House style- Medical writing

Publishers' style guides establish house rules for language use, such as spelling, italics and punctuation; their major purpose is consistency. They are rulebooks for writers, ensuring consistent language. Authors are asked or required to use a style guide in preparing their work for publication; copy editors are charged with enforcing the publishing house's style.

Most of the good journals provide detailed instructions for authors of manuscripts seeking publication. Such instructions are commonly referred to as the journal’s “house style.” Although individual house styles may still vary to some extent, considerable effort has gone into harmonizing standards and formats among scientific journals. The most important initiative in this respect is the generation of the document entitled Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication.

BASO pyramid in Medical writing

Baseline: correct grammar and spelling, accepted terminology in the field

Style: personal sty l e,language styles,type of manuscript,“house style” of specific journal,conventions, traditions

Opinion: It is important to realize that there is, in fact, room for personal opinion even in the context of scientific writing. This implies that certain issues are not simply “correct” or “incorrect.”

PLAIN LANGUAGE MOVEMENT- Medical Writing

Joanne Locke, Senior Policy Advisor and Plain Language Coordinator at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), reviewed an initiative termed “The Plain Language Movement” The movement dates back to the 1970s when the U.S. federal government began encouraging its regulation writers to be less bureaucratic.

 

The plain language movement is an attempt to demonstrate the benefits of writing clearly and concisely, in a reader-focused style. In short, the plain language movement may be called a recipe to use 

• logical organization of your text,  
• common, everyday words (except for necessary technical terms),  
• “we” and other personal pronouns, 
• the active voice, and 
• short sentences.

Standards for drafting a scientific manuscript- Medical writing

While drafting a scientific manuscript the following standards are taken in to consideration:

Purpose The purpose of the manuscript must be obvious and unambiguous.
Conformity :Text has to conform to given formats, e.g., for health authorities, marketing, journals, books etc.
Accuracy :The wording must be grammatically correct, concise, accurate, and precise.
Consistency: Terminology should be consistent and appropriate.
Logic and flow :The manuscript should be a “story” with a clear message based on a logical train of thought.
Context :The “story” must be presented in the context of established literature or other reported work, and must be congruent with accepted institutional or regulatory values.
Structure : A logical structure (i.e., headings and subheadings, paragraphs, figures, and tables) should be chosen.
Data presentation: High-quality data should be presented clearly, using tables and figures as appropriate.