Common Attributes of Periodicals in the Health Sphere

The Journal of Allied Health (JAH) produced by the Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions (ASAHP) shares many common features with other periodicals in the wide world of professional publications. The JAH is issued quarterly while other journals range from weekly to annual reviews. Irrespective of periodicity, similar costs usually characterize a vast range of publications. For example, one or more salaried editors must decide: which manuscripts will be selected to undergo peer review, which peer reviewers will be invited to conduct assessments of submitted articles, and which papers will be accepted or rejected for publication. Related costs include copyediting, typesetting, mailing paper copies of the journal to subscribers, and creating and archiving an electronic version of each issue. Costs for most journals typically are offset by a combination of subscription fees, authors' page charges, and advertisement revenue.