Its founder and first editor, Michelangelo Ricci, was in an ideal position to obtain contributions and advice from the likes of Evangelista Torricelli and Vincenzo Viviani, whom he knew through his former teacher, Galileian mathematician Benedetto Castelli.

[3] As the author of a mathematical treatise that earned a reprint by the Royal Society of London, he could competently judge the scientific material that came in.

The Roman Giornale's next editor, Francesco Nazzari, was an expert in natural philosophy, which he taught at the Sapienza University of Rome; and his directorship of the polyglot press of the Congregation de propaganda fide familiarized him with the workings of the publishing industry.

[4] The journal's third and final editor, Giovanni Ciampini, author, patron and antiquary, enjoyed a far more prestigious circle of acquaintances than any of his co-editors, as the founding member of the academy of ecclesiastical history in the same Congregation.

[5] Under the guidance of these editors, the Roman journal attracted contributions from as far afield as Robert Hooke in England, and it combined them with book reviews, bibliographical news, and obituaries.