Sitting a certification examination
A certification examination has an application process, a registration deadline and an examination date or testing window. Candidates need to distinguish these stages and the arrangements for the credential they intend to take, including whether a sitting is held alongside a professional conference or at a testing centre.
Application and registration
For the BELS, Certified CME Professional, Certified Medical Publication Professional and Regulatory Affairs Certification examinations listed in 2010, candidates had to complete the application process before registering for an examination. The credentialing bodies' websites provided eligibility criteria, application procedures, preparation guidance, fees and other candidate information.
BELS notices for sittings from 2007 through 2010 asked candidates using US mail to allow at least five weeks for application and registration, and longer for international mail.
In 2014, the BELS application required a résumé, documentation of education, three reference letters and a $50 deposit; after approval, the candidate reserved a test date with a $200 fee.
Examination venues and testing windows
Historical examination arrangements differed by credential in 2010.
| Credential | Format and duration | Location | Testing date or window | Registration deadline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board of Editors in the Life Sciences (BELS) | Paper-based, three hours | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 10 November 2010, 9:30 am–12:30 pm | 20 October 2010 |
| Certified CME Professional (CCMEP) | Computer-based, three hours | More than 200 sites in the United States and Canada | 13–30 September or 1–31 December 2010 | 31 August or 30 November 2010, respectively |
| Certified Medical Publication Professional (CMPP) | Computer-based, three hours | More than 200 testing centres in the United States and Europe | Dates published by ISMPP | — |
| Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC) | Computer-based, two hours | Hundreds of testing centres in the United States and Europe | 1 October–30 November 2010 | 15 August 2010 for early registration; 8 September 2010 for late registration |
The CMPP examination was also scheduled throughout September 2009 at approved commercial testing centres in the United States and Europe.
Sittings alongside conferences
BELS scheduled three-hour examinations alongside professional association meetings: Atlanta on 10 October 2007, with registration closing on 19 September; Vancouver on 17 May 2008, closing on 27 April; and Louisville on 22 October 2008, closing on 1 October. Six AMWA members passed the examination held before the 2008 annual conference in Louisville. The BELS 2009 schedule included the following sittings and registration deadlines.
| Sitting | Associated meeting | Registration deadline |
|---|---|---|
| 26 April 2009, Pacific Grove, California | AMWA Pacific/Southwest chapters' annual conference at Asilomar | 5 April 2009 |
| 1 May 2009, Chapel Hill, North Carolina | AMWA Carolinas chapter conference at the University of North Carolina's Friday Center | 10 April 2009 |
| 2 May 2009, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Council of Science Editors annual meeting | 11 April 2009 |
| 1 August 2009, Abbott Park, Illinois | AMWA Greater Chicago Area chapter conference | 11 July 2009 |
| 17 September 2009, Pisa, Italy | European Association of Science Editors conference | 27 August 2009 |
| 21 October 2009, Dallas, Texas | AMWA annual conference | 30 September 2009 |
For 2010, further BELS sittings were scheduled in Orlando on 12 March, Pacific Grove on 18 April and Atlanta on 14 May, with registration deadlines of 19 February, 28 March and 17 April, respectively.
By 2014, BELS offered its examination at least three times a year. In 2018, a BELS examination was scheduled in Barcelona on 1 May, the afternoon before the EMWA spring conference began.
A candidate's experience
One pharmaceutical company writer took the BELS examination in Birmingham in May 2017 before the EMWA spring conference; the coincidence of place and time made it possible to pursue a certification she had wanted for several years. She described approximately 100 multiple-choice questions ranging from very easy to very hard and covering many problems encountered by life sciences editors. One question asked candidates to identify whether a sentence contained a punctuation error, incorrect word use, a logical error or a dangling modifier.