On integrity

In recent years, Molecular Therapy – Nucleic Acids (MTNA), like many other scientific journals,^1,2 has been targeted by paper mills: commercial entities that produce fake scientific publications.^3,4 MTNA has spent the past year investigating and retracting these paper mill submissions and will continue to do so until all fake papers have been retracted. The Molecular Therapy family of journals has implemented many steps to stop this assault on scientific integrity, and as you may have noticed, the quality of papers has increased.

In 2020, as we became aware of the fraudulent paper issue, our editors worked diligently to identify and reject these submissions as they entered our system. However, given the large volume of submissions and the evolving tactics of paper mills, some paper mill papers underwent peer review without incident and were inevitably published. To address the growing number of submissions and prevent potential fraud, we began to add additional support staff to the editorial office in 2020, beginning with our managing editor. In 2021, we added an editorial assistant and scientific editor, and just recently, we added a research integrity editor. The expanded editorial office began developing a new screening process and implemented a variety of screening tools to identify and exclude fake papers.

Although our journey to correct the scientific record is still ongoing, we have made great strides in our efforts to prevent publication of fake science. Most fraudulent submissions are identified and rejected prior to peer review, lessening the burden on already overtaxed reviewers. Anecdotally, our associate editors have reported seeing more high-quality submissions despite a reduction in total submission volume.

MTNA will emerge from this challenging period a much stronger journal due to better quality control measures and increased awareness of paper mills and their practices. We want to thank our talented team of editors and reviewers for their dedication to resolving these issues. Our readers also deserve much praise for their critical examination of MTNA’s articles and support in identifying fraudulent research. With fewer fraudulent submissions, our editors and reviewers will have more time to focus on the mission of the journal: publishing truly innovative research focused on oligonucleotide- and gene-based therapies.