Race and ethnicity in biomedical literature: A narrative review - Volume 31, Issue

Race and ethnicity are not clearly defined in biomedical literature and misaligned with genomics and epigenomic findings; the guidelines for consistent reporting in publications and regulations from health authorities are lacking. Minority…

Plain language summaries of clinical trial results: What is their role, and should patients and AI be involved? - Volume 33, Issue

Plain language summaries (PLSs) of clinical trial results are vital tools in the clinical development process for enhancing transparency and encouraging and facilitating patient engagement. The production of a PLS is now mandated in the EU for all…

How FAIR are pharma publication data? - Volume 31, Issue

Sharing research data increases reusability, reduces waste, supports reproducibility and promotes innovation. In medical research, sharing data also promotes transparency and access to information relevant to patient care. While important…

Creating educational materials about clinical research data for patients and the public: A multifaceted journey in the current digital age - Volume 33, Issue

With scientific advances during the COVID- 19 pandemic and expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) in research, there has been a simultaneous increase in misinformation about data collection, privacy, and sharing in clinical trials. This increase h…

From the Editor - On social media: Once a passive observer – now an active user - Volume 30, Issue

It is with great pleasure that I write my first editorial for this amazing issue on social media. The idea of this issue came to me in 2019, inspired by two special colleagues.

I had social media accounts even before I became a medical writer. I rec…

Regulatory Public Disclosure - Volume 32, Issue

Editorial Sam Hamilton (author and section editor) Medical Writing. 2023;32(3):91–95. https://doi.org/10.56012/hnnl8161 Clinical Data Publication (Policy 0070) relaunch Alison McIntosh (author) In preparation for the relaunch of EMA Clinical…

Writing for lay audiences - Volume 24, Issue

For most of us, medical writing is highly technical. We prepare regulatory or clinical documents or write materials targeted to medical doctors. Medical writing for lay audiences is different, and it does not come naturally to most of us because…

Translating medical reports: Challenges and quality assurance - Volume 33, Issue

This article discusses the challenges and quality assurance measures implemented by the authors when translating medical reports. In particular, the authors discuss the challenges posed by acronyms, handwritten and scanned text, and desktop…

Translating “medicalese”: The case of informed consent forms - Volume 33, Issue

Informed consent forms (ICFs) are documents used in clinical research to inform prospective participants about – and obtain their consent for – partaking in a clinical trial. Evidence suggests that ICFs may not be fit for purpose because their…

Lay summaries and writing for patients: Where are we now and where are we going? - Volume 28, Issue

We examine the trend for increasing and more transparent patient information and ask how close we have come in the last few years to producing useful and meaningful information for patients. We also outline the challenges faced by medical writers…