A first-timer's perspective on the 2013 EMWA conference in Barcelona - Volume 23, Issue

This story may sound familiar. Having spent my entire career on the academic bench, I decided it was time for a change. I still want to use my brain, I still want to be a part of the biomedical sciences, but I am ready to put the pipette down for…

Medical Communications - Volume 25, Issue

Anyone working in pharmacovigilance (PV) will already have spent many months working their way through the ever changing updates and reforms to the Risk Management Plan (RMP), and the newly legislated RMP summary. Those not working in PV will…

Veterinary Medical Writing - Volume 30, Issue

The placebo-by-proxy effect – another argument against homeopathy

Chances are you know about the placebo effect. There are many variables to study,1 but in general, the placebo effect means that if you believe in a positive outcome of a drug, you wi…

Statistics for medical writers - Volume 25, Issue

Until recently, statistics was a subject that I avoided at all costs. I found it difficult to understand and boring, and for years I swore that I would never learn about or be interested in statistics. (By the way, I also swore that I would never…

Medical Device Regulation: A necessary step towards more patient and user safety - Volume 26, Issue

Abstract The new Medical Device Regulation (MDR) has recently been approved, and after a transition period of 5 years, all medical devices will be approved and marketed according to these new regulations. This article compares the main changes of…

Statistical analyses and methods in the published literature: The SAMPL guidelines - Volume 25, Issue

Despite calls for guidelines on reporting statistical aspects of studies, most journals have still not included in their instructions for authors more than a paragraph or two about reporting statistical methods and results. However, given that many…

Preparing clinical study reports for external sharing - Volume 27, Issue

As the EMA refines its requirements for the external publishing of clinical study reports, the workload of medical writing teams is increasing to include robust processes for clinical study report anonymisation. Until now, life sciences firms have…

Gained in Translation - Volume 26, Issue

Medical translation training around Europe It’s been said a thousand times, yet, many are still not fully aware of the importance that translation has in our daily lives. Rather than merely supplanting one form of words with another, the translator…

From EMWA's new President Carola Kraus - Volume 30, Issue

A year of EMWA firsts has passed and while we are still not in a post-pandemic phase, one can see that our profession has regained its momentum. In the past, you might have experienced the need to explain to family members and friends what “medical…

Winners of the Geoff Hall Scholarship Essay Competition - Volume 30, Issue

Dear all, When I wrote the editorial for this issue last year, I never dreamed that a year later we would still be dealing with global lockdowns and quarantines. I hope and pray that you and your loved ones are staying safe (and sane!). The Geoff…