Cases in public health communication and marketing: A case study

In the fall of 2006, the School of Public Health at George Washington University launched a program in Health Communications and Social Marketing. In unison with the program launch, its founding director and three graduate students initiated Cases in Public Health Communication and Marketing: a student-managed, student-authored, peer-reviewed journal published exclusively online at no cost to the public. The journal serves to advance the domains of health communication and social marketing by publishing case studies that critically analyze strategies and techniques that have succeeded or failed in the field. Throughout the 2006-2007 school year, the three graduate student co-editors documented the process of developing the journal from inception through publication of its inaugural issue. Methods: Journal development entailed: extensive promotional activities to secure a reasonable number of manuscripts for publication; facilitation of the peer-review process; correspondence with manuscript co-authors; relationship-building with the journal's six founding sponsors and seven advisory board members; and creation of an interactive and engaging website from which to display the journal upon publication. Results: Eleven case studies were submitted of which nine were chosen for peer-review. Authors hailed from 3 continents and six states. [Final results determined June 1, 2007.] Discussion: The learning curve for each of the editors was tremendous, but the documentation of the best practices compiled by the editors will be an invaluable resource for future editors of the journal, for others who are interested in undertaking a similar endeavor and for those who will learn from the case studies themselves.