Accepted Unformatted Version of: Bendrey, R., Mitchell, P.D. (2024) Editorial – Osteoarchaeological identifcation guides: a new category of manuscript. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 34(4): e3329. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3329 Osteoarchaeological identification guides: a new category of manuscript Robin Bendrey 1 and Piers D. Mitchell 2 1 School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, Old Medical School, Edinburgh, UK 2 Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK e-mail for correspondence: robin.bendrey@ed.ac.uk Osteoarchaeological research is underpinned by the development and adopon of robust and replicable methodologies (Driver 1992; LeFebvre and Sharpe 2018; Lyman 2019; Wolverton 2013). Zooarchaeological idenficaon methodologies make use of physical modern reference collecons, digital resources and published criteria to aid species idenficaon (Driver 1992). High quality identification guides and keys are important in a number of ways. They can provide useful support for identification by comparison to physical comparative reference collections, often the gold-standard approach, in particular through the definition of validated criteria for the morphological identification of a taxon across wider sets of samples (Driver 1992). They also demonstrate the reliability of identified morphological criteria (e.g. Lister 1996) and can also extend the taxonomic range from what is represented in some individual reference collections (Davis et al. 2024; Yeomans and Beech 2021). As such, high quality illustrated guides can broaden the utility of some comparative collections, that due to resource limitations do not have sufficient intra- species variation (Driver 1992). Osteoarchaeological research is undertaken in diverse settings, with differential access to resources and facilities. Some specialists may be working in the field without access to physical reference material or the possibility of transporting samples for follow-up study with reference to more comprehensive reference collections. Osteoarchaeologists are working in academic and non-academic contexts, such as for universities, museums, commercial archaeological companies, and as independent or self-employed specialists (Baker and Worley 2019; LeFebvre and Sharpe 2018). High quality illustrated guides and keys can play important roles in the different sengs and stages of analysis, from preliminary sorng of remains to final analyses. We are excited to announce a new category of manuscript in the journal: “Osteoarchaeological idenficaon guides”. These are papers that will provide advances in diagnosc criteria for osteoarchaeological research, such as zooarchaeological species