American Journal of Audiology and the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
“As the titles indicate, the new journals will address the day-to-day clinical issues faced by the majority of ASHA members.”
- Asha, February 1991
As early as 1969, the idea of having one journal solely devoted to speech-language pathology and one to audiology had been raised. As reported in the Legislative Council Report for 1969, a resolution was introduced that would divide the Journal of Speech and Hearing Research into two journals, a hearing journal and a speech and language journal. The resolution was referred to the Publications Board for further study and consideration but was not moved forward.
Nineteen years later in 1988 a survey, conducted by ASHA’s Publications Board, concluded that members wanted more research focusing on clinical practice. In response, ASHA’s Executive Board approved the creation of three new clinical practice journals. In August 1989, the introductory issues of the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, the American Journal of Audiology, and the Clinical Practice in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology were mailed to a select number of members. They were encouraged to submit feedback on the new journals in order to help the Legislative Council decide whether to continue publishing the journals when they met at convention in November.
The decision made at that year’s convention was to continue with the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and the American Journal of Audiology but the Clinical Practice in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, which was to alternate issues between speech-language pathology and audiology, was cancelled. The AJSLP was scheduled to premier to all members in September 1991 and the AJA in November 1991. The new editors were given all of 1990 to prepare for their debut to the membership. Both the AJSLP and the AJA would focus on the management and practice of the discipline as well as relevant research. A tag line was added to the title of both new journals, which were now the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology: A Clinical Practice Journal and the American Journal of Audiology: A Clinical Practice Journal.
The possibility of phasing out print copies of ASHA's journals was raised in an ASHA Leader article in 2004. The membership had continued to rise steadily over the years and so did the cost of journal mailings. As ASHA’s web presence grew and new technologies evolved, the idea of going completely online with the journals was seen as a cost effective alternative to mailings while at the same time making the journals more accessible. Plans were made to digitize the journals going back to their beginning and starting in 2010, all journal content except for the ASHA Leader became online only.