Most academic journals are run by big for-profit publishing companies, and most of the rest are run by universities or big academic societies. The Journal of Healthcare Finance was an extreme outlier from this norm, run single-handedly by Editor-In-Chief James Unland since 1994. It was the rare journal that was free both for readers and authors.

I loved the idea of having a single person truly in charge and accountable without being slowed by a complex bureaucracy. But eventually a single person will want to, or have to, move on. Having an institution run a journal can ease this process, though an individual can still try to find their own successor.

In this case, The Journal of Healthcare Finance had been on hiatus since its Editor-In-Chief stepped back, with its last issue published in 2023. Their old website domain had expired- not a great look for anyone who published there and was going up for a job or tenure.

But now it is officially back at a new domain, with the single Editor-In-Chief replaced by a full editorial team, and accepting submissions again with the hope of releasing a new issue this year.

Selfishly, I’m happy to see this both because it means they will continue hosting my past publication, and to have a potential outlet for my future work. I recommend that other health economists and health services researchers give it a try, though as of now I have no personal experience with the new editorial team.