Fornvännen: Journal of Swedish Antiquarian Research (ISSN 0015-7813), is published by the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities (Vitterhetsakademien) in collaboration with the Swedish History Museums. It has been published since 1906, with four issues appearing each year. Fornvännen has a good geographical spread, and besides being available at a number of locations in Sweden, it can be found in more than 350 libraries and scholarly institutions in over 40 countries.
Fornvännen welcomes contributions on Nordic Archaeology and Medieval History, Art History, Runology, Archaeological Science, Heritage Science, Osteology, and History of Archaeology. The scope of the journal includes theoretical and methodological discussions, artefact and archival studies, laboratory analyses, landscape studies, and results from new archaeological excavations.
The journal's target audience is researchers, students, and professionals in these fields, as well as the interested public. The aim of the journal is to highlight new knowledge gained from the study of prehistoric and historic environments, sites, buildings, artefacts, and archival materials.
Fornvännen accepts four types of contributions: Articles, Short Reports, Debates, and Reviews. Contributions can be in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, or in English.
Articles are reviewed according to the double-blind peer review model, whereas other contributions are usually only reviewed by the Editorial Board. The publishing model is diamond open access. Read more about the journal’s open access policy.
Contributions are accepted on a running basis. Fornvännen publishes four issues annually,
Manuscripts are to be submitted in a finished state, including illustrations, via the journal’s manuscript submission system.
If files are of very large format, contact the editorial board for alternative submission methods (see also Research Data below).
The time from submission to publication is usually under 12 months for articles and 8 months for shorter texts and Reviews.
The author must guarantee that material submitted to the editorial board has not already been published elsewhere, in whole or in part, in Swedish or any other language. Submitted material may not be submitted for publication elsewhere before the editorial board has made a definitive decision on publication. This applies regardless of the type of contribution.
Below are instructions on how to prepare and submit Articles, most of which are relevant for all kinds of contributions. For instructions specifically for Short reports, Debates, and Reviews respectively, see at the end of the page.
The article format lends itself to long, in-depth presentations of new research findings made public for the first time. Articles may also be overviews that compile, analyse and interpret previously published findings, or theoretical papers that discuss and develop theories in the discipline. Articles should primarily be geared to an academic audience and should be of high scholarly quality.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
As Articles are reviewed anonymously, information about authors are to be delivered in a separate file. The file should be named after the start of the Title, with the addition Author Info: e.g. "Bronze Age Graves in a New Light AUTHOR INFO”.
The document should include the names, institutions (when applicable) and email for all authors. ORCiD is encouraged but not mandatory.
NOTE! Short reports, Debates, and Reviews are not anonymised, and do not have to submit this information separately.
MANUSCRIPT
Article manuscripts should be submitted in one of the following formats: Word, RTF or ODT. The file name should include the introductory words of the title with the addition MANUSCRIPT, e.g. “Bronze Age Graves in a New Light MANUSCRIPT”.
Texts should be complete (see points 1–11 below) and carefully proofread. Authors of texts in English are responsible for the having the language professionally checked, if they are not native speakers.
The manuscript of an article should include the following parts: 1) title, 2) abstract, 3) keywords, 4) the text (without illustrations or captions), 5) references to any figures and tables, 6) parenthetical text references, 7) acknowledgements/thanks, if any, 8) If written in Scandinavian language an English summary should be included, 9) reference list, 10) any captions, 11) any table captions.
Illustrations and tables should be submitted as separate files (see information below).
If Acknowledgement is revealing of Author identity, it can instead be added to the file with the Author information. Make a note of this in the Manuscript.
MANUSCRIPTS MUST INCLUDE
1) Title
The title and a maximum of one subtitle, worded to arouse interest and convey the content of the article.
2) Abstract
An abstract briefly summarizing the content and results of the article, written in English, a maximum of 1,500 characters including spaces. If the article is in Swedish, Danish or Norwegian, the abstract should also have an English translation of the title.
Note: Short reports, Debates, and Reviews do not have abstracts.
