Alistair Reeves

Section Editor

Alistair Reeves BA (Hons) ELS has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 40 years as a translator, writer, editor, and trainer, for the last 12 years as a freelance editor and trainer. He is a regular contributor on language issues to Medical Writing, co-edits the English Grammar and Style column, is an honorary member of EMWA, and has presented more than 55 workshops as part of the EMWA Professional Development Programme.

Contributions

Vignettes - Life After Medical Writing - Volume 28, Issue 1

Fifth EMWA freelance business survey - Volume 25, Issue 1

Following surveys in 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2012, the fifth EMWA Freelance Business Survey was conducted in 2015. 181 respondents, most based in Europe, completed the survey. The findings indicate that freelance medical writing and related activities…

Out On Our Own - Volume 24, Issue 4

Editorial In this issue, Satyendra Shenoy, a member of a few years from Mumbai tells us about the tribulations – if not trials – of realising his lifelong ambition to settle in Germany. What eventually made this possible was discovering, as a…

Out On Our Own - Volume 24, Issue 3

None of us like to think of getting older, and retirement may seem like a long way off for many. However, planning for your pension is critical if you want to ensure greater financial freedom without the need to take on so much work later in life.…

English Grammar and Style: Good Writing Practice - Volume 24, Issue 3

I reached Myth 45 about English in Medical Writing, Vol. 21(1) 2012. Three more have turned up since then, which all fit into the category of language users who rule by whim. All were – as so often – claims made by native speakers, which again just…

Out On Our Own - Volume 24, Issue 2

Editorial All of us are aware by now that we can't live without technology and not only at work. With advice, aids, appliances and apps in abundance, we are at the point where we can't see the wood for the trees. Thank goodness we have advice from…

Out on Our Own - Volume 24, Issue 1

With spring comes a renewed sense of optimism. A good time, perhaps, to review where we are in our businesses and consider how we can improve. Michelle Storm Lane of the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed (IPSE) provides…

Time to make it shorter: Plain English in our context - Volume 24, Issue 1

Plain English in medical and scientific writing is not one-size-fits-all, because audiences differ. Advice on writing plain English abounds. In 1946, George Orwell, best known as the author of 1984, formulated a much quoted, compact set of rules for…

Out On Our Own - Volume 23, Issue 4

In these dark winter months, how many of us have day-dreamed about moving to an exotic, sunny location? Janet Davies describes how she did exactly that when she resigned from her job in Holland and moved to the Azores to start a new life as a…

English Grammar and Style - Points of view - Volume 23, Issue 3

Anu Alahari, a freelancer working in Caen, France, asks: ‘Could you please take a few minutes of your time to give your opinion on a simple language issue. Which of the following phrases is grammatically most correct? And which one would you use in…

Cost comparison of salaried and freelance medical writers working in Europe - Volume 23, Issue 3

This is the first systematic comparison of the costs of salaried and freelance medical writers working in Europe. In the absence of official figures for the total costs of employment, we make reasoned assumptions, using mean base figures for…

Letter to the Editor: Because you're worth it? - Volume 23, Issue 3

To the Editor – I read the recent article on the fourth EMWA freelance business survey1 with great interest and some considerable concern. When freelance writers express an interest in working with Rx Communications, one of the first things we ask…

Out On Our Own - Volume 23, Issue 2

Our gathering in Budapest last month was, as always, fun and this time a little different. We welcomed you to a new-look Freelance Business Forum (FBF) after polling you in February on what you hoped to gain from FBF attendance and your preferred…

English Grammar and Style: Points of view - Volume 23, Issue 2

Some more four-letter words I published a series of articles in The Write Stuff on short words frequently used in the medical and scientific context between Volume 16(3) 2007 and Volume 18(4) 2009. Since then, at training courses and in email…

English Grammar and Style - Volume 23, Issue 1

The purpose of the articles in the Good Writing Practice section is to focus on style, not on punctuation or grammar. However, apostrophes are a stumbling block for many writers and so require some discussion. Some people have simply not learned how…

English Grammar and Style - Volume 22, Issue 3

We have three articles in this edition. Pamela Haendler's contribution deals with the medical writer as a reviewer and quality checker. Because of their close involvement with all of the documentation on a project, the medical writers involved are…

English Grammar and Style - Volume 22, Issue 2

Good writing practice is not a formal set of rules about how to write, like the requirements of GCP or GMP. Our aim is to highlight that the focus of all writers should always be on their readers, and that writers should make their texts as easy as…

English grammar and style - Volume 21, Issue 4

Good Writing Practice In the September issue of MEW, Stephen Gilliver said that he couldn't tell us ‘the number of times I have read the word evidences used as a plural noun, in manuscripts written by non-native English speakers. While…

Manuscript Writing - Volume 21, Issue 4

Help, I can't shorten my abstract! Oh, yes you can (Part 2 of 2) Abstracts may be the most important part of a manuscript because they are often the only part that is read and used as an information source, and because they are also used by readers…

Paragraphing (Part 1 of 2) - Volume 21, Issue 4

The purpose of paragraphing is to make text understandable and easy to read, and to help you tell your story effectively. Paragraphing is difficult because the purpose of the documents we produce and their readership are diverse. To make matters…

Manuscript Writing - Volume 21, Issue 3

Help, I can't shorten my abstract! Oh yes you can! (Part 1 of 2) Abstracts are perhaps the most important part of a manuscript because they are often the only part that is read and used as an information source. They are also used by readers…

Good Writing Practice - Volume 21, Issue 1

The Good Writing Practice initiative was launched in the December 2010 issue of TWS1 by Alistair Reeves and Wendy Kingdom. The aim is to go beyond the classic style guide and provide advice on practical aspects of writing that make texts easier to…

New myths about English - Volume 21, Issue 1

My first 39 myths about English were published in The Write Stuff in a series of articles between January 2006 and January 2008. The myths are mainly drawn from claims about English made by participants at my training events on the use of English…