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What will $4.30 buy these days? Perhaps a large cup of gourmet coffee to start your day, or a movie ticket at one of the economy theaters, or a pair of socks. But, in 2003, $4.30 was also the net cost per individual member for ASHA's scholarly journals.
This may be surprising, but it is understandable when we consider that ASHA receives subscription income from institutions (mostly libraries) and from individuals who are not members of the association. This income offsets the cost of journals to ASHA members. Today, for less than $5, an ASHA member has searchable online access to four journals: the American Journal of Audiology; American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology; Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research; and Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools.
However, low cost is only part of the story. The Publications Board, Council of Editors, and Publications Office have worked over the years to make a number of improvements that enhance the value of our journals. Here are just a few of the improvements over the last 25 years:
- increasing journal page size to 8 1/2 by 11 inches
- switching to acid-free paper (to resist oxygenation and consequent yellowing of paper)
- creating two new clinical practice journals, one for audiology and one for speech-language pathology
- providing for online submission of manuscripts and reviews through Manuscript Central (reducing costs and delays associated with materials sent through regular mail)
- making scholarly journals available online back to 1990
- providing online search for scholarly journals back to 1990. (Have you tried it? If not, please do, and let us know how it worked so we can improve our search engine)
The improvements are considerable and greatly enhance the journals' value. What does the future hold?
One possibility is that hard-copy journals will be phased out. Why? First, because most readers will appreciate the convenience of searchable online journals (print a hard copy if you need it; otherwise, save some trees). Second, because mailing costs are a substantial and largely uncontrollable cost of making journals available to ASHA members. Third, because if you've collected hard-copy journals as long as I have, you may find that there is little room in your office for anything but journals. The phasing out of hard copy is not imminent, but it is under discussion by the Publications Board as a future direction.
--Ray D. Kent,
ASHA Vice President for Research and Technology
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