Overview Submission Instructions Recent Publications Frequently Asked Questions Research Topics

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Molecular Therapy

Molecular Therapy is a peer-reviewed journal focused on gene transfer, vector development and design, stem cell manipulation, gene-, peptide-, protein-, oligonucleotide-, and cell-based therapeutics, vaccine development, pre-clinical target validation, safety and efficacy studies, and clinical trials. It publishes research, reviews, and commentaries in genetics, medicine, and biotechnology and is published for the American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy by Elsevier.

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Subject Genetics & Heredity, Medicine, Research & Experimental

Impact Factor 12

Quartile Q1

Open Access Type Hybrid

ISSN 1525-0016

eISSN 1525-0024

Invitation Only No

Cost Range Open access APC: USD 4,500 excluding taxes; subscription publication: no publication fee charged to authors.

Submission Instructions

Molecular Therapy accepts the following article types. Click on an article type to view submission instructions.

Original Research Article

Cover Letter A cover letter on institutional letterhead is required. The cover letter must explain the conceptual advance and relevance to readers, provide information relevant to editorial handling, disclose financial conflicts of interest, and describe any related papers and how they relate to the submission.

Abstract An unstructured abstract is required for Original Research Articles. The abstract must not exceed 200 words. The abstract must be unstructured and presented as a single paragraph. Headings are not permitted in the abstract.

Manuscript Original Research Articles must be organized as abstract, introduction, results, discussion, materials & methods, data availability statement, acknowledgments, author contributions, declaration of interests statement, 5-10 keywords, references, tables, and a list of figure legends, and the Results and Discussion sections must not be combined. The manuscript must include 5-10 keywords, an author contributions section, a declaration of interests section, and a Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process before the References when such tools were used.

References References must include only published or in-press works, be cited as superscript numbers in order of appearance after punctuation, be listed numerically, use PubMed journal title abbreviations, and list the first ten authors followed by et al. when there are more than ten authors.

Figures & Tables No more than 8 display items consisting of figures and tables are permitted. Tables and the list of figure legends must be included in the manuscript file, and figures may be included after the tables for first-round review but high-resolution figure files must also be uploaded separately. A graphical abstract/eTOC is required.

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Review Article

Cover Letter A cover letter on institutional letterhead is required. The cover letter must explain the conceptual advance and relevance to readers, note information relevant to handling or evaluation, and disclose any financial conflicts of interest.

Abstract An abstract is required. The abstract must be unstructured and no more than 200 words. The abstract must be unstructured and presented as a single paragraph without headings.

Manuscript Review Articles must be organized as introduction, text, acknowledgments, author contributions, declaration of interest statement, 5-10 keywords, references, tables, and a list of figure legends. A graphical abstract/eTOC is required, and any use of generative AI in writing must be disclosed in a dedicated declaration section before the References.

References References must follow a numbered citation style. References must be cited in superscript numerical order of appearance, listed in numerical order, include only published or in-press works, list the first ten authors followed by et al. when there are more than ten, and use PubMed journal abbreviations.

Figures & Tables No more than 8 display items consisting of figures and tables are permitted. For initial submission, tables must appear at the end of the manuscript and figures may be included after the tables in the manuscript file, while high-resolution figure files must also be uploaded separately. Figures, tables, and equations must be numbered sequentially in Arabic numerals, and a list of figure legends must be included in the manuscript file.

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Brief Report

Cover Letter A cover letter on institutional letterhead is required. Cover letter must explain the conceptual advance and relevance to readers, include information relevant to handling and evaluation, and declare any financial conflicts of interest.

Abstract An unstructured abstract is required. Abstract must not exceed 200 words. Abstract must be unstructured and presented as a single paragraph without headings.

Manuscript Manuscript must not exceed 4,000 words excluding disclosures and references. Brief Report must be organized as abstract, introduction, results, discussion, materials and methods, data availability statement, acknowledgments, author contributions, declaration of interest statement, 5-10 keywords, references, tables, and a list of figure legends. Manuscript must include 5-10 keywords, an author contributions section, a declaration of interest statement, and an AI disclosure section before the references if generative AI or AI-assisted writing tools were used.

References Brief Report must include no more than 30 references. References must be cited as superscript numbers in order of appearance after punctuation, listed in numerical order, and list the first ten authors followed by et al. when there are more than ten authors.

Figures & Tables Brief Reports may include no more than 3 display items total across figures and tables. Tables and the list of figure legends must be included in the manuscript file, and figures may be included there for initial review but high-resolution figure files must also be uploaded separately. Brief Reports require a graphical abstract/eTOC.

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Case Report

Cover Letter A cover letter on institutional letterhead is required. The cover letter must explain the conceptual advance and relevance to readers, include information relevant to editorial handling, and declare any financial conflicts of interest.

