Medical Editing

“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

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.