Upcoming Issues of Medical Writing

September 2024: Clinical Trial Transparency and Disclosure

The clinical trial transparency and disclosure space continues to grow at pace. With the EU Clinical Trial Regulation being applicable since the launch of the Clinical Trials Information System in January 2022 comes increased requirements for public facing documents. Provision of a summary of clinical trial results in lay language is also now mandatory in the EU. Challenges continue in balancing protection of personal data of trial participants with transparency, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. All of these bring opportunities for Medical Writers to drive best practice in authoring clinical trial documents with disclosure in mind.

Guest Editors: Holly Hanson and Alison McIntosh

December 2024: Medical Writing Around the World

Medical writing transcends geography, demography, language, and culture. To date, EMWA has over 1400 members from 48 countries on 6 continents, and we want to celebrate the diversity and global presence of the medical writing community.

In this issue, we will focus on medical writing activities around the world and will delve into topics like the benefits of having geographically diverse teams, translation and language-specific challenges, the landscape of global freelance medical writing, etc. We hope that these insights will assist the medical writing community in strengthening interactions and collaboration with teams and freelancers spread across the world.

Guest Editors: Asha Liju and Evguenia Alechine

The deadline for feature articles has now passed.

March 2025: Rare Diseases

Although rare diseases are individually uncommon, there are more than 7000 rare (“orphan”) diseases affecting around 300 million people globally. Rare diseases are incredibly diverse and often life-threatening. Long diagnostic delays, termed a diagnostic “odyssey”, are common, and many have no effective treatments. Rare diseases offer unique challenges and opportunities that are not seen in other therapeutic areas. This issue of Medical Writing spotlights the evolving regulatory landscape, the nuances of unmet medical needs, the importance of the patient voice, and the key role of medical writers in the orphan disease space.

Guest Editor: Sarah Milner and Heather Mason

The deadline for feature articles is December 1, 2024.

June 2025: Communicating with the Public

When we communicate effectively with patients and the public, we empower them to make informed decisions about their health. This issue will cover the latest guidelines and standards to be considered when writing and designing information for patients and the public. It will also feature articles from thought leaders on plain language writing, inclusive communication, and patient involvement in research. With this issue, we hope to provide insights that will strengthen the role of medical writers as advocates for the patient voice, and as powerful and effective communicators of understandable science.

Guest Editors: Sampoorna Rappaz and Lisa Chamberlain James

The deadline for feature articles is March 1, 2025.

September 2025: Real World Data/Real World Evidence

Real-world data and real-world evidence have become integral to medical research and healthcare decision-making. Their value lies in providing insights into how healthcare treatments and interventions perform in everyday settings, which can differ significantly from controlled clinical trial environments. This issue of Medical Writing will include a broad range of articles on the issue theme covering critical aspects for medical writers working with these types of data.

Guest Editors: Maria Kołtowska-Häggström and Laura Collada Ali

The deadline for feature articles is June 1, 2025.

Special Note to Authors
We continue to receive many high-quality articles, but we are always happy to receive more on any topics of potential interest to medical writers. If you are interested in contributing an article or you have ideas for upcoming issues, please contact us at editor@emwa.org.