Abstract An unstructured abstract is required. Abstract must not exceed 200 words. Abstract must be unstructured and presented as a single paragraph without headings.

Manuscript Manuscript must not exceed 1500 words excluding disclosures and references. Manuscript must be organized as abstract, introduction, patient details and clinical findings, discussion, acknowledgments, author contributions, declaration of interest statement, keywords, references, tables, and a list of figure legends. Manuscript must include 5-10 keywords, an author contributions section, a declaration of interest statement, and a Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process before the References if such tools were used for writing.

References References must not exceed 30. References must be cited in superscript numerical order of appearance, listed numerically, include only published or in-press works, list the first ten authors before et al. when there are more than ten authors, and use PubMed journal title abbreviations.

Figures & Tables Case Reports may include no more than 3 display items in total across figures and tables. For initial submission, tables must appear at the end of the manuscript and figures may be included after the tables in the manuscript file, with high-resolution figure files also uploaded separately. A list of figure legends must appear in the manuscript file after the References, each table must have a title above it, and figure legends must not be placed on the high-resolution figure files.

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Letter To The Editor

Cover Letter A cover letter on institutional letterhead is required. The cover letter must explain the conceptual advance and relevance to readers and provide any information relevant to handling and evaluation of the paper.

Abstract An abstract is required. The abstract must be 200 words or less. The abstract must be unstructured in a single paragraph.

Manuscript Letters To The Editor must not exceed 1200 words excluding disclosures and references. No display items are permitted, and any use of generative AI in writing must be disclosed in a dedicated declaration section before the References.

References No more than 10 references are permitted. References must be cited as superscript numbers in order of appearance and listed in numerical order, with the first ten authors listed before et al. for references with more than ten authors.

Figures & Tables No display items are permitted. Figures may be included after the tables in the manuscript file for first-round review, and high-resolution figure files must be uploaded separately when submitted.

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Recent Publications

Antibody Format Matters: A Comparative Analysis of VHH and scFv Domains Reveals Superior In Vivo CAR T Cell Function with VHH Domains

Alexander Kinna, Preeta Datta, Reyisa Bughda, Farhaan Parekh, Mathew Robson, Ram Jha, Phillip Wu, Ian Scott, Elizabeth Hogben, Oliver Amin, Gordon Weng-Kit Cheung, Warren Hazelton, Zulaikha Akbar, Katarina Lamb, Emily Macken, Chris Allen, Sofi Panovska, Lisa Hogan, Mohamed El-Kholy, Reevesh Shrestha, Jonathan Popplewell, Evangelia Kokalaki, James Sillibourne, Simon Thomas, Shimobi Onuoha, Mathieu Ferrari, Martin Pule

10.1016/j.ymthe.2026.06.017

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Therapeutic potential of three-dimensional hepatocyte-like cells from human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells in urea cycle disorders.

Yu Saito, Shuhai Chen, Yuhei Waki, Mengling Ji, Tetsuya Ikemoto, Shinichiro Yamada, Hiroki Teraoku, Yuji Morine, Mitsuo Shimada

10.1016/j.ymthe.2026.06.019

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In this issue

10.1016/j.ymthe.2026.06.021

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FDA issues new draft guidance on human gene therapy products incorporating genome editing

10.1016/j.ymthe.2026.06.023

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Targeting emerging respiratory pathogens with Clamp Peptides: broad-spectrum inhibition of viral entry in 3D human lung models

Mercedes Lozano-Garcia, Josep-Ramon Codina, Marcello Mascini, Emre Dikici, Sapna K. Deo, Joan E. Nichols, Sasha R. Azar, Sylvia Daunert

10.1016/j.ymthe.2026.06.020

View Publication

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to publish?

Median 136 days from submission to acceptance decision for accepted papers.

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Is a cover letter required?

A cover letter is required on institutional letterhead. It should explain the conceptual advance and relevance to readers and include information relevant to handling and evaluation of the paper, such as related work, time constraints, competition, and any declared conflicts of interest.

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What are the publication costs?

Open access APC is USD 4,500 excluding taxes. Subscription publication has no publication fee charged to authors.

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Research Topics

Virus-based gene therapy research RNA Interference and Gene Delivery CRISPR and Genetic Engineering Viral Infectious Diseases and Gene Expression in Insects CAR-T cell therapy research Cancer Research and Treatments Immunotherapy and Immune Responses Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques Animal Genetics and Reproduction Muscle Physiology and Disorders Herpesvirus Infections and Treatments Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology Pluripotent Stem Cells Research Mesenchymal stem cell research Immune Cell Function and Interaction Viral Infections and Immunology Research Cytomegalovirus and herpesvirus research Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies Research MicroRNA in disease regulation Lysosomal Storage Disorders Research HIV Research and Treatment Biomedical Ethics and Regulation Retinal Development and Disorders RNA modifications and cancer

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