Writing for an association’s journal

Association journals offer feature articles, shorter contributions and reader-led sections through which medical writers can share practical knowledge and experience.

Choosing a contribution

AMWA Journal contributor guidance from 2007–2020 invited manuscripts and content suggestions for recurring sections, with the journal editor as the default contact unless another editor was specified. ^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22}

Detailed content, style and formatting instructions were available on the association’s website in addition to the printed section descriptions. ^{23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33}

A 2009 invitation offered these contribution types: ³⁴

• Original research or review manuscripts.
• How-to articles.
• Reports of chapter events.
• Ways to improve chapters or their activities.
• Reviews of books, videos, CD-ROMs or websites.
• First-person accounts of medical-communication educational programmes.
• Profiles of relevant professional organisations.
• Short creative writing.

³⁴

EMWA’s Medical Writing in 2012 accepted nonmember contributions and articles outside an issue’s theme as well as themed features and original research. ³⁵

Its sections included Out On Our Own for freelancing and a translation section, regular medical-journalism and social-media articles, and features on regulatory writing, manuscript writing, good writing practice, journal watch and web resources. ³⁵

Regular features usually combined an editor’s article with shorter reader contributions; readers could also send book reviews to In the Bookstores, letters to Vital signs, amusing anecdotes and photographs of funny English signs. ³⁵

The journal’s article format included abstracts and keywords, and author photographs were no longer used; a clinical-pharmacology series and illustrations also formed part of the publication. ³⁵

AMWA article types and historical lengths

In 2007–2011 AMWA feature articles were timely original compositions relevant to medical writers and editors at about 3,000 words, while Science Series articles covered anatomy, physiology or disease at about 3,000 words. ^{36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58}

From 2013–2017, feature-length articles comprised topical features, original research and Science Series articles, each at 3,000 words plus an informative 250–300-word abstract. ^{59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85}

In 2019–2020 these three forms were 2,500–3,000 words plus a 250–300-word abstract for the online contents and social-media or marketing use; visual abstracts were welcome. ^{86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93}

Topical features covered regulatory writing, continuing medical education, patient education, marketing and advertising, public relations, journal management, publication ethics and health policy, with particular encouragement for theoretical foundations applied to practice for a predominantly practitioner readership. ^{59, 68, 70, 71, 78, 80, 84, 85, 87, 92}

Original research covered written communication, publication trends, and medical communicators’ productivity and added value. ^{59, 69, 70, 72, 79, 81, 82, 83, 88, 93}

In 2013–2020, Science Series also explicitly included conditions, diagnostic methods such as laboratory tests and imaging, and treatments such as devices. ^{60, 69, 70, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 89, 90}

Shorter contributions covered practical skills, careers and opinions at different lengths. ^{94, 95, 96}

