





































 V38 N2 / 2023 

©2023 American Medical Writers Association. All rights reserved.  
ISSN 2163-5315

AMWAJournal.org     55

Speakers
Tim Day (Moderator)
Principal/Owner, Innovative Strategic Communications, LLC, 
Milford, PA
Michael Platt, MS, CMPP
EVP, Managing Director, Virgo Health
Glenn S. Tillotson, PhD, FIDSA, FCCP, FISC
Consultant Microbiologist, GST Micro LLC, North, VA

By Kathleen Scogna
As we enter the fourth year of the COVID-19 pandemic, 
many of us have begun to look back and reflect on how 
much our personal and professional lives have changed 
since “before COVID.” Like all professions, the scientific pub-
lishing world has had to adapt to a new set of expectations 
and priorities imposed by the global pandemic. In this talk, 
3 publishing professionals give their perspectives about how 
this “new normal” has affected all aspects of scientific pub-
lishing, whether these changes are here to stay, and the likely 
impact they may have on the medical writer. 

“THE GREAT RESIGNATION”
Michael Platt, MS, CMPP, executive vice president and man-
aging director of Virgo Health, a medical education com-
pany located in New York City, focused on what has been 
called “the Great Resignation,” when millions of workers—
many of them in the healthcare and science fields—took 
stock of their work lives, disliked what they saw, and left 
their jobs for other industries. Some dropped out of the 
workforce altogether. 
 The aftermath of the Great Resignation may be posi-
tive for the medical writer who’s prepared to jump through 
a few hoops. The demand for talent is high: 71% of life sci-
ence companies plan to increase their workforce in 2022. But 
employers now are taking steps to check whether a candidate 
is committed to staying and that they can handle curveballs. 
Mr Platt lists 5 interview questions that candidates should be 
prepared to answer when applying to an agency:

1. “What is your ideal work environment?” 
2. “Why did you leave your last job?” 
3. “Why do you want to work for this company?” 
4. “Describe a stressful situation and how you handled it.” 
5. “What are your immediate career goals?”

 Candidates should also expect to be asked to take tests, 
give presentations, or write sample articles during the inter-
view process to demonstrate their writing abilities. The savvy 
candidate should not only ensure that their skills are up to 
snuff but also develop 4 key competencies Mr Platt believes 
are crucial to succeeding in the current environment:

1. “Being Human”
2. Transparency
3. Accountability
4. Urgency

 Although the good news is that medical writers are 
beginning to sense their worth and are asking for (and often 
getting) higher salaries and freelance rates, it’s not enough 
to be a good writer. To flourish in this landscape, Mr Platt 
contends that the best candidates are lifelong learners com-
mitted to communicating data and knowledge to make a 
difference in the world and in patients’ lives.    

THE RISE OF THE PREPRINT
In the publishing space, ethics took a huge hit during the 
pandemic, with inevitable consequences.
 Glenn S. Tillotson, PhD, a healthcare scientist in global 
infectious disease drug development and now editor-in-
chief of Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy, described 
the state of scientific publication in 2020 as a “tsunami” 
(Figure 1). As clinical trials into COVID therapeutics took 
off, publishers scrambled to keep up with the rising tide of 
publications. One solution to quickly disseminate this infor-
mation was by using preprints, or posting papers on a jour-
nal’s server or website “as is,” without editing, peer review, 
or the usual checks performed by the publisher before 
publication. Although preprints aren’t new, the number of 
preprinted articles increased dramatically during the pan-
demic. And, not surprisingly, the number of retractions 
increased as well.
 Dr Tillotson also described a rise in plagiarized con-
tent in the manuscripts his journal receives, although it 
has been difficult to know whether these are deliberate 
instances of copying or the result of overly enthusiastic  
cutting and pasting. Whatever the cause, it’s not difficult to 
conclude that the pressure to publish cutting-edge COVID 
research, lack of staff to oversee the publishing process, 

Session Report 
The New Normal in the Medical Publications Sector

CONFERENCE

http://www.amwajournal.org


AMWAJournal.org     56The New Normal in the Medical Publications Sector

and lowering of publication standards have created an ethi-
cal dilemma that the scientific publishing world must address 
in the coming years. 

