ABOUT

The Journal of Old World Trade and Interaction aims to address key issues and enhance our understanding of ancient trade route regions across Afro-Eurasia. Our primary focus is on trade and exchange, transport and migration, interaction and communication, culture, and the preservation of minorities and heritage in the face of civil wars and globalisation. We focus on wide-ranging trade routes including the Silk Roads, the Spice Routes, the Incense Routes, the Amber Roads, the Tea Horse Roads, the Salt Routes, the Trans-Saharan Trade Routes, and the Tin Routes. To further our aim, we stand by;

Standardising collaboration across academic fields
Maintaining an active journal website
Collaborating with heritage institutions, partners and colleagues to influence public policies related to heritage and minority at-risk
Promoting the past of the ancient trade routes through new research and public engagement

The journal offers a distinctive platform for wide-ranging scholars engaged in theoretical and empirical research, facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration and engagement worldwide.

Manuscripts we consider include research articles, editorial and commentaries, short communications and brief reports, reviews and case studies.

We welcome submissions covering historic Afro-Eurasian overland and maritime trade regions as well as those focusing on the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on heritage, societies and the environment. This includes, but is not limited to:

Archaeology: trade, connectivity and migration, genome-wide analysis of historic diversity, distribution and diffusion of cultural traits, material culture, archaeology of ethnicity, tangible and intangible heritage studies, heritage management, scientific techniques, forensic archaeology, maritime archaeology, bioarchaeology, conflict archaeology, industrial archaeology.

History: history of trade, slave trade, material culture, history of ethnicity, cultural history.

Anthropology: ancient religions, intangible heritage, cultural exchange, distribution and diffusion of cultural traits.

Sociology: minority groups, economics and social change, race, religion and globalisation.

The Journal of Old World Trade and Interaction offers Diamond Open Access without author fees.

3. Publication Frequency

This online journal operates on a volume and issue system and is published throughout the year. Any manuscripts submitted and accepted after a particular issue has been published, will be included in the journal’s ‘Early View’ section and formally published in the subsequent issue.

4. Archiving, Indexing and Dissemination

This journal utilises CERN data archiving systems to ensure the accessibility and long-term preservation of all publications. It is currently indexed by Zenodo, Google Scholar, OpenAIRE and with pending approval from OAJI. Our article XML further, adheres to the Journal Archiving Tag Suite (JATS) schema, ensuring the standards for archiving and accessibility.

As the journal continues to grow, we will enhance indexing to reflect the expansion. If your preferred indexing service is not listed, we encourage you to contact us or submit a request directly to the relevant database.

We support open access publishing to ensure that policymakers, educators, and the public understand and apply our publication findings. Our journal platform allows readers to leave comments directly on the publication pages. We allow the submission of preprints before peer review, which facilitates faster dissemination of research results. Additionally, our digital preservation network ensures that all published works are securely preserved, indexed, and made publicly accessible.

5. Editorial Policies

Article selection process

The peer review process starts with submitting your research manuscript to an appropriate scholarly journal. Check if our journal matches your study’s scope and follow our author guidelines and formatting requirements. Once your manuscript is ready, submit it through our journal’s online system.

Stage One: Once the manuscript is submitted, one of our editors conducts an initial assessment, which involves evaluating if your manuscript aligns with the journal’s scope, its overall quality, and compliance with formatting guidelines. If the manuscript meets these criteria, it will move on to the next step. However, if it is determined to be unsuitable for publication, it may be rejected at this stage, and the researcher will receive a rejection notification.

Stage Two: Once the manuscript passes the initial assessment, your paper will be peer-reviewed by an anonymous researcher in our editorial team. The reviewers are chosen based on their expertise and ability to provide constructive feedback.

Stage Three: Reviewers first assess the content, methodology, originality, and significance of your manuscript. Secondly, they evaluate strengths and weaknesses, identify any errors or gaps in the research, and provide constructive feedback to improve the study. Reviewers may additionally recommend revisions, additional results, or further analyses if necessary. The review process is time-framed, details of which can be found in our journal’s policies.

Stage Four: The reviewers submit reports to editors in chief, who decide on the manuscript based on their feedback. The decisions generally fit into four categories: a) Acceptance with no revisions necessary; b) Minor revisions before acceptance; c) Major revisions and further review, or d) Rejection where the manuscript is unsuitable for publication.

Stage Five: If revisions are needed, the researcher revises the manuscript and resubmits it together with a response letter explaining the changes.

Stage Six: After receiving the revised manuscript, the editor re-evaluates it with the provided responses. If necessary, the manuscript may be returned to the reviewers for further assessment. The editor makes the final decision based on the reviewers’ recommendations and the revisions. If accepted, the manuscript undergoes copyediting, typesetting, and proofreading before official publication in the journal.