3) Keywords
4–6 keywords in English that serve as general descriptions of the article’s topic, content and results.
Not required for Short reports, Debates, and Reviews.
4) The text
Article texts may comprise a maximum of 45,000 characters including spaces, excluding abstract, references and figure/table captions. If the article has many illustrations, or needs an English summary, it is recommended that the text comprise a maximum of 42,000 characters including spaces and be formatted according to the rules stated below.
See Illustrations, Tables, and Other rules below for more details.
5) References to figures and tables
References to figures and tables are made in parentheses and inserted into the text at the appropriate location, e.g. (fig. 1), (figs. 3–5) or (tab. 1).
See Illustrations, Tables, and Research Data below for more information.
6) In-text references
References to sources follow the Harvard system and are included in the text. State the author name, year of publication and page(s) in parentheses in the text, e.g. (Jönsson & Persson 2008, pp. 83, 86f, 90ff) or (Andrews 2009, pp. 34–44). When reference is made to more than one work in the same parentheses, they should be in chronological order and separated by semicolons, e.g. (Smith & Jones 1992; Niemi 2018, p. 46). More than two authors are listed with et al. after the first name, e.g. (Andersson et al. 2014, p. 23).
7) Acknowledgements
A brief statement of persons, institutions or funders who have decisively contributed to the content and quality of the text. Can be added to the speaprate file with Author information if it is too revealing of identity of Author. Make a note of this in the Manuscript.
8) Summary
If the article is in Swedish, Danish or Norwegian, it should be accompanied by an English summary, a synopsis of the content and results of the article, a maximum of 4,500 characters including spaces. No summary is needed for articles written in English.
9) References
Formatted according to the Harvard system and listed in alphabetical order. The surnames of all authors and editors are stated in full, but only the initials of the first names. Titles of monographs and journals are italicized. Page numbers are specified only for articles in journals, not chapters in edited volumes. Publishers are not stated. See the examples below:
Monograph
Larsson, L., 1988. Ett fångstsamhälle för 7000 år sedan: Boplatser och gravar i Skateholm. Lund. Sweden.
Edited volume
Larsson, L., Ekengren, F., Helgesson, B. & Söderberg, B. (eds.), 2015. Small things wide horizons: Studies in honour of Birgitta Hårdh. Oxford.
Article in edited volume
Larsson, L., 1991. An island settlement in south Scania: Local and regional aspects of a site dating from the Late Viking/Early Medieval period. Jennbert, K., Larsson, L., Petré, R. & Werbart, B. (eds.). Regions and reflections: in honour of Märta Strömberg. Stockholm.
Article in journal
Gron, K. J., Gröcke, D. R., Larsson, M., Sørensen, L., Larsson, L., Rowley-Conwy, P. & Church, M. J., 2017. Nitrogen isotope evidence for manuring of early Neolithic Funnel Beaker Culture cereals from Stensborg, Sweden. Journal of Archaeological Science:Reports 14:575–579.
Larsson, L., 2001. A building for ritual use at Uppåkra, southernmost Sweden. Antiquity 75 (289):679–680.
Larsson, L. & Larsson, M., 1984. Flintyxor, skoskav och massor av stolphål. Ystadiana 1984:9–95.
Internet sources
References to purely Internet sources are made with a specification of the character of the document as well as full URL in angle brackets, < ... >. The date on which the data was retrieved is stated in parentheses. Hyperlinks and underlining are not used.
Unpublished material
In references to unpublished source material, there should be no italics. The reference is presented in ascending order from the specific to the general, e.g. document, archive, archive creator, archive institution. Last comes a specification (if any) of the folio number, appendix and the like. Archive institutions are written in full on first mention, with the subsequently used abbreviation in parentheses, e.g. Riksarkivet (RA) or Lantmäteri- styrelsens arkiv (LSA).
10) Figure captions
Figure captions begin with Fig. and sequential numbering, e.g. Fig. 1. The captions should be in the same language as the text of the article, and if this is Swedish, Danish or Norwegian, it should be accompanied by an English translation.