MENTAL HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE
Tim Day, owner of Innovative Strategic Communications 
with an extensive background in pharma, spoke about the 
pandemic’s unforeseen impact on workers’ mental health. 
Recent surveys1,2 found that over three-quarters of US work-
ers experienced at least one symptom of a mental health 
condition in 2021, more than 80% identified their place of 
work as a contributor to at least 
one mental health challenge, 
and most workers are looking 
for workplaces that support 
mental health in the future. 
 Given these findings, 
moving forward in the post-
pandemic era requires 
businesses to normalize dis-
cussions about mental health 
and commit to fostering the 
well-being of their workforce. 
A report published by The US 
Surgeon General report cited  
5 essentials for achieving 
these goals (Figure 2). 
  As we approach yet 
another transition in the pan-
demic—the return of at-home 
workers to brick-and-mortar 
offices—employees and free-
lancers need to take stock of 
lessons learned over the past 
3 years and apply them to the 
new normal in scientific  

publishing. Mr Day encourages staff writers to consider 
whether their positions are suitable for at-home work and to 
discuss this possibility with employers. And all employees, 
whether staff or freelance, should strive to develop strategies 
to balance work, family, and mental health. If the pandemic 
has taught us anything, it’s that mental health in the work-
place is no longer optional but essential for both the well-be-
ing of individual employees and the industry as a whole.

Kathleen Scogna is the Senior Director of Education at the 
Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine in Washington, DC.

Author declaration and disclosures: The authors note no  
commercial associations that may pose a conflict of interest in 
relation to this article.

Author contact: kscogna@gmail.com

References
1.   2021 mental health at work report. Mind Share Partners. Accessed 

December 11, 2022. https://www.mindsharepartners.org/
mentalhealthatworkreport-2021

2.   Workers appreciate and seek mental health support in the 
workplace. American Psychological Association. Accessed 
December 11, 2022. https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/work-
well-being/2022-mental-health-support  

3.   The US Surgeon General’s framework for workplace mental health 
and well-being. US Department of Health and Human Services. 
Published 2022. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.hhs.
gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/workplace-well-being/index.html

Figure 1. Number of scientific publications in 2020, 2021, and 2022. 

Figure 2. Five essentials for workplace mental health and well-being. From the US Department of Health and 
Human Services.3 

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

2020 2021 Sep-22

93,649

139,207

101,609

PUBLICATIONS SINCE

Publications Since

Five Essentials
for Workplace
Mental Health 
& Well-Being

ComponentsCentered on the worker voice and equity, these five Essentials 
support workplaces as engines of well-being. Each Essential is 
grounded in two human needs, shared across industries and roles. Creating a plan with all workers to enact these components 

can help reimagine workplaces as engines of well-being.

*Diversity, Equity,
Inclusion & Accessibility

Protection from Harm
• Prioritize workplace physical and psychological safety
• Enable adequate rest
• Normalize and support mental health
• Operationalize DEIA* norms, policies, and programs

Work-Life Harmony
• Provide more autonomy over how work is done
• Make schedules as flexible and predictable as possible
• Increase access to paid leave
• Respect boundaries between work and non-work time

Mattering at Work
• Provide a living wage
• Engage workers in workplace decisions
• Build a culture of gratitude and recognition
• Connect individual work with organizational mission

Connection & Community
• Create cultures of inclusion and belonging
• Cultivate trusted relationships
• Foster collaboration and teamwork

Opportunity for Growth
• Offer quality training, education, and mentoring
• Foster clear, equitable pathways for career advancement
• Ensure relevant, reciprocal feedback

Worker Voice
and Equity

Centered on

Work-Life 
Harmony

Autonomy

Flexibility

Connection  
& Community

Social Support

Belonging

Protection  
from Harm

Safety Security

Mattering  
at Work

Dignity

Meaning

Opportunity 
for Growth

Learning

Accomplishment

http://www.amwajournal.org
https://www.mindsharepartners.org/mentalhealthatworkreport-2021
https://www.mindsharepartners.org/mentalhealthatworkreport-2021
https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/work-well-being/2022-mental-health-support
https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/work-well-being/2022-mental-health-support
https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/workplace-well-being/index.html
https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/workplace-well-being/index.html



