Interesting Times: Molecular Therapy and the Evolving Media of Scientific Publishing
Authors: Malcolm Brenner
Journal: Molecular Therapy (2010)

These are interesting times to be taking over as the third Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Therapy. For scientific publishing as a whole, the change in physical methods of distribution from printed volumes to electronic media is now well under way, and yet business models for this altered paradigm remain tenuous at best. Moreover, electronic publications have thus far largely mirrored traditional hard-copy journals in form and content. It is all but certain that future trends will require successful e-journals to exploit a more complete range of newer Internet capabilities, allowing scientific journals and their readership to be highly interactive and to contain the social-networking elements that are becoming increasingly prominent in other areas of human endeavor. Beyond these generic issues, Molecular Therapy faces specific challenges. The change in focus of the Society from a primarily gene therapy–based organization to one that also covers the full range of cellular therapies means that the Society's Journal, too, must continue its efforts to broaden its reach. We will need to compete for first-class papers not only with an even wider range of disease- or organ-oriented journals such as Cancer Research and Blood but also with frontline general medical and general scientific research journals.Fortunately, Molecular Therapy is uniquely well placed to meet these challenges. It had the good fortune to have outstanding individuals, Inder Verma and David Williams, as its first two Editors-in-Chief. The quality of their own scientific accomplishments and their guidance over the first decade ensured that MT was regarded from the start as a serious research journal and as a leader in the field, and that this initial perception was progressively enhanced. Second, Inder designed the Journal to have a full-time professional Managing Editor, Finton Steele, succeeded by Robert Frederickson. Such an arrangement is unusual for Society journals, which generally rely on their own membership to provide the time and expertise needed for this role. The presence of a first-rate professional Managing Editor has allowed MT to develop an enviable reputation for speed and consistency in the manuscript decision-making process, to provide its readers with additional commentaries and other content, and to build an excellent relationship with Nature Publishing Group (NPG).It is our intent to build on these advantages and exploit the undoubted opportunities the Journal will face over the next 5–10 years. We will therefore be making several changes to the way in which Molecular Therapy operates. Beginning in February 2010, we will switch our manuscript-submission system to the eJournalPress Web-based system. We anticipate this will have several benefits, including increased ease of accessing manuscripts as well as their reviews if they were initially submitted to other journals in the Nature group. The system will also enhance distribution and tracking of uploaded manuscripts, a feature that will be an essential requirement for our planned major change in operating practices. We are introducing a panel of Deputy Editors, drawn from areas of expertise within the Society. Upon manuscript submission to the Editor, authors will suggest an area of interest or a Deputy Editor whose work is in that area, who will have primary responsibility for sending the article for review and for reaching the initial decision. In other words, we will begin to follow more closely the model used by most other Society journals. Because it is critical that this change not result in delays or inconsistencies in the decision-making process, Rob Frederickson and I will initially remain closely involved with monitoring the process. It is our hope that once the initial period is completed, Rob will be able to devote more of his time to developing the Web-based and interactive components of the Journal. These will probably be based partly on the existing NPG Web platform but may also operate from the Society's own website or external networking sites, with appropriate links to the Journal. We also plan for our Associate Editors to continue in their current advisory role, but they will in addition be asked to provide, or to arrange, one or two review articles in their area of specialization each year.We realize that these changes will place additional burdens on the Society's members, but we hope that over time the greater level of member involvement will strengthen both the Society itself and the Society's Journal. We also believe that the changes will enable Molecular Therapy to continue its upward trajectory in terms of its scientific influence and the quality of its content, while catering effectively to the changing intellectual and financial needs of the Society, irrespective of how “interesting” the times may become!I look forward to working with all of you over the next 5 years. These are interesting times to be taking over as the third Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Therapy. For scientific publishing as a whole, the change in physical methods of distribution from printed volumes to electronic media is now well under way, and yet business models for this altered paradigm remain tenuous at best. Moreover, electronic publications have thus far largely mirrored traditional hard-copy journals in form and content. It is all but certain that future trends will require successful e-journals to exploit a more complete range of newer Internet capabilities, allowing scientific journals and their readership to be highly interactive and to contain the social-networking elements that are becoming increasingly prominent in other areas of human endeavor. Beyond these generic issues, Molecular Therapy faces specific challenges. The change in focus of the Society from a primarily gene therapy–based organization to one that also covers the full range of cellular therapies means that the Society's Journal, too, must continue its efforts to broaden its reach. We will need to compete for first-class papers not only with an even wider range of disease- or organ-oriented journals such as Cancer Research and Blood but also with frontline general medical and general scientific research journals. Fortunately, Molecular Therapy is uniquely well placed to meet these challenges. It had the good fortune to have outstanding individuals, Inder Verma and David Williams, as its first two Editors-in-Chief. The quality of their own scientific accomplishments and their guidance over the first decade ensured that MT was regarded from the start as a serious research journal and as a leader in the field, and that this initial perception was progressively enhanced. Second, Inder designed the Journal to have a full-time professional Managing Editor, Finton Steele, succeeded by Robert Frederickson. Such an arrangement is unusual for Society journals, which generally rely on their own membership to provide the time and expertise needed for this role. The presence of a first-rate professional Managing Editor has allowed MT to develop an enviable reputation for speed and consistency in the manuscript decision-making process, to provide its readers with additional commentaries and other content, and to build an excellent relationship with Nature Publishing Group (NPG). It is our intent to build on these advantages and exploit the undoubted opportunities the Journal will face over the next 5–10 years. We will therefore be making several changes to the way in which Molecular Therapy operates. Beginning in February 2010, we will switch our manuscript-submission system to the eJournalPress Web-based system. We anticipate this will have several benefits, including increased ease of accessing manuscripts as well as their reviews if they were initially submitted to other journals in the Nature group. The system will also enhance distribution and tracking of uploaded manuscripts, a feature that will be an essential requirement for our planned major change in operating practices. We are introducing a panel of Deputy Editors, drawn from areas of expertise within the Society. Upon manuscript submission to the Editor, authors will suggest an area of interest or a Deputy Editor whose work is in that area, who will have primary responsibility for sending the article for review and for reaching the initial decision. In other words, we will begin to follow more closely the model used by most other Society journals. Because it is critical that this change not result in delays or inconsistencies in the decision-making process, Rob Frederickson and I will initially remain closely involved with monitoring the process. It is our hope that once the initial period is completed, Rob will be able to devote more of his time to developing the Web-based and interactive components of the Journal. These will probably be based partly on the existing NPG Web platform but may also operate from the Society's own website or external networking sites, with appropriate links to the Journal. We also plan for our Associate Editors to continue in their current advisory role, but they will in addition be asked to provide, or to arrange, one or two review articles in their area of specialization each year. We realize that these changes will place additional burdens on the Society's members, but we hope that over time the greater level of member involvement will strengthen both the Society itself and the Society's Journal. We also believe that the changes will enable Molecular Therapy to continue its upward trajectory in terms of its scientific influence and the quality of its content, while catering effectively to the changing intellectual and financial needs of the Society, irrespective of how “interesting” the times may become! I look forward to working with all of you over the next 5 years.