The originator and source of the illustration should be specified, e.g. "Photo: Ola Myrin, National Historical Museums". Even if the figure is in the Public Domain, e.g. "Illustration: Olof Hermelin, Uppsala University Library".
Note if the illustration is technically under copyright, e.g. ©. In such cases the author must have received permission from the copyright holder to publish it open access in Fornvännen (see Illustrations below).
11) Table captions
Table captions begin with Table and sequential numbering, e.g. Table 1. The table caption should be in the same language as the text of the article, and if this is Swedish, Danish or Norwegian, it should be accompanied by an English translation.
Footnotes are not allowed in Fornvännen.
Subheadings are used to divide the text into major sections. Only two levels of subheading is allowed, one is recommended.
Bold and underlining are not permitted in Fornvännen.
Abbreviations should be avoided as far as possible in the text, with certain exceptions:
1) circa (c.) may be abbreviated next to dates; 2) number (no.) may be abbreviated next to numbers; 3) Saint (St); 4) SI units may abbreviated next to numbers, e.g. mm, cm, m, km, m2 or kg; 5) abbreviations that constitute distinct words or proper names, e.g. USA, DNA.
Italics are used for the names of publications (not articles) and for foreign words and phrases, e.g. raison d’être or ex silentio. Italics for emphasis should, however, be used sparingly.
Numbers from zero to twelve are written in letters, except in measurements or page references. Numbers from 13 and above are written with digits.
Dates should be written as e.g. 21 May 1085.
Years should not be abbreviated, e.g. 1970s (not '70s) or 1510–1527 (not 1510–27).
Double quotation marks (“ ”) are used around short quotations incorporated in the text.
Single quotation marks (‘ ’) are used to mark quotations within quotations and if necessary to explain the meaning of a word.
Longer quotations – when two or more sentences are quoted, these should be marked by indented margins. Quotation marks are not used around indented quotations.
Short hyphens (-) are used in some compounds, in certain expressions consisting of multiple words and to mark omitted parts of compounds, e.g. first- and second-generation.
En-dashes (–) are used instead of “to” in numerical ranges, e.g. 1020–1050, and around parenthetical insertions.
Illustrations should be submitted as separate image files in one of the digital formats TIFF, JPEG or PNG, at least 300 dpi resolution, and in size fit for print.
Illustrations are printed in colour.
Fornvännen only publishes illustrations that are either free to share och where the copyright holder has given the author permission to publish in printed form and on the internet. Note in the figure text if the license normally is more restricted than CC BY, e.g. © or Public Domain.
NOTE: Even if an illustration is in the Public Domain, it is recommended to state the source of the image, e.g. museum, archive, Wikimedia etc, to help the reader.
Articles, Short Reports and Debates can be accompanied by tables which clearly present complex data that are important for understanding the content and interpretations in the text. The tables should be submitted as separate files in either of the digital formats Excel or ODS.
See Research Data below for extensive tables or datasets.
Extensive tables and research data that are necessary to prove the analyses, syntheses, or interpretations presented in the text must be made available to the reviewer, and then publicly available upon publication (unless ethical or legal restrictions apply, which must be noted).
Fornvännen cannot act as a repository for research data. Use a FAIR data compliant platform with persitent identifiers to share access to the data, and link to it as a supplement to the text.
Contact the Editorial Board if you need advice on how to make your research data available on such a platform (e.g. Zenodo or Researchdata.se).
Add the permanent link to the datafiles (e.g. DOI) to the manuscript as a reference.
A Short Report is an article format suitable for brief presentations, for example, of a new find, a recently performed analysis or new excavation findings that are deemed to be newsworthy for researchers. Short Reports may comprise a maximum of 13,500 characters including spaces and are formatted according to the rules stated below. Short Reports may be accompanied by some illustrations and a brief reference list.
Short Reports consist of the following parts: Author names, 1) title, 4) text, 5) any references to figures and tables, 6) in-text references, 9) reference list,10) any figure captions, 11) any table captions.
