Importance of Good Editing in Medical Writing: Role of Medical Editors
During an informal chat, a newly recruited writer once told me that writing is an exercise in solitude, and editors are just “proofreaders”! I am sure, with experience, he has realized the critical role editors play in enhancing the quality of a document. Editing is a very specialized skill, and a good editor is a medical writer’s biggest ally. So, what do editors do? Here’s a short overview: · Reviews the document for accuracy, clarity, consistency, and logical flow: Mostly, the medical writer is too close to the source material(s) and the draft(s) he has written, and after spending a long time with a document, it is plausible to lose objectivity. An editor looks at the document with a fresh pair of eyes and provides the much-needed objectivity to help strengthen the overall integrity of the ideas being communicated. · Imparts brevity to the writing: One of the core competen...