Publications: Information for Authors


PCAS publishes the Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly. This is a peer-reviewed journal publishing papers in the field of archaeology and related disciplines concerning the Pacific Coast and adjacent areas.

Submissions

Papers submitted for publication may not be previously published or be submitted elsewhere concurrently. Authors are required to submit each of the following to be considered for publication:

  1. An electronic MS Word file (preferred) of the paper (including an abstract and all tables). References are required to be formatted as noted under Organization below. Please note special requirements for human skeletal materials under Organization below.
  2. Electronic copies of figures at high resolution must be in grayscale (no color). All photos must include metric bars when appropriate.
  3. An electronic list of keywords for the submitted article.
  4. A signed Publication Agreement & Copyright License by email. Please read carefully before you submit. No changes are permitted.
  5. An electronic short bibliography statement (not to exceed 75 words) for each author for the About Authors section.
  6. Electronic suggestions for 3 or more reviewers qualified to review the paper with their email addresses.

Incomplete submission packages may be returned without review. Manuscripts are published in the approximate order of receipt within the limits of space demands, issue balance, and needs of time-related material. Submit individual manuscripts to Publications@pcas.org or PCAS, Publications Committee, PO Box 10926, Costa Mesa, CA 92627.

Guest editors organize the manuscripts for an entire issue, usually around a single topic or focus. The guest editor may help authors prepare their manuscripts, will complete the peer review for the papers in the issue, and will communicate closely with the Publications Committee.

Organization

PCAS has adopted the American Antiquity Style Guide.

Articles submitted which include skeletal analysis are required to meet the minimum data specified in Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains, Jane E. Buikstra and Douglas H. Ubelaker (eds), Arkansas Archeological Survey Research Series No. 1, Fayetteville, 1994 and to reference the standardized analytic rankings for sex and age determination.

Review Process

Manuscripts are reviewed twice for content and only after all requirements have been met. The first review is conducted by members of the Publications Committee, with the purpose of providing feedback to authors as soon as possible. Articles may be returned for unformatted references or lack of any of the required components of a submittal (listed above). The manuscript may be returned for corrections and additions, or it may be returned with suggestions for publication in other journals with more appropriate subject areas.

After the manuscript has been determined to contain original information that would be of interest to our readers, it is sent to reviewers outside the Publications Committee who are familiar with the topic or study area. These reviewers may be anonymous. The outside peer reviewers may suggest changes or have comments. Reviewers' comments are provided to the authors along with an evaluation summary and a tentative decision to accept or deny publication. For long articles, reviewers comments may be returned to the author in a “track changes” document.

The author will make any necessary revisions of the manuscript after receiving peer-review comments and editing notes. The author will send the final version electronically. Formatting for publication may catch grammar or other errors, and these will be noted in the galley proof sent to the author.