Landscaping the terminology of accessible language document types - Volume 31, Issue

There are three main types of accessible language documents that medical writers and medical publications professionals may work on. These are regulatory lay summaries, publication-associated plain language summaries (PLS), and standalone plain…

Clinical study reports: A snapshot for aspiring medical writers - Volume 32, Issue

Clinical study reports (CSR) are detailed documents that provide a comprehensive and transparent account of the conduct and results of a clinical trial. They are an important source of information for the regulatory authorities, healthcare…

Removing the dead wood - Volume 26, Issue

Authors are urged to write clearly, concisely and convincingly, but this can be difficult to achieve if they are unaware that they are using longwinded phrases, convoluted language and excessive hedging, also   called “dead wood”. In this article, I…

Drug development and medical writing in the digital world - Volume 28, Issue

Artificial intelligence and digital health open a new chapter in the pharmaceutical industry. The digital technologies improve work efficiency, lower research and development costs, optimise medical research processes, and increase R&D outputs.…

Letter from the Editor - Volume 25, Issue

A step – no a leap – forward In 2012, the journal’s precursor, The Write Stuff, became Medical Writing under the guidance of then Editor-in-Chief Elise Langdon-Neuner. The Write Stuff had been managed almost single-handedly by Elise, and the shift…

Regulatory Matters - Volume 30, Issue

Early in my regulatory medical writing career, I wrote several protocols in the cardiology therapeutic area. I was introduced to the cardiac biomarkers troponin I and N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP), which are indicators…

Regulatory Public Disclosure - Volume 30, Issue

Editorial In the first half of 2021, keeping up with the regional regulators’ activities on COVID-19 medicines became a competitive sport. FDA’s Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs), EMA’s Conditional Marketing Authorisations, and Health Canada’s…

The hard truth about soft skills in medical writing - Volume 33, Issue

Historically, hard skills – such as technical, digital, or life sciences qualifications – have been seen as more valuable than soft skills in successful medical writing. However, hiring managers now recognise soft skills as one of the top…

Good Writing Practice - Volume 30, Issue

Grammatical misagreement in tense

I – Present, present perfect

Introduction

Each of the sections of a journal article contains anticipated conceptual components, which can be expressed by a specific verb tense for the perspective of time and the d…

Big data in clinical research: Present and future - Volume 29, Issue

The clinical research landscape is gradually changing as we enter the era of big data. Big data sources are multiplying as existing sources collide to create expanded platforms that serve wider areas of expertise. Clinical study designs…