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…

Message from the President - Volume 21, Issue

Dear Members I am sure you are all very familiar with this situation – sitting in front of a blank piece of paper (or to be more accurate a blank screen) and wondering where to start. Beginnings and endings always seem to be the trickiest part, but…

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…

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…

Medical writing in paediatrics: Children and the future - Volume 21, Issue

‘Children are one-third of our population and all of our future.’ Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health, 1981 With the falling birth rate I wonder if they still are a third of the population, but there is no doubt that they are our…

News from the EMA - Volume 23, Issue

Update from the European Medicines Agency on development of its policy on publication and access to clinical-trial data   From the European Medicines Agency, 13 November 2013 – The European Medicines Agency is currently reviewing and analysing…

Gained in Translation - Volume 24, Issue

Editorial Welcome to the Translation Section editorial! What we call ‘lay-friendliness’ is a key characteristic of Patient Information Sheets (PIS), which are tightly regulated on a European level to guarantee a comprehensible document that…

EMWA's position on ghostwriting - Volume 22, Issue

The European Medical Writers Association would like to make it clear that, contrary to what you may have read in a recently published popular science book, it is not a ‘ghostwriters' association’. EMWA is an association for professional medical…

Thirty-seventh EMWA Conference, 7–9 November 2013, Barcelona, Spain - Volume 22, Issue

EMWA's 37th Conference will be held at the Fira Palace Hotel in Barcelona from Thursday, 7 November to Saturday, 9 November 2013. The Fira Palace Hotel is ideally situated in the trade-fair and exhibition area and is a short walk from Barcelona's…

Message from the President - Volume 21, Issue

Dear MEW reader Welcome to the first 2012 Medical Writing or MEW issue – another EMWA milestone to start off this stellar year. I hope you enjoy the new design and the thematic focus on oncology. The theme of EMWA's upcoming 34th Spring conference…