to) the below: 

      • The reviewer should have no prior knowledge of your submission
      • The reviewer should not have recently collaborated with any of the authors
      • Reviewer nominees from the same institution as any of the authors are not permitted

    Please note that the Editors are not obliged to invite any recommended/opposed reviewers to assess your manuscript.

    2.2 Authorship

    All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.

    Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

    2.3 Acknowledgements

    All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

    2.3.1 Third party submissions

    Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

    • Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
    • Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
    • Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

    Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.

    2.3.2 Writing assistance

    Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance”).

    It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

    Any acknowledgements should appear first at the end of your article prior to your Declaration of Conflicting Interests (if applicable), any notes and your References.

    2.4 Funding

    Journal of Material Culture requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. 

    2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

    Journal of Material Culture encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.

    2.6 Research data

    The journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages.

    Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to:

    • share your research data in a relevant public data repository
    • include a data availability statement linking to your data. If it is not possible to share your data, we encourage you to consider using the statement to explain why it cannot be shared.
    • cite this data in your research

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    3. Publishing Policies

    3.1 Publication ethics

    Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.

    3.1.1 Plagiarism

    Journal of Material Culture and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

    3.1.2 Prior publication

    If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

    3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement

    Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway.

    3.3 Open access and author archiving

    Journal of Material Culture offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.

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    4. Preparing your manuscript for submission

    4.1 Formatting

    The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

    4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

    For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines.  

    Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.

    4.3 Supplemental material

    Journal of Material Culture does not currently accept supplemental files.

    4.4 Reference style

    Journal of Material Culture adheres to the Sage Harvard reference style. View the Sage Harvard guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

    If you use EndNote to manage references, you can download the Sage Harvard EndNote output file..

    4.5 English language editing services

    Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

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    5. Submitting your manuscript

    Journal of Material Culture is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jmcu to login and submit your article online.

    IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created.  For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help

    New Submission

    Submissions should be made by logging in and selecting the Author Center and the 'Click here to Submit a New Manuscript' option. Follow the instructions on each page, clicking the 'Next' button on each screen to save your work and advance to the next screen. If at any stage you have any questions or require the user guide, please use the 'Get Help Now' button at the top right of every screen. Further help is available through ScholarOne's® Manuscript CentralTM customer support at +1 434 817 2040 x 167.

    To upload your files, click on the 'Browse' button and locate the file on your computer. Select the designation of each file (i.e. main document, submission form, figure) in the drop down next to the browse button. When you have selected all files you wish to upload, click the 'Upload Files' button.

    Review your submission (in both PDF and HTML formats) and then click the Submit button

    You may suspend a submission at any point before clicking the Submit button and save it to submit later. After submission, you will receive a confirmation e-mail. You can also log back into your author centre at any time to check the status of your manuscript.

    Please ensure that you submit editable/source files only (Microsoft Word or RTF) and that your document does not include page numbers; the Journal of Material Culture Sage Track system will generate them for you, and then automatically convert your manuscript to PDF for peer review. Furthermore, it is imperative that authors remove from their submissions any information that will identify them or their affiliations to reviewers. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revisions, will be by email.

    If you would like to discuss your paper prior to submission, or seek advice on the submission process please contact the Editorial Assistant, Razvan Nicolescu, at the following email address: ucsajmc@ucl.ac.uk

    No hard copies are required. Word length should be 5-8000 words including notes and references with an abstract of up to 150 words and five key words.

    Titles and section headings should be clear and brief. Lengthy quotations (exceeding 40 words) should be displayed, indented, in the text. UK or US spellings may be used. UK spellings should use the 'z' in words where it has generally replaced the 's', e.g. organize. Indicate italic type by underlining and use single quotation marks. Dates should be in the form 30 March 1996. Take out points in USA and other such abbreviations and do not use points after Dr, Mr, Mrs, etc. When referring to pagination and dates use the fewest numerals possible (e.g. 10-19, 42-5, 1961-4, 1978-85).

    Tables and figures should have short descriptive titles. All footnotes to tables and their source(s) should be typed below the tables. Column headings should clearly define the data presented. Camera-ready artwork must be supplied for all figures. Artwork intended for same-size use should be maximum 180:115 mm (page depth: page width); oversized artwork to follow the same proportions.

    AUTHORS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OBTAINING PERMISSIONS FROM COPYRIGHT HOLDERS for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere.

    FOOTNOTES SHOULD BE AVOIDED.

    5.1 ORCID

    As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

    The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

    If you do not already have an ORCID iD please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

    5.2 Information required for completing your submission

    You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

    5.3 Permissions

    Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway.

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    6. On acceptance and publication

    6.1 Sage Production

    Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit or by email, and corrections should be made directly or notified to us promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.

    6.2 Online First publication

    Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.

    6.3 Access to your published article

    Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.

    6.4 Promoting your article

    Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.

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    7. Further information

    The Editors consider proposals for Special Issues each November. Proposals should be sent to the Editorial Assistant by 1st of October. Further information, including specifications on what should be included in the proposal, can be found here.

    Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Journal of Material Culture editorial office as follows:

    Editorial Assistant, Razvan Nicolescu: ucsajmc@ucl.ac.uk

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