Five Years, the First Milestone on the ‘Silk Road’

Abstract

When Molecular Plant proposed to publish its first issue five years ago, many in the plant biology community questioned the need for another journal. Indeed, establishing a new journal in the field of almost 200 existing international titles proves to be a difficult task. However, colleagues around the world were soon impressed with the quality and rapid turnaround in this new journal. The most exciting and successful feature of the Journal was its special issues on current topics in molecular plant sciences that were organized by leading researchers in a particular field. Such themed issues fulfilled the need for educating graduate students and senior researchers alike on emerging areas of plant biology, and at the same time set the tone for top-quality primary research embraced by the Journal. All issues in the first two years were organized as themed issues, making the Journal independent of regular submissions that might target a new journal without a clear understanding of its quality standard. With vigorous review standards, each organizing committee solicited and almost always received the best research manuscripts from their colleagues to form the themed issue. Now Molecular Plant has published more than 20 themed issues that cover a broad spectrum of basic plant biology research. These issues represent great progress in understanding the mechanisms of plant development and function and the many ways plants serve mankind. However, they also emphasize that there is still much to learn to maximize the potential contributions of plants to agriculture, renewable energy, and environmental health. Molecular Plant will continue to contribute the results of first-rate research in plant biology to this end. Recently, some of the Molecular Plant issues re-examined topics covered previously to update readers on the progress made in such rapidly-moving areas of research as plant hormones, photomorphogenesis, and abiotic stress. Therefore, Molecular Plant is not only rapidly reporting cutting-edge science, but also serves as a monograph series that documents well-chosen current topics. What is the quality of Molecular Plant publications? Although it is difficult to quantitatively and precisely evaluate research, the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) ranks journals according to the average citations received by papers published in each journal, also known as impact factor. In the most recent ranking, Molecular Plant stood in the fifth position from the top among all plant journals publishing primary research (excluding review journals). This ranking solidifies the stature of Molecular Plant as a journal that, together with a few well-established titles such as Plant Cell, Plant Physiology, and Plant Journal, publishes top-quality science in plant biology. This ranking recognizes Molecular Plant as a top-tier journal—clearly a great honor for a journal only five years old. In addition to its high-impact publications, the Journal also provides a valuable platform for scientific communication and education through its annual board meetings that take place in China. Each board meeting is held in conjunction with a scientific symposium at which board members and other invited researchers present latest developments in plant biology. Each such gathering serves as an educational forum for young students and researchers, and fosters scientific collaborations that involve scientists in and outside of China. As stated in the ‘Foreword’ of the inaugural issue (Luan et al., 2008Luan S. Chen X. Raikhel N. Briggs W.R A new ‘silk road’ for a new era of plant science.Mol. Plant. 2008; 1: 1Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (1) Google Scholar), Molecular Plant truly became a new ‘silk road’ of plant biology that brings scientists from all over the world together. Five years marks the first milestone on this road. On behalf of the Editorial Board and publishing staff of Molecular Plant, we would like to thank you, the plant biology community, for your continuous and enthusiastic support of Molecular Plant. With your dedicated support, we will strive to publish the best science in plant biology and set new milestones on this ‘silk road’.