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…

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…

News from the EMA - Volume 29, Issue

September 14, 2020 – The Big Data Steering Group set up by EMA and the Heads of Medicines Agencies (HMA) has published its workplan which sets actions to be delivered in 2020–2021. With the European Medicines Regulatory Network focused on the…

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…

Regulatory initiatives for artificial intelligence applications: Regulatory writing implications - Volume 32, Issue

Applications of artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) components in drug development are growing exponentially. The trend is expected to continue. The growth has resulted in increased engagements on the part of regulatory agencies to…

Clinical evaluation reports: 6 years after the introduction of MEDDEV 2.7/1 revision 4 - Volume 31, Issue

MEDDEV 2.7/1 is the European guideline about the clinical evaluation of medical devices. The 4th revision, in 2016, updated how clinical evaluation should be conducted and reported, thus paving the way for clinical evaluation under the Medical…

Living medicine: The story of CAR T cell therapy - Volume 32, Issue

The advent of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies follows a decades-long quest to personalise the treatment of disease. This article highlights the early research that paved the way for the field today, touching on early pioneers in the…

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…

Choosing language that recognizes the contributions of people who take part in research - Volume 34, Issue

Medical communicators can choose words that influence how people perceive individuals and populations who take part in research. For many years, the term subjects was used ubiquitously and internationally in clinical research. However, this term can…

Changes to working practices in medical communications during the COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from two surveys - Volume 31, Issue

Successive waves of COVID-19 have altered opinions and working practices. We conducted a survey in early 2020 among 759 members of the medical communications community, recruited via our network, seeking their experiences, opinions, and insights.…