The Light Stuff - Volume 22, Issue

A call to abandon the useless anachronism of the ‘define at first use’ rule for abbreviations Definitions CTD – Common Technical Document (dossier submitted for marketing authorization) eCTD – Electronic Common Technical Document QC – Quality…

Challenges of paediatric drug development and impact of paediatric legislation - Volume 21, Issue

Medical writers are increasingly involved in designing and documenting overall plans in paediatric drug development, e.g. EU PIPs (Paediatric Investigation Plans) and individual components, e.g. protocols and study reports. It is essential to…

Out on Our Own - Volume 27, Issue

One of the main reasons why the Freelance Business Group (and the whole of EMWA as well) is thriving and growing is because of the number of our members who volunteer to carry out our activities and help in implementing new initiatives. Becoming a…

Writing narrative style literature reviews - Volume 24, Issue

Reviews provide a synthesis of published literature on a topic and describe its current state-of-art. Reviews in clinical research are thus useful when designing studies or developing practice guidelines. The two standard types of reviews are (a)…

Regulatory Matters - Volume 34, Issue

Section Editors: Clare Chang, Zuo Yen Lee  Briefing documents: Facilitating health authority interactions Author: Clare Chang  Briefing documents, essential for facilitating interactions between pharmaceutical companies and health authorities…

Announcing the Geoff Hall Memorial Scholarships - Volume 22, Issue

At the conference dinner in Manchester this year, the creation of two very special scholarships was announced. The scholarships are in memory of one of the founding fathers of EMWA, Geoff Hall, who sadly passed away in 2010. Geoff was not only a…

Non-clinical health writing - Volume 23, Issue

We medical writers have a unique and valuable skill set, which includes, most notably, the ability to understand and clearly communicate complex medical information. We are also experts at working with multifunctional teams, compiling detailed…

Passing the torch - Volume 21, Issue

This issue is the first where I will be serving as Editor-in-Chief of Medical Writing (MEW). Elise Langdon-Neuner, Editor-in-Chief since 2004, will be stepping down. This is yet another step in the evolution of the journal.

For those of you unfamili…

In the Bookstores - Volume 22, Issue

The Spirit Level

Ever had a ‘ping’ moment? This book might have been mine. I'm not a natural pessimist, but Western society today seems less cohesive and people more materialistic, stressed, unhealthy, and unhappy than in times gone by. Wealth and s…

The work model of hybrid freelancing - Volume 32, Issue

Must we choose between a path as a self-employed, freelance medical writer, or as an in-house employee? It might come as a surprise that a medical writer can enjoy both worlds. If you dream of becoming a freelance medical writer but dread losing…