High nonpublication rate from publication professionals hinders evidence- based publication practices: a replication study in Europe

Abstract 1 Background: Although publication professionals plan and facilitate the timely and high

Mythbusting medical writing: goodbye, ghosts! Hello, help!

To meet ethical and scientific obligations, authors should submit timely, high-quality manuscripts. Authors, however, can encounter ethical (e.g., authorship designation) and practical (e.g., time and resource limitations) challenges during manuscript preparation. Could professional medical writers—not ghostwriters—help authors address these challenges? This essay summarizes evidence countering three myths that may have hindered authors from considering the use of professional medical writers. Authors with sufficient time, writing expertise, and reporting guideline knowledge may meet their obligations without writing assistance. Unfortunately, not all authors are in this position. Decisions about writing support should be based on evidence, not myths