Personal letters written by John Franklin to his relatives and friends between 1819 and 1824 reveal the Admiralty's 1819–1822 overland expedition from a unique perspective. All the official journals of that expedition have been published, as have the most important pieces of correspondence between Franklin and the Admiralty, the Colonial Office, and fur-trade officers. Previously unpublished personal correspondence, however, offers the possibility of a more candid response, as well as an opportunity to view the experience from an altered position. In these personal communications, Franklin sometimes expresses opinions that contradict those that appear in his public narrative and official records. But more importantly, they help construct an image of Franklin's personality around the time of his first overland expedition. The letters reveal a modest man with close familial attachments and a strong sense of personal relationships, in spite of the increasingly technological nature of his subsequent Arctic undertakings.

The radiation hazards to humans in certain northern regions, and to reindeer, caribou and moose, due to radioactive materials from fallout in their diets, have been discussed recently in numerous publications. The following factors make this problem of particular interest:

i. The peculiarity of lichens to absorb and retain larger quantities of radioactive fallout than other plants. This peculiarity of lichens is exemplified by some measurements of Paakkiola and Miettinen made during 1960 and 1961. They found that the strontium-90 content of lichens in northern Finland varied between 350 and 4500 SU, whereas for grass and other plants from the same area the figures varied between 43 and 273 SU.

Sagediopsis bayozturkii, a lichenicolous fungus growing on Antarctic endemic species Acarospora macrocyclos, is described as new to science from three collections made at 65° south in the Argentine Islands (Graham Land, maritime Antarctica). The fungus has a distinct internal apical beak in the ascus and ellipsoid three-septate ascospores; therefore, it is the member of Sagediopsis subgenus Hawksworthiella. Morphologically and anatomically S. bayozturkii is most similar to S. campsteriana and S. pertusariicola, which are confined to the lichen hosts Ochrolechia spp. and Pertusaria spp., respectively. In addition to having different hosts, S. bayozturkii differs from these two species by having smaller ascomata and shorter ascospores. Its similarities to other species of the genus are discussed, and an artificial key based on the published descriptions of the ten species now known in the genus Sagediopsis is presented.

As the axis powers were denied access to data from international weather stations under allied control, soon after the outbreak of World War II Germany had to establish her own network of manned and automatic weather stations throughout the north Atlantic. These operations were primarily run by the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe. In Greenland, several manned weather stations were established by the former. The two most successful of those were Holzauge and Bassgeiger in Northeast Greenland, each in operation for almost an entire year in 1942–1943 and 1943–1944 respectively. The allied forces, in return, had established the North-East Greenland Sledge Patrol in 1941, in order to defend the Northeast Greenland coast against German activities. In 2007 and 2008, archaeologists and historians from the National Museum of Denmark investigated the remains of the allied station at Eskimonæs on Clavering Ø (Clavering Island) and the German station Holzauge at Hansa Bugt on Sabine Ø (Sabine Island).

Australia has extensive interests in, and has taken a long term interest over, Antarctica. These interests include a territorial claim to the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) encompassing 42 per cent of the continent. In addition to its interests as a claimant state Australian participated in the negotiation of the Antarctic Treaty and has devoted itself to a major role in the Antarctic Treaty system (ATS), firmly committing to upholding the twin pillars of the Treaty: ‘peace’ and ‘science’.

By Article 2(e) of the 1951 Treaty of Peace, Japan renounced ‘all claim to any right or title to or interest in connection with any part of the Antarctic area.’ This paper traces the process by which Australian diplomacy ensured the inclusion of such a provision in the Treaty and assesses the contemporary significance of the article. While in the unlikely event of the breakdown of the Antarctic Treaty System, Japan would be legally entitled to make a territorial claim on the basis of activities undertaken between the conclusion of the Peace Treaty and the coming into force of the Antarctic Treaty, such a claim would likely be weak. It is more probable that the Japanese government would assert that, just as Japan had had no rights to renounce in Antarctica, neither had any of the Antarctic claimants complied adequately with the provisions in international law for territorial acquisition.

Exploratory activities of Norwegians, particularly those directed by Lars Christensen, off eastern Antarctica are discussed briefly in relation to contemporary Antarctic investigations and politics. The interests of Norway there and Christensen's role in establishing an understanding of the local coastline are indicated. Particular attention is paid to the landing made by Klarius Mikkelsen in the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica, on 20 February 1935. Note is taken of the site's recent re-discovery, and the symbolic role of the landing in the national aspirations of Norway, Britain, and Australia is discussed. Mikkelsen operated under commercial and scientific interests promoted by Christensen, and his landing was, at least in published material, seen as an extension of them. However, there is a suggestion that not only had a new Norwegian land been discovered, and a landing made, but that a claim to it was at least considered. Such a claim was not appropriate given previous agreements between Norway and Britain. The site's location and environs are discussed, as are subsequent flights over it and visits made there by Australian expeditioners. The ambiguity associated with claims that Caroline Mikkelsen was the first woman to land on the Antarctic mainland is also examined. Since Mikkelsen's site was on an island within the Tryne Group, to the north of Davis station, if a mainland location is required to establish such an event, then an alternative (Scullin Monolith) is proposed; however, on this occasion four women were involved, but who was first ashore remains uncertain.