Contribution	Scope and historical length
Practical Matters	Practical advice for writers and editors at all experience levels and in varied settings: about 700–1,000 words in 2007–2011; 750–1,800 in 2013–2017; 750–2,000 in 2019–2020. 94, 97, 98, 99, 42, 45, 46, 100, 51, 52, 53, 54, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114
Case Studies	Scenarios addressing ethical dilemmas in medical writing and editing, with suggestions sent to the journal editor in 2007. 115, 116, 117, 118
Career Development / Professional Development / Around the Career Block	Educational programmes, competitions and career development in 2007–2011; from 2013, career advice such as job hunting, portfolios, interviews, hiring, evaluation, mentoring and performance goals, plus profiles of specialty organisations that could supplement AMWA membership and accounts of educational programmes designed to improve writers’ and editors’ knowledge and skills. In 2013–2017 career articles were 750–1,500 words and organisation profiles and educational accounts 600–1,000; Around the Career Block was 750–2,000 in 2019–2020. 96, 119, 120, 121, 42, 47, 48, 100, 51, 52, 53, 54, 101, 102, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160
Chapter Corner	Chapters sharing experience and expertise, with suggestions sent to the section editor in 2007–2011. 161, 162, 163, 164, 42, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 51, 52, 53, 54, 170
Member Musings	Personal essays related to medical writing and editing, creative work and member-achievement news in 2007–2011; personal essays and creative work at 500–750 words in 2013–2014. 171, 172, 173, 42, 174, 175, 176, 177, 51, 52, 53, 54, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183
Freelance Forum / Freelance Focus	Freelance Forum accepted questions about freelance medical communication in 2007–2011. In 2020 Freelance Focus took original content and expert commentary from seasoned contributors on freelance topics at 750–2,000 words. 184, 185, 186, 42, 187, 175, 176, 188, 189, 51, 52, 53, 54, 178, 179, 30
Sounding Board	Member opinions relevant to medical writing and editing: about 1,000 words in 2007–2011; 750–1,000 in 2013–2020, with topic approval from the journal editor before preparation and submission. 95, 190, 191, 192, 42, 47, 48, 193, 51, 52, 53, 54, 101, 102, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204
Letters to the Editor	Comments on published journal topics: about 500 words or fewer in 2007–2017; from the second 2008 issue, letters were to concern the past two issues. The 2020 band was 300–400 words, again on the past two issues. 205, 206, 207, 42, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 51, 52, 53, 54, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224
Media Reviews / Media and Technology	Books, videos, CD-ROMs and websites in 2007–2011; books, CD-ROMs and videos in 2013–2015; books, websites and other media in 2016–2017. Reviews of practical or topical value were 500–600 words in 2019. Media and Technology in 2020 covered books, websites, other media and tools of the trade at 750–2,000. 225, 226, 227, 228, 42, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 51, 52, 53, 54, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 26, 27, 28, 240, 241
Dear Edie	Questions on English usage went directly to the columnist in 2007–2010. 242, 243, 244, 245, 42, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 51, 52, 53, 54
Coverage of Live Meeting Sessions	Summaries of AMWA conference sessions, pertinent sessions at other organisations’ meetings and local or regional AMWA events: 500–1,000 words in 2013. 251, 252
Regulatory Insights	Information for writers and editors working on pharmaceutical- or device-industry documents: 750–2,000 words in 2014–2020. 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260
Social Media	Social media and networking in medical communication in 2013–2017; 750–2,000 words in 2019–2020. In 2020 the scope included professional online presence, integrating social media into work and its impact on healthcare. 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270
Tech Talk	Technology of interest to biomedical communicators: 500–1,000 words in 2014–2019. 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277
Commonplaces	Exchange between medical-communication teachers and practitioners, with article ideas sent to its section editor in 2014–2017. 23, 24, 25, 278, 279, 280
Your Stats Refresher! / Statistically Speaking	Statistical concepts of interest to medical communicators, named Your Stats Refresher! in 2015–2016 and Statistically Speaking in 2017; by 2019–2020 it included developments in clinical research at 750–2,000 words. 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 29, 286, 287
Everyday Ethics	Ethical situations and professional approaches to managing them in 2017; 750–2,000 words in 2019–2020, with preference for timely topics. 288, 289, 290, 291, 292
Members Matters	Member-generated local discussions shared nationally, in original articles or material repurposed from chapter newsletters: 750–2,000 words for features and 500–600 for brief reports in 2019–2020. 293, 294, 295

The 2019 instructions requested a one- or two-sentence description of other article types, totalling 15–30 words, for online contents and marketing; the 2020 instructions requested 25–35 words. ^{296, 297}

Editors, ideas and submission

Science Series routing varied: early 2007 instructions named its section editor, later 2007 instructions directed suggestions to the journal editor, 2008–2009 and early 2010 instructions named a section editor, later 2010–2011 instructions directed manuscripts to the journal editor, and 2013–2014 instructions again named a Science Series editor. ^{40, 41, 43, 44, 47, 48, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 58, 60, 69, 70}

In 2007–2008 media-review suggestions went to the media-reviews editor; in 2009–2011 books went to the book-reviews editor and other media suggestions to the journal editor. ^{225, 226, 227, 228, 42, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 51, 52, 53, 54, 234}

