  We give a common description of Simon, Barab\'asi--Albert, II-PA and Price
growth models, by introducing suitable random graph processes with preferential
attachment mechanisms. Through the II-PA model, we prove the conditions for
which the asymptotic degree distribution of the Barab\'asi--Albert model
coincides with the asymptotic in-degree distribution of the Simon model.
Furthermore, we show that when the number of vertices in the Simon model (with
parameter $\alpha$) goes to infinity, a portion of them behave as a Yule model
with parameters $(\lambda,\beta) = (1-\alpha,1)$, and through this relation we
explain why asymptotic properties of a random vertex in Simon model, coincide
with the asymptotic properties of a random genus in Yule model. As a by-product
of our analysis, we prove the explicit expression of the in-degree distribution
for the II-PA model, given without proof in \cite{Newman2005}. References to
traditional and recent applications of the these models are also discussed.