Article Selection Criteria

Submissions align with the established Scope, Aims and Focus
Submissions contribute to the relevant field through originality, findings, and/or methodology
Submissions adhere to the Policy on Prior Publications
Submissions comply with the Reproducibility Policy
Submissions meet Authorship Guidelines
Submissions adhere to Manuscript Guidelines
Submissions align with the Ethics and Integrity Policy

Authorship Guidelines

This journal adheres to the authorship definition set forth by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which includes four essential criteria:

1. Substantial contributions to:

Conception or design of the work; or
Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data

2. Drafting the work or critically revising it for important intellectual content

3. Final approval of the version to be published

4. Accountability for all aspects of the work, ensuring integrity and resolution of any issues

For detailed guidelines on non-author contributors please refer to the ICMJE standards.

Managing changes to the authorship list

It is important to review the author list and ensure that all relevant contributors are included. The journal only considers author changes for clear and documented reasons before manuscript acceptance. All original and additional authors must sign a letter stating the reason for the change, certifying that they agree to the addition, removal, or reordering of authors. The journal editors will not consider requests for authorship changes after manuscript acceptance.

Disclosure of Financial Relationships and Conflicts of Interest

Authors of accepted manuscripts must disclose: 1) Authors’ relationships and activities; 2) Sources of support, including sponsor names and their roles in study design, data collection, report writing, and publication restrictions; and 3. Authors’ access to study data, detailing the nature and extent of that access. Authors with institutional funding are required to sign a statement confirming full data access and responsibility for the data integrity and accuracy.

The journal requires all authors to disclose any competing interests or conflicts of interest related to their submitted manuscripts to ensure transparency. Authors must include a section titled “Statement of Conflict of Interest” inside the manuscript before submission.

Disclosure of Artificial Intelligence Assisted Technology

At the time of submission, authors must disclose any use of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted technologies, including Large Language Models (LLMs), chatbots, or image generation tools. If applicable, authors should describe their usage in the appropriate sections of their work. For instance, AI assistance in writing should be noted in the acknowledgement section, while AI used for data collection or analysis must be detailed in the methods section. Chatbots, such as ChatGPT, cannot be listed as authors, as they are not accountable for the work’s accuracy and originality. Authors must ensure that AI technologies are not included as authors or co-authors and must confirm that their paper is free from plagiarism, including AI-generated content.

ORCID

Corresponding authors are encouraged to include their ORCID during submission, with co-authors also recommended to do so, as these identifiers will be published alongside accepted articles, facilitating better recognition and communication within the research community.

Preprints

Authors are encouraged to openly disclose any preprint submissions in their cover letters at the time of submission. The submission of early manuscript versions is subject to the following conditions:

1. The preprint must not have undergone formal peer review.

2. The preprint is declared in the cover letter, which also includes a link to its location.

3. Upon publication of the article, the preprint establishes a clear link to the published version (e.g., through a DOI).

4. The author maintains copyright for the preprint and is permitted to submit to the journal.

5. The author accepts that making the preprint publicly available may affect their anonymity during the review process.

Policy on Prior Publications

The journal only accepts original work that has not been published elsewhere (both the manuscript and the results), and is not currently under consideration elsewhere. Authors submitting a manuscript must inform the editor of any previous dissemination of the content, whether in print or electronic format. Abstracts, academic theses and electronic preprints are not regarded as prior publications.

Reproducibility Policy

Publication alone does not guarantee that research findings are reliable. To promote transparency and reproducibility, we encourage authors to publish their datasets alongside their articles. Replication packages, which may include the statistical or computational methods necessary to fully reproduce the results, can be published on open platforms including Domo, MATLAB, Code Ocean, or Alteryx. If, for legal or ethical reasons, data cannot be shared, authors must clearly state the unavailability of the data in the main text of their paper.

Correction and Retraction Policy

The correction policy ensures the accuracy and integrity of published records by addressing errors that affect clarity and reliability. Corrections appear as updates to the original article, clearly indicating their nature. The original article remains unchanged but includes a link to the correction notice.

The retraction policy outlines when a scientific article should be withdrawn due to serious validity or ethical issues. Retractions aim to maintain the integrity of the academic record and prevent the spread of erroneous or unethical content. Retractions are considered after an investigation involving authors, reviewers, and relevant institutions. The editorial board decides to retract an article based on the issue’s severity, in line with COPE guidelines. A retraction notice is published, explaining the reason and indicating that the article should not be considered part of the scientific record. The original article remains available but is marked as retracted, and the notice is linked and indexed in relevant databases to inform readers of the retraction.

Post-publication changes are not permitted to the publication, unless in circumstances relating to factual inaccuracies that affect the data or conclusions being drawn. If an error is discovered in a published article, then the publisher will assess whether a Correction article or Retraction is required. Post-publication changes may be allowed only for factual errors impacting the content. We reserve the right to decide whether to publish a Correction or a Retraction note linked to the article.

Open Access Policy

All manuscripts published in the journal are open access, meaning they are available for everyone to read, download, and share at no cost. Articles are published under a Creative Commons license (About CC Licenses – Creative Commons), which supports the use and distribution of the work and ensures that credit is appropriately given to the original authors.

