Medical Editing
A Guide to Learning the Craft and Building Your Career
Published on 4. December 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-0-226-84492-3 (ISBN)
Description
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.
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.
Reviews / Votes
"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 "I have rarely seen the work of a medical editor so clearly, and entertainingly, defined. The next time someone asks what working in medical editing is like, I'll hand them this book. As Gastel notes, medical editing is a broad term encompassing a range of activities and skills, with its practitioners often coming from diverse backgrounds. By deftly covering all aspects of medical editing, readers get a comprehensive view of the profession that can help inform their career choices and enlighten what they do in their individual roles. Truly, an authoritative guide for anyone interested in medical editing in all its forms."
-- Jonathan Schultz, editor-in-chief, Science Editor
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Publishing group
The University of Chicago Press
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
3 halftones, 1 tables
Dimensions
Height: 226 mm
Width: 153 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
431 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-226-84492-3 (9780226844923)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
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.
Content
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
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