What Does a Medical Editor Do? All About Medical Editing

If you have ever submitted a paper to a journal or sought publication for your academic work, no doubt you are familiar with what editors do. All published writers work with editors in order to revise and perfect their work in preparation for publication, and the majority of aspiring authors do as well. Because of this, many editors who handle highly technical material need to have both exceptional writing and language skills as well as subject-specific knowledge. As a result, there are just as many types of editors as there are types of writing. So what is medical editing, and how is it different from other types of editing? What exactly does a medical copy editor do? Read on to learn more about what medical editing is and how you can enter the field.

What Does a Medical Editor do?

Simply put, medical editors perform highly specialized  highly skilled work by editing medical texts. The variety of medical texts is huge, spanning everything from regulatory information that comes with pharmaceuticals or medical devices to articles in medical journals or reporting on research breakthroughs. If you read detailed information about the COVID pandemic from your local news outlet, that information was probably reviewed by a medical copy editor.

The term “medical editor” may seem to indicate that the job only involves editing, but like many types of editors, medical editors do quite a lot more than just revising manuscripts. Medical editors write, format, research, peer-review, and publish research depending on the type of organization they work for. Medical editors who work for academic journals may also choose the direction and aim of the journal, creating rules for the type of content that is published and establishing editorial standards for submissions. Medical editors for academic journals might recruit peer reviewers and solicit content on specific topics.

Medical editors may find themselves creating marketing content for medical device or pharmaceuticals, writing technical documents to sell these products to doctors and hospitals. Medical copy editors might work with community health programs to design public health communications initiatives. Overall, the scope of the work that a medical editor does is quite broad.

Who can Become a Medical Editor?

Medical editors tend to be two types of people: physicians or medical experts who can write well, and writers or editors who have an aptitude for medical content. As medical research continues to advance and new discoveries are made every day, the need for skilled medical editors grows. In fact, medical writers and medical copy editors are an increasingly sought-after commodity on the job market. You don’t even need to make a total career change to break into this field— many medical editors work part time.

If you are interested in becoming a medical copy editor and you have the relevant scientific or medical background, there are plenty of places you can apply for medical editing work. There are broadly two types of jobs you can find: academic medical editing jobs, for example at a publisher of medical journals or books, and more industry-driven medical editing jobs, for example at an advertisement agency or a pharmaceutical company. You can also find work for yourself writing or editing for consumer-driven publications.

Simply knowing about medicine and science isn’t enough to become a medical editor or writer. Medical editors need to be able to correctly write and understand complex medical language. Medical writers and editors on the consumer side need to be able to explain complex ideas in a simple way that average people can understand. Medical writers and editors for academic medical journals need to be able to evaluate medical writing for technical accuracy, but they also need to be able to perform medical manuscript editing services to ensure a paper follows the correct citation style. Most medical publications use the American Medical Association’s citation style, which can be complex for even professional academics and researchers in the medical world.

Who Needs to use a Medical Editor?

Perhaps you don’t want to become a medical copy editor yourself, but instead are a medical student or researcher who needs help with medical editing. In that case, a medical editor or medical editing service is perfect to help you polish your writing and make it ready for publication. The importance of editors cannot be overstated when it comes to producing and publishing high-quality writing. Medical editing is no different. Medical copy editors provide a valuable medical manuscript editing service not only to journals and advertisers, but also to academics and researchers who want to publish their research.

If you’re a writer in the medical field and need medical editing services, there are several places you can look. Of course if you submit your work to a medical journal or publication, they will have medical copy editors available to perform medical editing on your work. However, you will have a higher chance of getting your writing accepted in the first place if you submit it after already using a medical editor or medical manuscript editing service. There are a number of companies offering medical editing services online. These services can be particularly useful for students and for non-native English speakers who need assistance with medical editing to make sure their medical writing is clear. Whether you’re an aspiring medical copy editor yourself or in need of medical editing services, an online medical manuscript editing service like Enago is a great place to get started.