See the explanations under the heading Articles.
Debates are an article form suitable for short discussions and argumentative texts in which the author explicitly takes a position on an issue and tries with the aid of clear and factual arguments to convince readers of that position. A Debate between two or more authors ends after the initial Debate piece has been followed by a response and a reply by the first author in a subsequent issue of the journal. Debate contributions may comprise a maximum of 20,000 characters including spaces and are formatted according to the rules stated below. Debate texts may be supplemented by some illustrations and a brief reference list.
Debate contributions consist of the following parts: Author names, 1) title, 4) text, 5) any references to figures and tables, 6) in-text references, 9) reference list,10) any figure captions, 11) any table captions.
See the explanations under the heading Articles.
Fornvännen publishes Reviews of both Scandinavian and international publications that are deemed to be of interest to the journal’s subject areas: Nordic archaeology and ancient art, or closely related subjects. The emphasis in the Review should be on providing an overall evaluation of the scholarly value of the publication and an assessment of whether the author has succeeded in his or her aim. It should not be a summary of the book’s entire content.
Reviews may comprise a maximum of 9,000 characters including spaces and be formatted according to the rules stated below. Reviews may not have illustrations or a reference list, but occasional brief references can be added in parentheses in the text. The Review should begin with the data on the reviewed book: author, title, editor, place of publication, year of publication, series/number (if any), total number of pages, total number of figures/illustrations and ISBN. Examples:
Martin Rundkvist, At Home at the Castle: Lifestyles at the Medieval Strongholds of Östergötland, AD 1200–1530. Linköping 2019. 137 pp. ISBN 978-91-7488-477-7.
Gustaf Trotzig, Arkeologins fotografier: Några milstolpar. Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, Handlingar, Antikvariska Serien 56. Stockholm 2018. 330 pp. ISBN 978-91-7402-462-3.
Lange linjer i landskabet: Hulbælter fra jernalderen. Ed. Palle Eriksen & Per Ole Rindel. Jysk Arkæologisk Selskabs Skrifter 104. Højbjerg 2018. 463 pp. ISBN 978-87-93423-26-8.
When submitting a text to Fornvännen through the platform, the author gives the journal the right to print accepted contributions, as well as digitally publish it as open access (CC BY). Authors retain all rights to the material.
The editorial board of Fornvännen first makes an initial assessment of whether the topic of a submission is suitable for the journal, and whether the text is of sufficient quality. Articles that are accepted for further external review undergo a double-blind peer review, meaning both the author and the reviewer remain unknown to each other. Reviewers' comments and recommendations are communicated to the main author in anonymized form. If the submission is approved for publication on condition that revisions are made, the author is given the chance to revise the article and to respond to any criticism from the reviewer. Short Reports and Debates are usually reviewed only by the editorial board, but external review assistance is enlisted if necessary.
The author is notified by email by the editorial board as to whether the submission has been approved for publication or not. Once the editorial board has approved the text for publication, it is copyedited. The text is then returned to the author for scrutiny, any adjustments and final approval. Authors of articles in English are responsible for the having the language professionally checked if they are not native speakers. The linguistic quality of articles in English should be high. After the text has undergone layout and setting, the author receives a proof (PDF) for final approval. No changes may be made at this stage except to correct errors.
Each author receives a printed copy of the issue in which the text has been included. The digital version of the contribution is available for download on the platform.
The content of Fornvännen is published digitally on the Publicera platform. All contributions are Open Access from the day of publication.
About the Journal
Fornvännen: Journal of Swedish Antiquarian Research has been published since 1906 by The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, in collaboration with the National Historical Museums. The content includes original research on Nordic Archaeology and Medieval History, Art History, Runology, Archaeological Science, Heritage Science, Osteology, and History of Archaeology.
Fornvännen: Journal of Swedish Antiquarian Research | ISSN (Online) 1404-9430 | ISSN (Print) 0015-7813
Published by Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien | Open Access under the terms of a Creative Commons CC BY license
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