Guidebook to Better Medical Writing

by Robert L. Iles

Guidebook to Better Medical Writing is the how-to book for those who want practical advice on writing journal articles, case reports, book chapters, books and scientific poster exhibits. It stems from the author's more than 30 years of writing and teaching others how to write these materials.The content is presented in a quick-to-grasp, logical progression with step-by-step directions, examples, checklists, tips and techniques. Topics included range from the basics of how to choose better words and how to write better sentences and paragraphs through how to choose the right journal, how to get more writing done and how to work successfully with journal editors and reviewers. The revised 2003 edition follows the 1997 first edition that has been used by biomedical scientists around the globe and has also been issued in a Japanese-language edition (12 Steps to Better Medical Papers, Medical View Publishers, Tokyo).

196 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Blue]

What a gem! Iles is a great writer (I am tempted to read his mystery books); his language is clean and crisp, and his insights into writing are not just for medical writing, or science writing, but for all writing. There is a lot of good advice for writers who need to sift through the jargon and colloquialisms of medical professionals. There are rules that one can adapt into ones own style, and opinions about best practices that are good to know, even if you disagree.

What makes this book special is also that it is a valuable peek into the past of science publishing. Most grad students these days do not remember the days when manuscripts were submitted in hardcopy, photographs marked by hand. New PIs will never submit manuscripts this way. So book is a good way to see how things have evolved, and how much has changed, and yet, how much (especially about the peer review process and dealing with editors) has not.

If you know of anyone who edits other people's work just to micromanage their writing (i.e., without adding anything constructive to the article), this will make a great, perhaps not too subtle, gift! I think every lab head should get a copy and make their undergraduate and graduate students read it; get them while they're young!