Midlife Moments
Authors: Malcolm K Brenner
Journal: Molecular Therapy (2011)

The American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) is in a period of strategic planning. Although this is by no means an indication of a midlife crisis, it clearly coincides with a time for necessary reassessment. The Society has broadened its remit to fully incorporate cellular therapies (a change in job), the success of gene therapies in a range of diseases has meant that investigators in those fields may now strengthen their association with disease-specific societies and weaken their links with ASGCT (kids leaving home), and science funding in general will undoubtedly become harder to obtain (vigor and health not what they were). Molecular Therapy has been an increasingly successful offshoot of the Society's efforts, but we also face a changing environment and will need to adjust accordingly. MT has two contradictory roles to fulfill. It must act as a Society journal and publish high-quality research articles that cover the ever-broadening range of interests of the Society's members, even if an individual article appeals to a limited number of people and is of little general appeal. At the same time, it can attract the highest-quality papers only if the articles it publishes are widely read and cited so that the journal overall has high impact. There are many ways to artificially manipulate the impact factor of a journal, and these may indeed produce modest, short-term benefits. Nonetheless, the primary route to substantially increase citation rates, and hence appeal, is to consistently publish only high-quality articles of as broad an interest as possible and to ensure that these articles are promoted to relevant individuals outside the Society. Editorial factors, such as rapid and courteous handling of submissions and decisions, can certainly assist in persuading authors to submit their best work to the journal, as can our expansion of the front section (including editorials and commentaries), our podcasts (MolTpod), and our planned implementation of investigator videos that highlight articles describing major advances. The challenge for a society, however, is that one of the most effective ways to increase the impact of its journal's articles is to reduce the overall acceptance rate. Such a reduction conflicts with the imperative to represent the membership as a whole by publishing high-quality articles, even if they will have few citations because of their specialized subject matter. Although the advent of Web-based publishing will continue to be a major challenge for established journals, it also affords an opportunity for a society-based journal like MT to resolve its contradictory roles. Over the next year we will be working with our publisher to develop new Web-based specialist journals that will be able to publish peer-reviewed papers that are scientifically sound but likely to be of interest only to a specialized audience. Our preliminary plans are to retain the same peer-review system as that used for the primary journal. Submissions will be made either directly to the new journals or to MT and passed to the appropriate specialty journal at the editors' suggestion and with the authors' agreement, without additional peer review, so as to accelerate the acceptance process. Although it is likely that among the first new journals to be developed will be one on oligonucleotide therapeutics and another on methods and bioprocessing, at this stage neither the subject matter nor the submission mechanisms for these journals are fixed, and we would greatly value input from ASGCT members. Indeed, MT in general would appreciate suggestions for changes in structure or content; these suggestions may be either broad or specific. As we expand our website over the next 12 months, we will have a dedicated area for such suggestions, but in the meantime direct communications to Robert Frederickson or me will be welcomed. One of the classic manifestations of a midlife crisis is the consideration of a new spouse. Although the relationship between Nature Publishing Group (NPG) and ASGCT/MT has been highly beneficial both to the Society and the journal, our contract with NPG recently came up for renewal. As part of due diligence, the Society put out a request for proposals for new publisher contracts. Although several possibilities were considered, we are pleased to say that, after extensive consideration by the Board, we will be remaining with NPG. This will allow us to more rapidly make the proposed changes to the journal, to the benefit of the ASGCT and its members. What of the final manifestation of the midlife crisis? On this I cannot speak for the Society or the journal, only for myself. I have four children, and I am forced to admit that, yes, I am indeed yearning for Porsche to make a minivan.