Medical Editing: A Step-by-Step Guide to Edit your Medical Document.

1. Medical Editing
Step-by-Step Guide

2. Medical Editing
Whether you have written a manuscript, thesis, or a
dissertation, it needs to be edited and proofread. You
can’t publish your research without this revision
process.
In fact, good papers always stem from good editing.
But, the biggest dilemma! How easy it is to pick up
your own mistakes?

3. Medical editing should always comprise of three
passes of your document
First pass to catch major errors
Second pass to catch minor errors and
A final proofread

4. 1) Conduct a First Pass
Ensure effective organization
Check the flow and tone
Check for grammar and spellings
Ensure concision
Check your punctuation’s
 Review your citations and references
Check the figures and tables
Check the lists and equations
 Refer to any specific instructions
 Take notes about the document

5. a) Ensure effective organization
An organized document ensures that the message
is presented in the most logical and clear way.
Depending upon the type of document you are
writing, check whether it’s properly structured.
Check each paragraph, headings, and lists. Make
sure their format follows your required style guide.

6. b) Check the flow and tone
Flow and tone are the hardest elements of the
English language.
Read out your sentences aloud and you will be
able to pick up any awkward sentence
constructions.
Avoid writing long sentences.

7. c) Check for grammar and spellings
You can use an automatic spell-checker to catch
these types of problems, but they are not perfect.
You must review your writing word by word to
ensure that the spellings and grammar are perfect.
Plus, make sure you are consistent in the spellings
according to the type of English you have chosen.

8. d) Ensure concision
Avoid any redundancy in the content.
If you’ve already covered a topic, do not write
about it again.
Also, make sure that no word is overused or too
repetitive in your document.

9. e) Check your punctuation’s
The specific punctuation issues to check
are the exclamation marks, comma, semicolon,
and a full stop.
Consider the conventions of the English
language to check these.

10. f) Review your citations and references
Cross-check the in-text citations against the
reference list.
If you miss out a reference in the list, but have
cited in the text, add it to the list.
Check all the author names, years, and add the
necessary reference information to avoid
accidental plagiarism.

11. g) Check the figures and tables
If your document includes figures and
tables, review them and their description in
the text.
Make sure you have mentioned them in the
text prior to their placement.
Avoid using acronyms in figures and tables
or their titles.

12. h) Check the lists and equations
If your document has any lists/ equations,
format and number them consistently through
the document.

13. i) Refer to any specific instructions
Do you have any specific journal guidelines
to follow in writing your medical
document?
If yes, ensure you follow them completely,
whether it’s regards to the word count or the
document format.

14. j) Take notes about the document
Elaboration of a particular idea
Clarification of a particular context
Specifying the subjects in a sentence
Rearranging/ deleting any sections

15. 2) Conduct a Second Pass
In the second pass, review the entire
document once again, paying attention to the
details outlined above, especially the clarity
and the flow.
Correct any errors you might have missed.

16. 3) Conduct a Final Proofread
After the second pass, it’s time to review the
whole document for the final time, checking
for any missed or introduced errors.
And Voila! You have finished your medical
editing process and have a document that is
ready to submit to the journal.

17. Conclusion
Medical editing is more of an art and can’t be
learnt overnight. It’s easy to make mistakes or
skip your own errors in writing, especially if
English is not your first language. If medical
editing is not your cup of tea or you have
deadlines to meet, get it done from a
professional medical editing services.

18. Email ID: project@cognibrain.com
Phone: 044-49595223
Visit us: https://www.cognibrain.com/