Risk Management - Volume 24, Issue

The thalidomide tragedy of the early 1960s cost several thousand lives, but it ultimately led to changes that will undoubtedly save many thousands more: it triggered a chain of events involving the WHO and the ICH that resulted in the…

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…

About the Medical Writing Journal - Volume 21, Issue

The official journal of the European Medical Writers Association (EMWA) has changed its name from The Write Stuff to Medical Writing, which is being published by Maney Publishing. This marks a leap forward for the journal, which is now in its 19th…

In this issue of Medical Writing - Volume 23, Issue

Some of you might remember the old days when writing was done with a typewriter, spreadsheets were big pieces of paper, and slides were printed on film. Thanks to computers, these are old memories, and we can all be much more productive. Software…

Medical writing education - Volume 22, Issue

Although medical writing as a career has been around for a few decades, medical writing education is relatively new. Many medical writers end up teaching scientific or medical writing, and have built their courses and their teaching style without…

The Light Stuff - Volume 23, Issue

Anecdotes and quotes related (more or less) to scientific writing   Pigeons are like editors, they both do the icky to your most cherished work, but at least pigeons don't say, Now it really sings. Cecil Adams, The Straight Dope Ignorant people…

The Light Stuff - Volume 22, Issue

Decoding the Japanese Code 1: Yes means yes, and no does not exist At a recent dinner, my husband and I were chatting with a university professor, a Japanese fellow who has lived and worked in Europe and the US. We talked about cross-cultural…

Writing Matters - Volume 21, Issue

Writing matters to medical writers … or at least it should. But sometimes we are more consumed with the content of a document than the writing itself. And some might even argue that detailed medical or scientific information cannot be written as…

Identifying appropriate journals in which to publish original research on vaccines against human infectious diseases - Volume 21, Issue

The most effective way of communicating new research findings is by publishing them in a peer-reviewed journal which is widely read and highly respected. To ensure that important new data are shared with the appropriate audience in a timely manner,…

Medical Writing in French: Du français à l’anglais: Understanding your source - Volume 33, Issue