Writing the Next Chapter for the Molecular Therapy Family of Journals
Authors: Robert M Frederickson, Seppo Ylä-Herttuala
Journal: Molecular Therapy (2016)

As announced at the Annual Meeting last May, beginning in January 2017 the Molecular Therapy (MT) family of journals will be published by the Society's new publishing partner, Cell Press. As many of you may have noticed, management of the manuscript submission and tracking systems has already been transferred from our current publishing partner, Springer Nature, and we have begun transferring accepted MT manuscripts to the Cell Press publication systems. Publication of the MT sibling journals will move to Cell Press in early November. While sad to say good-bye to the many talented professionals at Springer Nature with whom we have had the opportunity to work over many years, we are equally excited to open this new chapter in the journals' and Society's publishing history. Springer Nature (formerly Nature Publishing Group) has published MT since 2007 and helped us launch our three highly successful open-access sibling journals. Before 2007 we were published by Academic Press, with which the Society inaugurated MT in 2000, and then Elsevier, which acquired the Academic Press imprint in the early 2000s. By 2007, MT had firmly established itself as the leading international journal covering the gene and cell therapy space, achieving for the first time an impact factor close to 6. Unfortunately, the business model of the journal at that time did not benefit the Society. The move to Nature Publishing Group solved this problem, and both MT and the sibling journals have grown rapidly over the past decade and now contribute significantly to supporting Society initiatives and projects. Institutional subscriptions to MT have never been higher, and the sibling journals have far exceeded our growth projections with respect to both number and quality of submissions. Given this success, why rock the boat with a change in publisher, some may ask. As has been noted in previous editorials, the business of scientific publishing has undergone a lengthy period of tumult as both the push for open access and the slow demise of print publication have disrupted long-established business models, with important implications for Society publications such as ours. In addition, new technologies and platforms continue to change the ways in which scientists report and share information. It is important for both the editorial and Society leadership to keep abreast of the latest strategies and innovations in science publishing. In part with this in mind, the Society committed to considering proposals from other publishers in the lead-up to the expiration of the current contract. Proposals from the several prestigious scientific publishers that bid on the journals included careful evaluations of the current state of our journals and the field overall, as well as detailed plans on how to ensure that they not only survive but flourish as business models and technologies evolve. The competition was tight, and all bidders provided thoughtful and useful information that will inform our deliberations as we chart our course in the coming years. Cell Press has a proven history of quality and innovation in their approach to scientific publication, and their bid was ultimately chosen by the Society leadership. The editorial leadership of the journals worked closely with and advised the Society during the publisher-selection process, and we are confident that this new partnership with Cell Press will be a fruitful one for both parties—one that allows the journal family to solidify and further expand our role as the leading international family of journals serving the gene and cell communities and beyond. Another important aspect of the change in publisher is the push for greater recognition of the MT and ASGCT “brands,” which will be reflected in the new journal websites. The individual journal webpages will be better integrated, as will links to Society pages, so as to provide readers a smoother experience when maneuvering through the interlinked websites. We have also enhanced the manuscript submission and tracking process to facilitate transfer of papers and reviews between journals. Submission to MT is now effectively submission to the entire journal group, and should a paper be deemed not of sufficiently broad interest or potential impact for the flagship journal, publication in one of the more subspecialty sibling journals will be considered and encouraged. We are confident that these changes, coupled with our historic focus on rapid turnaround and high-quality review, will secure the MT family journals as a very attractive forum for publishing exceptional work in the fields we cover.