Ethics, Bioarchaeology, and Scientific Publishing (Ética, Bioarqueología y Publicaciones Científicas: Un Estudio de Caso)

The excavation, analysis, curation, and restitution of archaeological human remains are associated with ethical challenges that those working within archaeology and heritage management should be aware of. However, the way ethical issues are acknowledged in scientific publications continues to be over-looked. This paper explores evidence for authors acquiring ethical approval for research that involves the analysis of human remains, when submitting their work for publication. Twelve journals that accept bioarchaeological research articles in Argentina and Chile were examined. Of the 119 bioarchaeology papers published between January 2016 and September 2021, only two (1.7%) acknowledged following ethical guidelines. None of the articles referred to ethical approval to conduct the research. While ethics committees may not be in place in some universities or curating institutions, journal publishers have an increasing responsibility to ensure research on archaeological human remains is conducted in an ethical manner. In light of these results, the present paper recommends ways in which authors may address this issue and how journal editors may strengthen their guidance relating to ethical requirements