A New Agreement between the American Association for the History of Medicine and the Bulletin of the History of Medicine

Agreement between the American Association for the History of Medicine and the Bulletin of the History of Medicine

A new agreement between the American Association for the History of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins University concerning the publication of the Bulletin was signed in May 2004 by representatives of the AAHM and the University. This agreement will take the place of the current agreement, put in effect on January 1, 1953 (see the Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 1952, 26: 603-5). The text of the new agreement is as follows:

This agreement between the Johns Hopkins University, as the owner of the Bulletin of the History of Medicine, and the American Association for the History of Medicine (AAHM) is made for the purpose of continuing the publication of the Bulletin as the representative organ of the Association and of the Institute of the History of Medicine of the University. Both parties agree to the following stipulations, which are hereby made a part of the agreement:

1. The Bulletin is to be recognized as the organ of the American Association for the History of Medicine and of the Johns Hopkins Institute of the History of Medicine.
2. The University assumes full financial responsibility for the publication of the Bulletin and nothing in this agreement, unless specifically stipulated, shall be construed as infringing upon the rights of the University to its free exercise of ownership over the Bulletin.
3. Regular, Family, Honorary, and Student members of the Association and the Constituent Societies of the Association shall receive subscriptions to the Bulletin, in return for which the University shall be reimbursed by the Association on the basis of a schedule of rates established in accordance with Section 9 of this agreement.
4. The Editor or Editors of the Bulletin shall be members of the AAHM and shall be nominated by the Director of the Institute and subject to the consent of the Council of the AAHM.
5. The Advisory Editorial Board of the Bulletin shall be members of the AAHM and shall be nominated by the Editors of the Bulletin and subject to the consent of the Council of the AAHM.
6. The Editors of the Bulletin shall make all final editorial decisions, and shall have the sole responsibility for determining what matter shall be published in the Bulletin except as specified in the next following stipulation.
7. The minutes of all business sessions of the Association, and of all meetings of the Council of the Association, shall be published in the Bulletin if so desired by the Association.
8. The Bulletin shall contain annually a minimum of 500 pages of printed matter exclusive of advertisements.
9. The University shall be reimbursed by the Association for subscriptions sent to members of the Association named in Section 3 and to its Constituent Societies at rates to be determined jointly by the University and the Association. Changes in the subscription rates and in rates of reimbursement can be made by mutual agreement between the University and the Association, without thereby invalidating the rest of this Agreement.
10. Either party, upon notification to the other by June 30, can terminate this agreement, termination to take effect as of December 31 of the year following notification.
11. This Agreement will go into effect upon approval by both parties.

Todd L. Savitt

Secretary/Treasurer, AAHM

William M. Breichner

Journals Manager, Johns Hopkins University Press

Despite the passage of nearly fifty years, much of the old agreement was retained in the new one. The most significant changes are in items 4 and 5, regarding the editors and the editorial board. These were the earlier versions:

4. The Editor of the Bulletin, any possible Associate or Assistant Editors, and other personnel employed in the editorial office of the Bulletin as well as the publisher and printer of the...