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…

Plain language and readability - Volume 24, Issue

Plain language is writing in clear, concise language that is easy to read and understand. Whenever I hear the term plain language I am reminded of a lay summary I was once asked to edit. The stream of technical language (‘self-source bias’, ‘effect m…

Message from the President - Volume 22, Issue

A year has passed so quickly and it is time for me to step down and hand over to Andrea Rossi, the new EMWA President and the first Italian to take on this important position. On reading through the various messages I sent you during the past year,…

President's Message - Volume 24, Issue

Welcome to the first issue of medical writing in 2015 on plain language, which means that this message had better be simple and easy to read. I am a huge advocate of plain writing and, as a Publication Manager, spend much of my time working with…

The Light Stuff - Volume 22, Issue

Welcome to The Light Stuff One of the unwritten laws of EMWA is ‘Never talk to the editor of the journal if you don't want to end up working on it in your spare time’. I can joke about this because as I was the editor of the EMWA journal from 1998…

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…

Message from the President - Volume 23, Issue

These two years in the Executive Committee flew by. They will remain in my heart for ever. It is difficult to summarise the emotions and the things we accomplished these last two years. When this adventure started in Cyprus, Susan Bhatti, the…

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…

The horror and the pity: Obesity and diabetes - Volume 21, Issue

Something less beguiling for a horror-story addict than the emergence of obesity would be hard to imagine. Start by reading the 27 August 2011 issue of the Lancet. One article predicts that the obesity rate in the UK will make the tremendous leap fro…

Out On Our Own - Volume 22, Issue

Editorial We hope that you enjoyed the summer months and found time to step away from your desks and relax. This time last year, Kath organised her first ‘Medical Writers’ Retreat’, the aim of which was to provide an opportunity for fellow…