Competing Interest Policy

A conflict of interest occurs when a personal or institutional interest influences, or appears to influence, the work you are doing. The journal is dedicated to maintaining the independence and integrity of our content and services. It is hence essential for all editors, reviewers, and authors to openly declare any potential conflicts of interest. For authors, this means any conflict with the work or the tasks they have been assigned for the manuscript. Examples of competing interests include

Personal and professional associations with colleagues, friends, or colleagues;
Financial links such as research grants, individual or departmental funds;
Ideological or political views, including academic approaches and collaborations;
Institutional affiliations such as connections to journal editors and reviewers, and;
Non-financial interests, including personal and professional relationships with individuals and organisations.

We ask authors to declare any competing interests from the past five years and those anticipated in the next 12 months. All articles submitted for consideration must include a completed declaration. Once accepted, we will publish statements of declared interests alongside the manuscript. Disclosing potential conflicts of interest is sufficient in most cases. However, some interests, especially financial relationships or contracts, could bias judgment. Disclosed conflicts will be discussed by the assigned board member and evaluated by the relevant editor to determine if the author or reviewer/ editor can continue with the task. Individuals have the right to appeal to the editor-in-chief if deemed disqualified due to a conflict. If a conflict arises after article publication and is not declared, the journal reserves the right to retract the affected manuscript and decide against future collaboration with the individual.

All members of the editorial team must also identify and address competing interests in their work. They should recuse themselves from processes where potential conflicts may arise and declare any authorship in the competing interests statement. Reviewers must decline a paper and disclose any competing interests if they believe that their personal interests could compromise their ability to provide an objective review. Editorial board members are required to update their declarations of interest on an annual basis.

Ethics and Integrity Policy

The journal adheres to the principles of publication ethics outlined in the Core Practices | COPE: Committee on Publication Ethics. We take our responsibility to uphold the integrity of the scientific record seriously, ensuring that every publication reflects our commitment to ethical research and transparency. The journal complies with international sanctions by screening authors and their institutions against EU, UK, and US sanctions lists for submissions from specific territories, and if a match is found, the paper may be withdrawn.

We further follow COPE guidelines on studies involving vulnerable populations to ensure ethical integrity and the protection of participants’ rights, safety, and well-being, as outlined in the Core Practices | COPE: Committee on Publication Ethics. These principles emphasise obtaining informed consent, minimising harm, ensuring confidentiality, and providing additional protections tailored to the specific vulnerabilities of populations such as children, the elderly, or marginalized groups. Adhering to these standards helps maintain research integrity, fosters trust, and upholds ethical responsibilities throughout the research process.

When submitting a manuscript involving live subjects, it is essential to include an ethical statement confirming adherence to ethical guidelines, typically placed in the methods section unless instructed otherwise for double-anonymous journals, where it should be completed in the submission system. The editorial team reviews these statements to ensure they are appropriate; manuscripts lacking a proper ethical statement will be returned and cannot proceed further until an explicit and suitable statement is provided.

When submitting your research article, ensure that you accurately disclose all funding sources related to your work, as this is a key requirement to comply with funder policies and to help editors evaluate potential conflicts of interest.

To uphold integrity, the journal employs plagiarism detection tools to screen all submissions for originality, and the use of generative AI. Authors submitting articles where their work is not original, expressed in their own words, and referenced will be rejected.

When publishing multiple outputs from a single research project, authors must identify each publication and reference the primary one to ensure transparency. Translations and adaptations should explicitly acknowledge the original source, specify the intended audience, and adhere to copyright laws and permissions, seeking approval from the original publisher if there’s any uncertainty.

Our reviewers are obligated to report any suspicions of misconduct, such as plagiarism, duplicate publication, parallel submission, data fabrication, image manipulation, incorrect authorship, conflicts of interest, unethical practices, or offensive content, to the editors for investigation. Any submitted articles containing suspected author misconduct will be rejected.

Appeals and Complaints Policy

The journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and transparency in its publication processes. Appeals and complaints are reviewed impartially by editors with no conflicts of interest. In line with this commitment, the journal adheres to the guidelines of the Core Practices | COPE: Committee on Publication Ethics to ensure that all appeals and complaints are handled fairly, transparently, and efficiently.

A reconsideration of decisions related to the editorial or peer review process must be submitted in writing to info@owti.uk within 15 days of receiving the decision notification. The appeal should explain the reasons why the decision is considered erroneous or unfair and supported by relevant documents. All appeals will be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief and, if necessary, by another editor or an independent reviewer to ensure an objective reassessment. Authors will receive the written outcome of their appeal within 30 days of the appeal submission.

Reviewers, authors, or readers who wish to raise concerns regarding unethical behaviour, biased evaluations, or significant delays in the editorial process may submit their complaints in writing to info@owti.uk and include relevant evidence. If necessary, an independent expert will be consulted and the complaint re-evaluated in accordance with Core Practices | COPE: Committee on Publication Ethics.

6. Journal Ownership

The University of Derby maintains ownership of the Journal’s title, branding, intellectual property, web design, and technical infrastructure.