Introduction

The emphasis of this chapter is on production management. There is little technical detail as this is often best obtained from suppliers; in any case, it changes quickly, leaving a description of current equipment and systems out of date.

The weakness in the journal market has underlined the need to reduce or at least hold costs in relation to inflation. Fortunately, the cost of typesetting and composition (origination, or ‘plant’ in the USA) has dropped in real terms through improved software, lower computing costs, higher productivity, taking articles on disk (thus cutting out the rekeying stage) and in some cases lower wages. With the rapid development of information technology, improved communications and the widespread availability of suitable equipment, the options available to whoever is managing the production of a journal have increased. These will be outlined, with emphasis on the relationship between the publisher and the publisher's suppliers.

Another feature of the weakening market is the concern for the appearance of a journal. There is competition for good articles and a journal with the right image, helped by an attractive design and high quality printing and paper, will attract these. Good articles sell subscriptions and maintain circulation. The conflict between economy and image is more apparent than real: apart from quality and weight of paper good design should cost no more than bad design.

Many journals are typeset, printed and bound by the same firm; but there has been a trend towards using specialist typesetters who will produce proofs, make corrections, make up the pages, and send the final image on film to a printer.