Archaeology

In-Text Citations

Basic form for in-text citations: Parentheses are placed around the author's surname and year of publication, for example (Smith 2025). Remember to paraphrase content with your own words; quotes are rarely used in scientific publications.

Single author
(Wylie 1991) or Wylie (1991)

Examples:

A recent study (Brown, 2018) reveals...

In a recent study of stress levels, Brown (2018) discusses...

Two authors
(Lipe and Varien 1999) or Lipe and Varien (1999)

Examples:

Research by Williams and Jones (2020) found...

It was found to have a high correlation (Williams & Jones, 2020)...

Three or more authors
(Cobean et al. 1991) or Cobean and others (1991)

Examples:

(Barnosky, Anderson, Bartlein, et al. 1987)

Halso, Kibu, and Grimm (2022) found...

Several authors cited in one place or several by same author

Examples:

(Ashmore 1986; Coe 1965; de Montmollin 1988; Fox 1987, 1991; Freidel 1986; Freidel and Schele 1986; Freidel et al. 1990)

(Jones and Brown 1972a, 1972b) or Jones and Brown (1972a, 1972b)

Government agency, company, or similar entity as author

Examples:

(United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service [USDA, SCS] 1975) - First time used.

(USDA 1975) or USDA (1975) - Subsequent uses after the first time.

Note: State the complete name of the agency, company, etc., as with any other citation, but if the citation will occur more than once in the text, then abbreviate names to their commonly accepted acronyms and place in brackets.

 

Organizations and No authors (Cite the group or organization as the author instead)

Examples:

(United Nations 2021) or United Nations (2021)

(Committee on Ethics 2019) or Committee on Ethics (2019)

Web pages and electronic documents

Examples:

(Glascock 2001; Shackley 2001) or Glascock (2001), Shackley (2001)

(Northwest Research Obsidian Studies Laboratory 2001) or Northwest Research Obsidian Laboratories (2001)

Social Media

Examples:

(Ngamebi 2022, Twitter) or Ngamebi (2022) stated in Twitter

 

AI-Generated text

Examples:

(ChatPGT 3.5, September 7, 2023)

 

Treat text generated by AI as personal communication but include the date (not only the year) or include as an endnote; do not include in your references cited list. For more information on using AI, use the following guidance from CUP: 

 

● AI use must be declared and clearly explained in publications such as research papers, just as we expect scholars to do with other software, tools, and methodologies.
● AI does not meet the SAA/CUP requirements for authorship, given the need for accountability. AI and LLM tools may not be listed as an author on any scholarly work published by the SAA/CUP
● Authors are accountable for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of their research papers, including for any use of AI.
● Any use of AI must not breach CUP’s plagiarism policy. Scholarly works must be the author’s own, and not present others’ ideas, data, words, or other material without adequate citation and transparent referencing.

 

 

For more examples, view the SSA Style Guide.

Reference List

The reference section begins a new page, under the primary heading References Cited, and must be double-spaced throughout. The format described here is to be used only for articles, reports, comments, forum manuscripts, and book review essays. 

Entries should be flush left with the indent underneath to the right. Arrange the parts of each reference in the general order of author(s)/editor(s), date, title (and subtitle if applicable), publisher, location of publisher. For name of publisher, do not include "and Company," "Inc.," "Publishers," "Publishing Company," etc. The reference list is alphabetically listed by the last names of the lead author and matches the sources cited within the text, including tables and figures. Use headline-style capitalization for all English language titles, including articles, book chapters, reports, etc. When citing DOIs, it is usually unnecessary to include an access date. Two or more works by the same author or authors should be listed chronologically (repeating author name[s] for each entry); two or more by the same author or authors in the same year should be listed in the order they are first referred to in the text and differentiated by lowercase letters following the date (e.g., 1991a, 1991b).

About the SAA

The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) is used for archaeology and follows the citation standard established by the journals American Antiquity, Latin American Antiquity, and Advances in Archaeological Practice. This guide lists common in-text and bibliographies examples based on the SAA Style Guide PDF (Revised Dec. 2023) or ask a librarian for help.

•          Society of American Archaeology Style Guide (SAA)  Revised Dec. 2023