Why Hire a Professional Medical Writer?

The updated Good Publication Practice guideline (GPP3) acknowledges the legitimate role of medical writers in helping authors with compliant, complete, and timely development of publications, “particularly when authors have limited time or lack knowledge of publication ethics and current publication and reporting guidelines.”1 Indeed, most authors (>84%) recently surveyed value the assistance provided by professional medical writers, particularly in editing manuscripts and ensuring conformity with reporting guidelines.2,3 In addition, emerging evidence suggests that the use of professional medical writers may enhance publication quality.1 So what impact does the medical writer really have on the quality of the publication? That is the question asked by William Gattrell and colleagues in their paper recently published in BMJ Open.4

Their cross-sectional study examined the relationship between medical writing support and the quality and timeliness of randomized controlled trial (RCT) reports. Completeness of the manuscript was assessed based on a predefined subset of 12 typically underreported items from the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) checklist. Time from manuscript submission to editorial acceptance was also measured, as was the overall quality of written English as assessed by peer reviewers.

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GPP3: Is It a Better Guidance?

blog header linkedin - GPP3 v3 FINAL WP

The International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP) recently released its latest guidance—GPP3, or Good Publication Practice 3. This is the first update of the ISMPP guidance since GPP2 was released in 2009. A steering committee first met to draft the guidance, and then ProEd colleagues, Laura McCormick, PhD; Heather Hlousek, and Jim Cozzarin, ELS, had the privilege, with 91 reviewers (from agencies and sponsors), to provide critical feedback before the new guidance was published in Annals of Internal Medicine.1

So, what are the important changes from GPP2? In addition to being more user-friendly than its predecessor—with an overall simplification of language and format, a new Guiding Principles section, and quick reference tables that address guidance on authorship criteria and common authorship issues—GPP3 also reflects some important updates and new elements1:

  • Updated International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) 2013 authorship criteria
  • Common issues regarding authorship
  • Improved clarity on author payment and reimbursement
  • Additional clarity on what constitutes ghost or guest authorship
  • Expanded information on the role and benefit of professional medical writers
  • Guidance for appropriate data sharing

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