Leiden Center for the Study of Ancient Arabia

Publications

LeiCenSAA publishes its own online, peer reveviewed journal: Arabian Epigraphic Notes (AEN). It is essential reading for all interested in the languages and scripts of the ancient Near East, and is of interest to students of Northwest Semitic epigraphy, Cuneiform studies, Egyptology, and classical antiquity. We hope that the journal will contribute to our understanding of the languages and cultures of Arabia, from their earliest attestations until the contemporary period. It is hoped that the journal’s accessibility will further help integrate the epigraphy and languages of ancient Arabia into the broader field of Semitic Philology.

Why open access? Why online?

AEN is an open-access journal published by the Leiden Center for the Study of Ancient Arabia (LeiCenSAA) and archived by the Leiden University Library. Its online format is important to make the Journal accessible to all who are interested in the subject, and not only those with a university affiliation or financially able to afford a personal subscription. All articles are available online at no cost to the author or reader, and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bynd/4.0/. Electronic articles offer several advantages over the older print format. Articles come with an easy-to-navigate contents bar that will take you directly to the section you are interested in. In-text citations of bibliographic items and figures are hyperlinked; one can click an in-text citation and be taken to the full reference in the bibliography or click a reference to a figure to be taken directly to that figure. High-quality photographs are essential in the field of epigraphy. AEN publishes high-resolution color photographs that users can zoom into in great detail or save separately to manipulate in graphics editor programs, something impossible with print journals. Print copies of the individual journal articles can easily be obtained by pressing Ctrl+P on the keyboard. Libraries and individuals may order a print copy of the Journal when the issue closes at the end of each calendar year.

Access

The Journal can be accessed on its main website, www.arabianepigraphicnotes.org. The website has a minimalistic and intuitive design, making it easy to navigate for all. All of the Journal’s issues and the individual articles are found on a dedicated page called Journal, which can be accessed via the navigational bar at the top of the homepage. Each article has its own page, containing the contact information of the author, abstract, keywords, and a download option. Users can search articles by author or keyword.

Permanence

One of the main issues in Open Access publishing without the support of a traditional 
publishing house is the issue of permanence. Because all AEN articles are archived by 
the Leiden University Library Repository, they will be stored forever, with no risk of 
being taken down or lost. Each article is given a unique web address – a handle – which 
can be used to access the article directly from your web browser.

Peer-review 2.0

Utilizing Academia.edu’s “sessions tool,” AEN allows the entire editorial board of the 
Journal to view and comment on your submission. Your paper will therefore benefit 
from the input of the entire board in addition to the two dedicated reviewers. Papers 
are reviewed in a maximum of 20 days. The first-class editorial board ensures that only 
high quality articles and notes are published.

Efficient publishing

Traditional journals and collected volumes may hold your article for two years, if not 
longer, before it actually appears in print. Since we are primarily an electronic journal, 
your article will appear as soon as changes suggested by reviewers have been applied. 
Typesetting and uploading the article takes about two weeks. Each issue opens at the 
beginning of the calendar year and closes in December of that same year. After that, 
those interested in purchasing a hard copy for archiving purposes can do so.

Links

Visit us online at: http://arabianepigraphicnotes.org

To submit an article to AEN, see: http://arabianepigraphicnotes.org/authors/

Follow us on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/AENJournal