In this episode, I delve into the nitty gritty of medical manuscript writing. If you are an experienced medical writer, you probably know most of this, but I hope it serves to reinforce your knowledge.
-Get up to speed in the subject area.
-Work from a detailed outline that has been approved by the “author(s).”
-Establish the format up front—download author guidelines. Clarify the word count.
-Understand why the paper is being written.
-Use the basic of clear writing—topic sentences, signpost words. Lead your reader through the piece in a logical order: from the already known to the new information.
-Be clear about your medical writing role (no analysis, no statistics, no graphics).
-Make sure any data is from the primary source.
-For annotations, it’s best practice to annotate within the article, not the abstract.
-Make sure the wording is not too similar to the original reference, but also similar enough that it will appear to be accurate to a fact checker.
-Use sources that are high up in the impact factor and reputable. Limit your use of promotional materials, such as paid review articles, CME programs, press releases, informational products behind a pay wall.
-Check data is complete (ie, don’t leave out a side effect by accident), and make sure your piece is fair balanced. Must include all agents within a class. Must include the positive and any negatives.
-Make sure comparisons are appropriate (head-to-head trials are to compare but generally you cannot compare different trials).
-Make sure if you are referencing a conference presentation or poster that there isn’t in fact now a published paper on the study.
-Write slowly with complete accuracy because you may not catch it upon review.
-Reference and annotate as you go using the split screen function in word. Or if you are an Endnote power user, go for it.
-Even healthcare professionals don’t want to wade through a hotchpotch of unrelated study descriptions. If reading your own manuscript makes your eyes glaze over, there’s a problem. Try to tell a story.
Check out the 6-Week Course, everything you need to know to start your freelance medical writing business, at 6weekcourse.com, where you can access free content on medical writing.
Also go to learnamastyle.com if you're interested in medical editing. The course is currently available and the next group will start May 29th, 2021.
