The role of technical magazine/journal hybrids

Most scientific journals are characterized by relatively low circulation (often fewer than 5000 subscribers) and relatively high price ($20 and above per year is not uncommon). In some scientific fields, however, there is a sufficiently well developed market for products that advertising income becomes a more than significant potential source of revenue. In such cases, it is financially possible to produce technical publications that are both inexpensive to purchase (less than $10 annual subscription) and that have large circulations (sometimes 30 000 or more paid subscribers). Such publications — technical magazine/journal hybrids — have a number of advantages, chief among which is the opportunity to give subscribers a great deal more for their money, but they also present difficulties for the publisher. Among these difficulties are the unpredictable nature of advertising support and the consequent difficulties in budgeting, the need to maintain high circulation, and the editorial challenges inherent in serving a large and possibly heterogeneous readership. These points will be illustrated with references to two American Chemical Society publications that are “hybrid” in nature, Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Science and Technology.