Amber Ethics and Guidelines
Contents
Statement of Purpose
Contributors
Introduction
Myanmar Amber
The following guidelines and resources were developed by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) Myanmar Advisory Working Group. These guidelines were developed with input from relevant experts and stakeholders. It is the hope of SVP that these resources and guidelines will help any members involved in publications on Myanmar amber specimens to confirm that the specimens were ethically and legally sourced and properly documented. These documents are posted on the SVP Governance Documents page, in the Myanmar amber resources section. In a recent letter to the SVP community, three recommended resources were listed.
Guidelines for Researchers, Research Institutions and Publishers
This document lists all the documents required as proof of provenance of history. The guidelines are based upon the 2016 Second Amending Law of the Myanmar Gemstone Law (1995), the 1957 Antiquities Law, and the 2015 Protection and Preservation of Antique Objects Law. Recommendations are provided for reporting material from Myanmar amber and for documentation of the provenance of the material.
Guidelines for the Peer Review Process
This document provides guidance to authors, reviewers and/or editors who might be handling manuscripts on Myanmar amber material. These guidelines are informed by and comply with national and international standards and convention, including but not limited to the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (ALLEA, 2017), the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership Cultural Property (1970), and the International Council of Museums Code of Ethics for Natural History Museums (2014).
Due Diligence Form (downloadable from SVP Governance Documents webpage)
This document provides a checklist which may be used by researchers when reporting provenance of Myanmar amber material and can be added as a supplementary file to a manuscript.
