subject: Why Medical Editing Is Required For Medical Writers [print this page] Accurate, informed medical editing by qualified editors dramatically improves the clarity and effectiveness of reports and articles by medical writers and researchers.
Medical writers who aspire to contribute to the progress of medicine are required to prepare a number of reports during their research. One must anticipate that there will be at least some errors of grammar, punctuation and spelling in these reports. All writers are bound to make mistakes. These mistakes should be rectified by professional medical editors.
Medical editing helps only in correction of the matter of the content but does not interfere with experiments, results or interpretation of results. A good editor understands that it requires a great deal of hard work and detailed research to prepare the original report. Imagine how bad s/he would feel when the report gets rejected due to minor grammatical or sentence formation errors. Thus, it is essential to get medical editing done.
The job of a medical editor is to screen the reports and check for grammatical errors. In addition to these tasks, they also have to check for proper sentence formation and use of apt scientific terms. If the content is lacking in these areas it can lead to confusion or misinterpretation among readers. Medical editors work on the hypothesis of dual mind and single voice. It means being able to pin down the thoughts of the scientist/ medical practitioners/ medical writers through the words of the writers. The job of an editor is to create a consensus between the creator of thoughts and the writer, if they are not the same person.
The following are the aspects of medical editing:
Thorough editing
This involves the process of screening the content and checking it for grammatical errors, spelling errors and proper sentence formation. In addition, it also involves the replacement of unsuitable medical terms that might mislead the reader.
Reference
This consists of checking that reference points and bibliography are in harmony. Every article or report has many references. It is vital to include them in the final report. It is an important part of the report and must be done clearly and accurately, and in accordance with the instructions of the appropriate journal or style manual.
Proofreading
Proofreading makes sure that the writing standards which are supposed to be followed are adhered to in every article, report, journals etc. before they are submitted. Journals and national medical associations have laid down various standards that are supposed to be followed as far as medical writing is concerned.
Formatting
Formatting is done in order to incorporate suitable diagrams, tables, graphs in the report. This helps to make the report presentable and at the same time conveys information.
