





































Contents V35 N1 
SPRING  
2020

36

20

AMWA POSITION STATEMENT
AMWA Position Statement on Legislation That Negatively Affects 
the Livelihood of Freelance Medical Communicators

2019 CONFERENCE COVERAGE
Freelance Forum: 
Seasoned Freelancers Jam in San Diego � Brian Bass,  

with commentary from Melissa L. Bogen, Sherri Bowen,  

Lori De Milto, Cathryn D. Evans, and Ruwaida Vakil 

Swanberg Award Address: 
Expanding Horizons as a Medical Writer � David B. Clemow

Walter C. Alvarez Award Address: 
Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence � Daniel J. Siegel

John P. McGovern Award Address: 
Reluctant Advocacy � Paul Offit

Open Session Reports:
• Influence of Leaders and Servant Leadership

• Effective Mentoring of Medical Writers: Principles  
and Practice

• How to Check Consistency and Enforce Your House Style: 
Using PerfectIt in Regulatory Submissions and Publications

• Sharepoint to the Rescue! Using Sharepoint as a Tool to 
Manage Medical Writing Teams and Client Partnerships

• Augmenting Medical Writing With Artificial Intelligence  
and Natural Language Generation

• Reporting Drug Metabolism in the Age of Precision Medicine

• You Can Find A Diamond in the Rough: Medical Writing 
Opportunities in Rare Diseases

• Text Recycling in Scientific Research Writing: Findings  
From the Text Recycling Research Project

• Using Narratives to Improve Health Literacy and 
Communicator Credibility

• Predatory Publishing: Update on the Current Environment

 3

4

8

13

20

24

13

Welcome to this special issue, highlighting some of the 
excellent content presented at the annual Medical Writing & 
Communication Conference in San Diego . . . and more!



Contents
EDITOR James R. Cozzarin, ELS, MWC

MANAGING EDITOR Jennifer Workman

SECTION EDITORS

Around the Career Block Lauren McMahon, PharmD 

Media Reviews Tara Ann Cartwright, PhD

Practical Matters Qing Zhou, PhD, ELS

Regulatory Insights Jennifer Bridgers, MS, MWC

Science Series Paul C. Dolber, PhD

Social Media Jennifer Minarcik, MS

Statistically Speaking  Thomas M. Schindler, PhD

Everyday Ethics  Julie Ravo, BA, MA

Members Matters   Melory Johnson, VN 

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS

Freelance Forum Brian Bass, MWC

Melissa L. Bogen, ELS

Sherri Bowen, MA, ELS

Lori De Milto, MJ

Cathryn D. Evans

Gail Flores, PhD

Debra Gordon, MS

Phyllis Minick

Ruwaida Vakil, MSc, Editor

In the Service of Good Writing Laurie Endicott Thomas, MA, ELS

EDITOR AT LARGE Haifa Kassis, MD

EDITOR EMERITUS Lori L. Alexander, MTPW, ELS, MWC 

EDITOR IN MEMORIAM Ronald J. Sanchez 

2019–2020 PRESIDENT Ann Winter-Vann, PhD 
 2019–2020 BOARD LIAISON/ 

AT-LARGE DIRECTOR  Michelle Sauer Gehring, PhD 

2019–2020 STAFF LIAISON Shari Rager, MS, CAE

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Susan Krug, MS, CAE

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Amy Boches, biographics

EDITORIAL OFFICE: ManagingEditor@amwa.org. Instructions for authors available at: 
www.amwa.org/journal.

ADVERTISING: Contact marketing@amwa.org or (240) 239-0940. All advertising 
is subject to acceptance by AMWA and should be for products and services relevant 
to professional medical communicators. AMWA is not responsible for the content of 
advertising and does not endorse any advertiser or its products or services.

SUBSCRIPTION: The AMWA Journal is published quarterly. Subscription is included 
with AMWA membership. Nonmember subscriptions cost is $75 per year.

CONTACT: American Medical Writers Association, 30 West Gude Drive, #525,  
Rockville, MD 20850-4347. Phone: (240) 238-0940; Fax: (301) 294-9006;
Email: amwa@amwa.org.

The AMWA Journal is in the MLA International Bibliography and selectively indexed  
in the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) print  
index and the CINAHL database.

The opinions expressed by authors contributing to the Journal do not necessarily 
reflect the opinions of AMWA or the institutions with which the authors are 
affiliated. The association accepts no responsibility for the opinions expressed by 
contributors to the Journal.

©2020 American Medical Writers Association. All rights reserved, worldwide.  
ISSN 1075-6361

AMWA JOURNAL MISSION STATEMENT 

In support of the mission of the American Medical 

Writers Association (AMWA) and to advance the broader 

profession, the AMWA Journal publishes content that 

reflects the interests, concerns, and expertise of medical 

communicators. Its purpose is to inform, inspire, and 

motivate medical communicators.

M
O

R
E  V35 N1 / 2020 

35  PREVIEW
 Note from the AMWA Writing Committee Authors  

of the AMWA-EMWA-ISMPP Statement on  
Predatory Publishing � Barbara C. Good, Mary Kemper, 

and Donna Simcoe 

36  FEATURE
Survey Says! The Business and Money of Freelance 
Medical Communications � Erik MacLaren 

41  CALENDAR OF MEETINGS

42  REGULATORY INSIGHTS
Communicating Real-World Evidence for  
Regulatory Purposes: The RIGOR Checklist 
� Mary Rofael and Aaron Csicseri

47  AMWA NEWS
From the President � Ann Winter-Vann

Annual Business Meeting

Cover photos: EPNAC.com

mailto:ManagingEditor@amwa.org
http://www.amwa.org/journal
mailto:marketing@amwa.org
mailto:amwa@amwa.org
http://www.epnac.com



