About the Journal

Focus and Scope

Archivaria is devoted to the scholarly investigation of archives in Canada and internationally. The archival discipline is dedicated to the appraisal, preservation and on-going accessibility of records of enduring value. In support of these objectives, archival research draws on related fields such as history, information science, political science, sociology, law, cultural anthropology, art history, geography, communication and media studies.

Archival thinkers, both practitioners and academics, publish in and read Archivaria as a central English-language forum for scholarly communication in the domain of archives. Archivaria is the most authoritative journal in its field in Canada and is recognized in the archival profession worldwide as a leading journal.

Articles appearing in Archivaria are abstracted and indexed in Scopus, LISA: Library & Information Science Abstracts, Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA), and Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.W. Wilson) among other indexes.

Journal Objectives

Archivaria acts as a bridge of communication among archivists, and between archivists and users of archives. Primarily an English-language journal, Archivaria nevertheless publishes articles in both official languages, and each article published after 1993 is preceded by abstracts in both English and French.

Archivaria has also been the vehicle whereby seminal non-English language articles (e.g. from German, French and Dutch) have been translated and brought to the English-speaking archival world.

About the Members of the Editorial Board

Members of the Archivaria Editorial Board are appointed on the recommendation of the General Editor. The General Editor of Archivaria serves a three-year term (i.e., for six issues). They have complete editorial autonomy and final responsibility for the intellectual content of the journal. They are assisted by a Senior Associate Editor, who becomes General Editor at the end of their term. Other volunteer positions include a Managing Editor, an Online Editor, a French Language Editor, a Book Review Editor, an Exhibition Review Editor, a French Language Book & Exhibition Review Editor, and six to eight general members of the Editorial Board. The (salaried) ACA Executive Director and Membership Services Coordinator provide management and administrative support to the journal.

Nature of Submissions Accepted

The General Editor and Editorial Board encourage submissions from archival scholars from diverse backgrounds on subjects of significance in the domain of archives. Archivaria has published occasional theme issues over the years, but the typical issue will feature articles on a range of topics relevant to archives, commonly on the leading-edge of the archival discipline internationally. For many years now, Archivaria has been the journal of choice for authors, both junior and well-established, wishing to present innovative perspectives on the theories and practices associated with their discipline and its place within society. While some articles originate with papers delivered at the ACA's annual conference, the majority are submitted by researchers drawn by the journal's reputation and rigorous peer review. Other articles derive from direct solicitation from members of the editorial board. These too are subject to peer review. While the majority of submissions to Archivaria are prepared by Canadians, its growing international reputation has led to increasing numbers of foreign contributors.

Peer Review Process

Archivaria is a fully refereed journal. All articles submitted for publication are assessed first by the General Editor for their scholarly potential and conformity to the journal's mandate. Reviewers are drawn from the Editorial Board, which represents a broad range of professional expertise, or from other recognized national and international authorities in the subject domain of the manuscript. At least two blind assessments serve as the basis of the decision to publish or reject the submission - but there are many precedents for the General Editor to call on additional reviewers in the case of particularly controversial or borderline submissions. The General Editor provides further guidance to scholars whose submission is accepted conditional on further revision. No submissions are published without at least some revisions. Many submissions benefit from extensive revision by virtue of critiques from the reviewers. Rigorous peer review is a hallmark of Archivaria. The major steps involved in the peer review process are:

  1. Unsolicited or solicited manuscript received by the General Editor.
  2. General Editor reviews manuscript to ensure its scholarly potential and conformity to the journal's mandate.
  3. If a manuscript receives preliminary approval from the General Editor, she selects appropriate peer reviewers and asks if they are in a position to undertake an assessment in a timely manner.
  4. Peer reviewers are sent the (anonymized) manuscript and asked for their assessment within six weeks.
  5. General Editor receives and considers the reviewers' assessments.
  6. If reviewers differ sharply in their appraisal, the General Editor will seek the views of a third peer reviewer (and in rare instances, even more).
  7. On this basis, articles are either rejected, accepted, or accepted conditional on revisions.
  8. General Editor informs the author of the journal's decision. In cases where an article is accepted conditional on revisions, she or he is asked to return the revised article within six weeks.
  9. The revised article is received back by the General Editor. It is accepted as is and sent for copy-editing (marking the end of the peer review process); or the General Editor requests further (generally very specific) revisions from the author before the article is sent to the copy-editor.

Publication Frequency

Archivaria is published twice annually.

Open Access Policy

Archivaria follows both a delayed open access and green open access model:

  • The two (2) most recent issues are reserved for subscribers and ACA members.
  • In compliance with the Government of Canada’s Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications, authors can make the published version of their article available on an institutional repository or their own personal website as soon as the journal issue is published online.

The full collection of published issues (1975–present) are available online through the Back Issues section of this website.

Conditions for Use

as of July 15, 2015

  1. Rights

ACA grants the Subscriber and authorized users at the Subscriber's institution the right to access the electronic version of those ACA publications for which the Subscriber has a valid subscription. It is a condition of receiving access to the electronic journals that any person who violates either the copyright or the restrictions on distribution, or who condones such acts, may be deprived of future access, without compensation or refund, while ACA retains the further right to any legal remedies that may be available.

  1. Authorized Users

Authorized users are defined as employees, faculty, and students of the Subscriber who access the electronic journals from a computer terminal within the range of the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses provided by the Subscriber at time of purchase for the authorized site. Access to the electronic journal by persons other than those listed above is restricted to the use of a computer terminal located in a Subscriber library.

  1. Authorized Site

Because Archivaria is a benefit provided to member of the Association of Canadian Archivists, as well as being available by subscription, authorized access to reserved articles and reviews is narrowly defined. An authorized site is a campus building (i.e. a library or resource centre). Affiliated locations outside of the defined site are considered to be separate sites. Within a multi-company complex or building, each company is considered to be a separate site.

  1. Usage Restrictions

The Subscriber and authorized users may view, print, and download single copies of articles or other content for personal use. The Subscriber and authorized users may not make copies for general distribution, for advertising or other promotional purposes, for creating new collective works, or for any resale purpose such as document delivery. For such uses, separate agreements must be made with the ACA. The Subscriber will notify all authorized users of permitted and prohibited use, and the Subscriber will take any corrective action necessary against authorized users who contravene these conditions.

  1. Copyright

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher, except as stated below. The ACA grants permission to individuals to download or print single copies of articles for personal use. Any person may reproduce short excerpts from articles in the journals for any purpose that respects the moral rights of authors, provided that the source is fully acknowledged. Authorization to reproduce items for other than personal use, as stated above, is granted by the ACA provided that the appropriate copyright fee is paid directly to Access Copyright, 320 - 56 Wellesley Street West, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 2S3, or to the copyright organization of the country of the user (e. g. Copyright Clearance Centre in the US, or The Copyright Unit in the UK). The above permission does not extend to other kinds of copying, such as copying for general distribution, for advertising, or promotional purposes, for creating new collective works, or for resale. For such copying, arrangements must be made with the publisher Association of Canadian Archivists, Suite 1912 - 130 Albert Street, Ottawa ON, K1P 5G4

  1. Warranty

ACA accepts no responsibility for statements or opinions expressed by a contributor to its publications, and consequently accepts no liability for damages that may result from the Subscriber's use of a ACA publication. Acceptance of an advertisement, announcement, or other material does not imply endorsement by ACA.

Advertising Information

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E-mail: aca@archivists.ca

Interaction with Archives, journal of the Association des archivistes du Québec

By agreement with Archives, the journal of the Association des archivistes du Québec (AAQ), each journal regularly publishes the other's table of contents.