In this issue of Medical Writing, I would like to recommend two articles. Szymon Musiolshares with us his thoughts on a statistician’s role in research overall and also in the process of preparing publications. He takes a medical writer’s perspective and convinces us that the risk s for creating a mutual relationship between the author, the medical writer, and the statistician can be minimalised. Personally, I fully agree with Szymon, but on the other hand I understand that often communication between authors and statisticians can be very challenging. The former speak their clinical language and the latter – statistical Hocus Pocus; no way do they get into mutual communication. Here comes in or atleast should come in the medical writer, just to translate so that the statistician understands the clinical question and the author comprehends the statistical answer. Not an easy task… The second article is from dear Hotspur – welcome back with your funny stories and observations. In the March 2016 issue, we read about the unpredictable aspects of choosing a collaborator. Now, we can look further into refereeing mechanisms… Please, bear in mind the final conclusion! Very true!
Have a nice reading ☺