Collections as Connections

Call for Papers

Special Issue: Collections as Connections

Journal: World Archaeology

Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group

Manuscript Submission Deadline: 27 November 2026

About the Special Issue

World Archaeology invites submissions for its Special Issue titled "Collections as Connections."

This Special Issue explores how museum, institutional, and private collections can serve as meaningful bridges between communities through repatriation, cultural exchange, shared stewardship, and collaborative heritage practices. It focuses on the role of collections in advancing decolonisation, Indigenous sovereignty, ethical museum practice, and cross-cultural dialogue.

The issue welcomes innovative and interdisciplinary research examining how collections—both cultural and natural history—can foster stronger relationships between source communities, museums, researchers, and the wider public, while addressing contemporary challenges such as limited resources, climate change, conflict, and heritage preservation.

Themes and Topics

Submissions may address, but are not limited to:

• Physical and digital repatriation of cultural heritage

• Decolonisation of museums and heritage institutions

• Indigenous-led and community-based heritage initiatives

• Cultural exchange and collaborative curatorial practices

• Provenance and archival research

• Museum accessibility and inclusive heritage practices

• Heritage roadshows and educational outreach

• Diasporic and descendant community engagement

• Ethical stewardship of collections and ancestral remains

• Natural history collections and cultural heritage connections

Submission Guidelines

• Manuscript Submission Deadline: 27 November 2026

• Manuscripts should be approximately 5,000 words.

• Authors may include 3–4 figures.

• Prospective authors are strongly encouraged to contact the Special Issue Editors before submission.

• During submission, authors should select the appropriate Special Issue title in the journal's submission system.

• All manuscripts must follow the journal's official author guidelines.

Special Issue Editors

• Charles J. T. Radclyffe, University of Otago

• Wonu Veys, Leiden University

• Erna Lilje, Wereldmuseum Amsterdam

• Eve Haddow, University of Cambridge

• Pulama Lima, Bishop Museum, Hawai'i

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