The lost revenue was a factor in her departure, said Dr. Fletcher, now a professor at Harvard Medical School. Scientific journals, numbering more than 25,000, cover everything from esoterica to the common cold. Most make their money selling subscriptions, copyrighting and publishing findings received free from authors whose research is mainly financed by taxpayers, and selling reprints. Journals carrying advertisements often compete vigorously for papers, readers and circulation so they can charge top rates. Most journals have small editorial staffs, many of them volunteers, and send texts to scientists for unpaid criticism, a process known as peer review.
Most journals refuse to disclose profits.
The profits of Nature, a for-profit journal published in London and owned by von Holtzbrinck Group of Germany, are not disclosed. The American Medical Association, the American Heart Association and the British Medical Association have long published specialty journals in addition to their main journals. Seeing their success, other publishers have made or considered similar expansions. Beginning in 1992, for example, Nature created profitable specialty journals like Nature Genetics. The New England Journal of Medicine, like many other leading journals, rejects far more papers than it accepts.