From an award-winning instructor of medical editing, this is the first guide designed to introduce the field to prospective and early-career medical editors.
Medical editing is a thriving and wide-ranging specialty within the editorial profession. Its practitioners occupy a unique ecosystem that involves its own style manuals and the ability to work with highly technical medical terminology and issues, and its work helps ensure that health practitioners, researchers, and the public receive sound, understandable medical information. Today, opportunities abound for medical editors—who come from many backgrounds and work in many settings, such as medical journals, medical institutions, and the freelance realm.
Written by an experienced and award-winning editor, Medical Editing: A Guide to Learning the Craft and Building Your Career provides a thorough introduction to the profession. At levels ranging from the punctuation mark to the publication, Barbara Gastel provides accessible and concrete instruction in editing medical writing. Distinctively, the book also explores ethical issues encountered in medical editing and other topics such as working effectively with medical authors, editing medical writing by and for nonnative users of English, and editing medical conference presentations.
For those considering entering medical editing or transitioning from other employment, the book also provides helpful career guidance. Readers will learn about the range of medical editing positions, receive advice on taking medical editing tests for employment, learn about certificates and certifications in the field, and more.
Enhanced by examples, exercises, and humor, Medical Editing will benefit both prospective and beginning medical editors while serving as a useful resource for experienced editors, teachers of courses in related fields, and supervisors mentoring interns or new hires.
By:
Barbara Gastel
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 25mm
Weight: 540g
ISBN: 9780226824451
ISBN 10: 0226824454
Series: Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 04 December 2025
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface Chapter 1: The Scope of Medical Editing Medical Editing as a Helping Profession The Five W’s and an H of Medical Editing A Partnership with Authors, Readers, and More Key Points Chapter 2: Key Resources for Medical Editors Style Manuals in Medicine and Related Realms Other Books Professional Organizations and Their Publications Educational Opportunities Online Resources Tools for Your Office Your Colleagues Key Points Chapter 3: Approaching an Editing Project Understanding the Context: The Writing and Editing Processes Recognizing Differences Between Literary and Medical Editing Considering the Stage of the Manuscript—and of the Author Deciding on Levels of Editing Communicating About Expectations Determining What to Do in What Order Key Points Chapter 4: Copyediting: Editing for Mechanics and More Why Copyedit? Correcting and Querying Editing for Mechanics: General and Medical Aspects Editing for Conformity with a Publication’s Style Editing Tables and Figures for Mechanics and Style Beyond Copyediting Per Se Key Points Exercise: Some Sentences to Copyedit Chapter 5: Substantive Editing: Editing for Content and Organization Substantive Editing: Scope and Rationale Editing Journal Articles Reporting Research Editing Other Main Types of Journal Articles Using Guidelines for Journal Article Types Editing Medical Articles for General Readerships Editing Grant Proposals Key Points Exercise: Organization of a Journal Article Exercise: Providing Substantive Feedback on an Abstract Chapter 6: Editing Conference and Career Communications Editing Conference Communications: Presentations and More Editing Career-Related Communications Key Points Chapter 7: Additional Aspects of Medical Manuscript Editing Editing for Conciseness Editing for Readability Editing Writing by and for Non-Native Users of English Proofreading: A Related Skill Avoiding Overediting and Other Pitfalls Working Effectively with Authors: The Author-Editor Relationship Key Points Exercise: Editing for Conciseness Chapter 8: Ethics: Your Own and Others’ Underlying Principles Ethical Obligations of Medical Editors Editors as Resources Regarding Medical Authors’ Ethics Approaching Ethical Issues Key Points Exercise: Cases to Consider Chapter 9: Careers in Medical Editing Medical Editing: The Range of Substance and Settings Seeking and Pursuing Medical Editing Positions Taking Medical Editing Tests for Employment Certificates and Certifications Considerations for Freelance Medical Editors Working Remotely Continuing to Develop as a Medical Editor Maintaining Motivation Satisfactions of Medical Editing Key Points Acknowledgments Appendix 1: Creating and Using a Style Sheet for an Abstract Appendix 2: A Style Sheet for an Article for General Readers Answer Keys: Exercises List of Abbreviations Glossary References Index
Barbara Gastel, MD, MPH, is a professor at Texas A&M University, where she directs the graduate program in science journalism. She also teaches in the University of Chicago certificate program in medical writing and editing. She is lead author of the most recent editions of How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, and her other publications include the Health Writer’s Handbook. She has received top awards and recognitions from the American Medical Writers Association, the Council of Science Editors, and the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences.
Reviews for Medical Editing: A Guide to Learning the Craft and Building Your Career
""Barbara Gastel is well-known and admired in the field of medical editing, so medical editors of all levels of experience can trust that she knows what she’s talking about in Medical Editing: A Guide to Learning the Craft and Building Your Career. She lays out the basics and then goes on to teach you how to edit many types of medical writing, give you editing exercises to do, point you to career and editing resources, explain how to get work as a medical editor and the settings where you can get it, discuss employment versus freelancing, and even explain what satisfactions medical editing can bring you. She’s the only one who has written a textbook on medical editing, so believe me, you want this excellent, comprehensive book!"" -- Katharine O’Moore-Klopf, ELS, medical editor since 1991