In summer 1990 a Soviet-Norwegian expedition spent three weeks travelling to and around Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa (Franz Joseph Land). The main purpose of the expedition was to locate the remains of Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen's wintering quarters of 1895–96, and other historical sites at Cape Flora, Eira Harbour, Camp Ziegler, Buchta Tichaja and Teplitz Bay were also visited. The group experienced an amazing openness in this area which has been closed to visitors since 1930. The historical sites and their present condition are described.

Fishing is a key livelihood for many people worldwide, and significantly contributes to global nutrition. However, there is an awareness of a widespread crisis in fisheries with profound ecological, social and cultural impacts (Urquhart and others 2013). The majority of people dependent on fishing are involved in small-scale fisheries, which stands in contrast to the narrow focus of most fishery science and policy on large-scale, capital intensive fishing (Berkes and others 2001). Small-scale fisheries require different approaches for research, policy and management, due to their specific technological, economic and sociocultural characteristics that differ from those of large-scale fisheries, as well as a large degree of internal diversity in terms of fish stocks, fishers’ backgrounds, vessel capacity, etc (see Afterword of this collection of papers).

Accurate citation practices are important to ensure a robust knowledge base and overall trustworthy academic enterprise. The prevalence of poor citation practices has been assessed in multiple fields, resulting in estimates of inaccurate citations ranging typically between 15% and 25%. Here, we assessed the accuracy of citations in research articles extracted from 11 journals with a polar sciences focus. Thirty percent of citations from recent articles (published between 2018 and 2019) and 26 % of citations between 1980 and 2019 were found to be inaccurate. We found no evidence for differences in citation accuracy between the journals assessed, or effects on citation accuracy associated with the number of authors, number of references, position of references or if a citation was a self-citation or not. Importantly, we present evidence for a decline in citation accuracy between 1980 and 2019 in polar sciences. Citation practices are unlikely to improve unless journals provide incentives for scholars to be more meticulous, and we recommend active monitoring of citation accuracy and citation appropriateness by reviewers and editorial staff.

The Royal Naval Exhibition (RNE) of 1891 offers an important entry point for the study of naval mythmaking. Scrutinising one part of the RNE showcase, ‘The Franklin Gallery,’ highlights the imaginative potential of the polar regions as a resource for imperial visions. This paper provides a review of the RNE and, more closely, considers the ideology of polar exploration in the context of political debate and naval reforms. The utility of images of the Arctic presented at the RNE is discussed, in particular, its role in displaying the ‘heroic martyrdom’ of Sir John Franklin (1786–1847). The paper draws upon an extensive study of late nineteenth-century newspapers, illustrated weeklies, periodical reviews, popular adult and juvenile literature, art, poetry, pamphlets, exhibition catalogues and handbooks, and associated ephemera. It argues that the RNE played a central part in the construction and enshrining of narratives of naval and national achievement in the late-Victorian period and in reviving a British commitment to the exploration of the polar regions.

The pagination in the 1000 separate copies of SCAR Bulletin No 92 is incorrect. The numbers on the top of each page should range from 678 to 702, and on the bottom from [741] to \765].

On 12 January 1921 the British Imperial Antarctic Expedition 1920–1922 led by 27 year old Cambridge graduate John Lachlan Cope, arrived at Paradise Harbour situated west of Andvord Bay on the Danco Coast, Graham Land. The four-man party was landed by Norwegian whalers, on a small island with a promontory they named ‘Water-boat Point’ now Waterboat Point (64°49’S, 62°52’E), because of an abandoned water-boat there. Fortunately ready accommodation was available in the boat and to this were attached cases of provisions to form an improvised hut with an extension added before winter. Cope and Wilkins his deputy leader stayed just six weeks and after helping to build the hut, in effect abandoned the other two members of the expedition, Bagshawe and Lester. The two men voluntarily remained and in the belief that they would be paid, vigorously pursued a varied scientific programme. Although lacking essential items including certain scientific instruments, they were comparatively well off until relieved by Norwegian whalers in January 1922. The expedition that lasted one year and a day and was supported logistically by Norwegian whalers, became the smallest British expedition to overwinter in Antarctica and was the only expedition at that time. Bagshawe and Lester produced an impressive record of observations in meteorology, biology, oceanography, glaciology, botany and geology. In 1951 when Chile established Presidente González Videla Station, remains of the water-boat and hut were present, but today little evidence remains of the site destroyed by natural processes, human intervention and buried by guano. With exception of a few papers and chapters in books, Two men in the Antarctic (Bagshawe 1939) remains the definitive work on this generally forgotten expedition. For this paper primary resources have focused on original manuscripts. Although much material including financial records if indeed they existed, has been lost, surviving documents provide insights into the expedition. Reasons for the eventual loss of Bagshawe and Lester's field station are discussed.