Editorial: Pharmaism - Volume 22, Issue

Criticising the pharmaceutical industry is a type of sport, and it is astonishing what nonsense people will believe about it. For example, it has been said that pharmaceutical companies will only conduct a clinical trial against another product that…

COVID-19 contagion, information, and misinformation - Volume 29, Issue

The set of reactions being observed in the current coronavirus outbreak is similar to that in other epidemics: the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, the swine flu H1N1 pandemic, and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. Indeed, progress has been…

Finding the action in your writing: Avoiding nominalisation - Volume 26, Issue

Dense, hard-to-follow writing obfuscates complex subject matter, but writers can improve their ability to communicate complex topics with clear writing that is easily understood on a first read. Science and medical  writing often contain grammatical…

"Processing health-related data for scientific research: Is consent an appropriate legitimate ground?" - Volume 29, Issue

I first met Brussels-based lawyer, An Vijverman, at the European Centre for Clinical Research Training Data Transparency Conference in February 2019. The conference brought together the clinical trials industry – sponsors and contract research…

EMWA News - Volume 32, Issue

This roundup of news from EMWA includes updates on the NetworkPharma Medcomms Career Event that took place at the Radisson Hotel & Conference Centre in London Heathrow and how to set up Special Interest Groups (SIG).

Medical Writing. 2023;32(1)1…

The Light Stuff - Volume 22, Issue

Welcome to The Light Stuff One of the unwritten laws of EMWA is ‘Never talk to the editor of the journal if you don't want to end up working on it in your spare time’. I can joke about this because as I was the editor of the EMWA journal from 1998…

A medical writer's guide to meta-analysis - Volume 25, Issue

Meta-analysis is a statistical technique for summarising the results of multiple studies in a quantitative manner. It should not be confused with a systematic review, though in practice the two are often found together. The main pitfalls with…

The Webscout - Volume 24, Issue

The word ‘plain’ in its original sense just meant ‘flat, smooth’. In the thirteenth century, it also gained the meaning ‘evident’. And from the fourteenth century on, ‘plain’ has been used in the way we understand it in the term ‘plain language’: to…

Out on Our Own - Volume 24, Issue

With spring comes a renewed sense of optimism. A good time, perhaps, to review where we are in our businesses and consider how we can improve. Michelle Storm Lane of the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed (IPSE) provides…

Biostatistics, data management, and medical writing: A multidisciplinary approach to the development of the CTD integrated summaries - Volume 29, Issue

Analyses of integrated databases of efficacy and safety are a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirement. They are very useful in evaluating the safety and efficacy data gathered in multiple clinical studies. However, their utility is dependent…