In 2013–2014 the book-reviews editor was also the contact for authors wanting to submit a book for review or write a review, and social-media suggestions went to separate editors for general subjects and LinkedIn. ^{235, 236, 237, 261, 262, 263}

During 2007–2011, AMWA submissions went to the editor as an emailed Word document, with the corresponding author’s name, address, telephone and fax numbers and email address; hard copies of figures, if needed in the 2008–early 2011 instructions, were posted with manuscript documentation. ^{298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307}

Later instructions specified an email attachment to the journal editor. ^{308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317}

In 2011, when the last submitted Dear Edie letter had been received after two years of the columnist’s illness, the journal invited questions and recollections about her career for a repurposed column starting in June. ³¹⁸

EMWA’s 2016 advice was to propose an idea to its editorial assistant first; after agreement on the theme, the assistant supplied a Word feature template and author instructions, also available from the journal website. ³¹⁹

The template provided the required formatting, simplifying preparation and editorial handling. ³¹⁹

Writing and editorial development

Medical Writing welcomed contributions from writers at any experience level in 2016, including personal experiences, lessons from mastering a subject and research undertaken to prepare an unfamiliar document. ³²⁰

An editor or board member reviewed content and writing and worked with contributors through revisions as needed; contributors were asked to accept editing and reworking. ³²¹

Editors also worked with contributors on English during the standard review and revision process, including for non-native speakers. ³²²

Most articles were solicited, although unsolicited contributions were increasing; except for occasional original research, articles did not undergo formal peer review, and acceptance rested with the editor and assigned board member. ³²³

The editor estimated about three rejections over the preceding three years, for unsuitable subjects, company advertising or refusal to make essential changes, preferring otherwise to develop useful articles with contributors. ³²³

Authors were advised to write for professional medical writers of varied experience, provide practical value and examples, use a professional conversational style, and include tables, figures and pull-quotes to maintain interest and emphasise points. ³²⁴

AMWA’s Science Series editor in 2020 wanted engaging overviews that enlightened readers new to a subject and supplied background for further investigation, without an overly scholarly style, suggesting Thomas and Turner’s classic style; complex topics need not be immediately comprehensible to every reader. ³²⁵

Benefits and calls for contributions

In 2016, writing for Medical Writing was recommended to improve professional visibility and demonstrate expertise, including for junior writers, through open-access features discoverable on Google and Google Scholar and shareable with employers and clients. ³²⁶

Preparing an article also required research and developed expertise: one publications writer’s investigation of rejection reasons became an article and improved understanding of peer review. ³²⁶

Articles could be listed on a CV and, under that open-access policy, distributed in print or electronically. ³²⁶

A 2009 AMWA invitation similarly encouraged authors who retained copyright to post their work on their own websites to enhance their professional profile. ³⁴

One writer returning from European research posts to India reported in 2012 that an article in The Write Stuff led to a medical-writing position. ³²⁷

AMWA’s 2013 call sought contributions in all article categories and highlighted three areas. ³²⁸

• Drafting, implementing or measuring outcomes of writing guidelines, including CONSORT and guidelines for other biomedical communication.

• Visual display of biomedical information, including techniques and the effects of design choices.

• Technology’s effect on communicators’ daily work and dissemination of communication.

³²⁸

Ideas could go to the journal editor, a section editor or a board member. ³²⁹

EMWA’s freelance section in 2019 sought contributions on three themes and welcomed other suggestions. ³³⁰

1. Moving from freelancer to business entrepreneur.

2. Choosing between medical communications and regulatory work, how to enter them and their differences.

3. Experienced and inexperienced freelances, including whether people start freelancing too early.

³³⁰

A section editor had found archived accounts by another freelancer helpful when establishing a consultancy in Germany, and invited experiences and practical pointers to help others through similar problems. ³³⁰

The journal editor, freelance-section editor and website manager were contacts for these contributions; a Web Editorial feature also published opinion pieces on relevant topics. ³³⁰

In December 2020 Medical Writing invited poems resonating with nature, science or professional medical writers, through a dedicated poetry contact. ³³¹

The Members Matters editor in 2020 invited local chapter discussions for national sharing. ²⁹⁵