Terms of Use

The Ancient Near East Today (ANE Today) is a digital platform disseminating the latest research, insights, and news about the ancient Near East and beyond via short articles and a weekly newsletter. ANE Today  is a publication of the American Society for Overseas Research (ASOR) in collaboration with the Friends of ASOR. ASOR is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to initiate, encourage, and support research into, and public understanding of, the history and cultures of the Near East and wider Mediterranean world. ASOR is apolitical and has no religious affiliation.

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) set out below govern your use of ANE Today (“Service”) operated by The American Schools of Oriental Research (“ASOR”) at www.anetoday.org (the “Site”). By using ANE Today in any way (whether reader or author), you are stating that you have read and understand, and agree to be bound by, these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, you are not permitted to use the Service or access the Site. 

ASOR may, in its sole and absolute discretion, change these Terms from time to time. ASOR will post notice of such changes on the Site. If you object to any such changes, your sole recourse shall be to cease using the Service. Continued use of the Service following notice of any such changes shall indicate your acknowledgement of such changes and agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions of such changes.

Publisher Agreement

Articles for ANE Today are usually solicited. If you have an idea for an article and you are an expert or emerging scholar, contact the Editor at anetoday@asor.org to discuss your idea. ANE Today articles undergo editorial review. As a general guideline, research should not be reported before it has been subjected to a recognized process of peer review (exceptions may be made for articles discussing recent fieldwork results). 

Authors may submit material under the following terms and conditions:

  1. Publication of any material you submit to us will be at our sole discretion. We reserve the right to make additions or deletions to the text or graphics prior to publication, or to refuse publication, or to remove any of  your material from the platform after publication, at our discretion.
  2. Any content created by you remains yours and is protected by copyright and any other applicable intellectual property laws. You may request the removal of your content from the platform at any time. 
  3. You grant us a non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide license to publish and communicate to the public any material you submit to us. All articles submitted to ANE Today are published via the ANE Today platform (anetoday.org) and made freely available for anyone to access without charge or restriction. 
  4. You warrant that any material you submit is your own original work and that you own the copyright and any other relevant rights, or have secured permission to republish. If you would like to include material that you do not hold the copyright for (e.g. illustrations), consult with the editor for guidance.
  5. You warrant that the material you submit is not obscene, offensive or otherwise illegal.
  6. You agree not to submit material that violates ASOR’s policy on publication of unprovenanced articles, as detailed in section III.E of its Policy on Professional Conduct.
  7. You agree not to submit material that is deliberately intended to upset other users.
  8. You will take reasonable steps to ensure that any material you submit is not defamatory of any person. If you suspect that material may be defamatory (or if you are not sure), you must tell us at the time you submit the material to us.

You acknowledge that any breach of these conditions may cause us damage or loss. You agree to indemnify us in full and permanently against any third-party liabilities, claims, costs, loss or damage we incur as a result of your breach of conditions (3) to (8) above. You must act honestly and in good faith in your dealings with us and (if requested) you must provide us with reasonable assistance to settle, defend or investigate any third party claims arising as a result of our publication of material you submit to us.

Comments & Community Standards

ANE Today uses the following guidelines for assessing the suitability of comments:

  • The ANE Today editorial team moderates comments. We regard our comment streams as a curated editorial product. We reserve the right to publish or remove comments to improve the conversation.
  • Readers and other commenters can report comments for our editorial team to review. 
  • Authors cannot moderate comments on their own or anyone else’s articles, but can report comments for review.
  • We require your real name and we reserve the right to remove comments made under aliases. 
  • Comments should be relevant to the article and replies relevant to the initiating post. We reserve the right to delete off-topic comments.
  • We reserve the right to remove any comments including but not limited to: personal attacks, all forms of discrimination, posts identifying or sharing the personal information of another person (including children), comments that are commercial or repeatedly-shared external links, comments that are defamatory, breach copyright or put us in legal jeopardy, deliberate attempts to misinform, distort facts, provoke or misrepresent the opinions of others, the thread of replies if the original comment is deleted; and other comments at editorial discretion.
  • All actions and decisions taken by our moderators are final. The quantity of user content means we cannot enter into correspondence regarding specific moderation activity, although all correspondence will be read. 

Links and Third-Party Content

As a service to our users, the ANE Today website and newsletter include links or connections to third-party websites or services that are not owned or controlled by us. ASOR is not responsible for the content or use of information of non-ASOR sites and disclaims all liability for damages arising out of their use or for their privacy policies.

Liability for User-Generated Content

We accept no liability in respect of any material submitted by users and published by us (including, but not limited to: articles, links, images, videos, comments); we are not responsible for its content and accuracy. The views expressed are the personal opinions of the persons and experts named. They may not represent the views of ASOR or any other organization unless specifically stated. ANE Today attempts to provide a range of views from the academic and research community.

Complaints and Corrections

ANE Today provides a range of views and ideas from the research community as well as other stakeholders. The views expressed in ANE Today are the personal opinions of the contributors, and may not represent the views of ASOR. ANE Today strives to maintain the highest editorial standards at all times. However, mistakes happen. Should you feel it necessary to correct or complain about an article, please contact us at info@asor.org.

Copyright / Restrictions on Use

The content on the Site (the “Content”), including without limitation, video, text, photos, and graphics, is protected under United States and international copyright laws, is subject to other intellectual property and proprietary rights and laws, and is owned either by ASOR or its licensors (in most cases, the latter). 

Other than with respect to your own User Submissions (see above, “Publisher Agreement”) and material labeled “Public Domain”: (a) the Content may not be copied, modified, reproduced, republished, posted, transmitted, sold, offered for sale, or redistributed in any way without the prior written permission of ASOR and/or its applicable licensors; and (b) you must abide by all copyright notices, information, or restrictions contained in or attached to any Content.

Copyright Disputes

ASOR respects the intellectual property rights of others. Accordingly, ASOR has a policy of removing User Submissions that violate copyright law. This policy describes ASOR’s processes for receiving and responding to copyright infringement notices, whether sent by rightsholders or their agents, regarding material posted on the ANE Today platform. This policy is designed to comply with the requirements of the notice-and-takedown provision of the United  States Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). In accordance with this act, we will immediately remove content that rightsholders claim to be an infringement.

To the best of our knowledge, all material submitted by users that appears on the ANE Today platform either (a) has been used with permission according to the terms of the rightsholder, or (b) is under public domain. If you believe that your work has been copied and posted on this site without permission and/or in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you should provide our Copyright Agent with a written notice that sets forth the infringement details. To be effective, the notice must contain the following information (required under the DMCA):

  1. a description of the copyrighted work that you believe has been infringed;
  2. a description of the material that you claim is infringing the copyrighted work identified in (a), and a detailed description of where it is located on this Site;
  3. your address, telephone number, and email address;
  4. a written statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
  5. a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf; and an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest.
  6. your signature

Please send the written communication to our Copyright Agent at the following address:

By mail: Marta Ostovich, ASOR, 209 Commerce St., Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: 703-789-9233
Email: programs@asor.org

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