Resources

Grammar, Usage, Writing Information

• Acronym Finder Find out what that acronym stands for. You'll need to know the context.
• Webster Grammar Fantastic guide to grammar and writing; full of information, short and long articles, presentations, and ability to query.
• Writer's Digest Useful information for writers in general.
• Copyright Permission Copyright permission clearinghouse.
• Writers Digest How-to Books.
• Library of Congress Online Catalogue Books, prints and photographs, recordings including radio broadcasts.

Dictionaries

• Medical Dictionary NCI On-line medical dictionary.
• Dictionary.com Dictionary, thesaurus, basic translations (e.g., if you have a word or two you don't understand in a CRF or report from a non-US clinical trial.)
• Websters Online Dictionary

Web Resource Links

• About.com General overall source on all subjects. A part of New York Times Co.
• Research-It Web Search Engine that lets you find appropriate sources for any search category
• Sharp Writer Many web links for writers
• Write Tools Many links to reference sites
• Medilexicon Largest online database of pharmaceutical and medical abbreviations: a searchable database of Pharmaceutical Companies, Medical Associations and Hospitals

Writing Training and Tools

• Grammar Guide UOregon Tutorial: a guide to grammar, punctuation and style for journalists
• AMWA Delaware Valley Delaware Valley Chapter Toolkit for Medical Writers: getting started in medical writing, opportunities in medical writing, books for medical writers and freelancers.
• Instructions to Authors Instructions to authors for over 3,500 journals in the health and life sciences.
• Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals International Committee of Medical Journal Editors
• Trademark Checklist Source for copyeditors.
• PR Newswire Experts Service to give reporters access to experts who agree to respond within 48 hrs.

Medical/ Consumer

• Mayo Clinic Tools for healthier lives: diseases, ask a specialist, drugs, treatment, health tools
• Web MD Consumer Health and Wellness
• The Medical Reporter Pages and pages of consumer-oriented health care info and links.
• Healthfinder US Government link to hundreds of health-related organizations; health information. Consumer oriented.
• Health on the Net Foundation Mission is to guide the growing community of healthcare consumers and providers on the World Wide Web to sound, reliable medical information.

Medical/ Professional

• PubMed NLM Entrez-pub med, National Library of Medicine for Medline searches. Citations have symbols so you know if you can access only an abstract or get the entire paper for free. Links to related articles useful—sometimes you can find a related paper you can download for free that will fill the bill when youre on deadline Sunday night.
• EMedicine Comprehensive information on diseases: description, treatment, frequency, morbidity etc.
• BioMedSearch contains PubMed/MedLine publications (including some data that NIH chooses not to display), plus additional journals and a collection of theses and dissertations that are not available elsewhere for free.
• Medscape Resource for MDs and health professionals: diseases, published articles, CME.
• Merck Manual Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy.
• Accreditation Council for Continuing Education Standards for CME.
• Military Medical Training Resources: link to dozens of sites offering tutorials, continuing medical education resources and information. The few that charge for service are clearly identified.
• US Transplant: Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients Transplantation, basic information including statistics.
• MedBioWorld The largest medical and bioscience resource directory on the Internet. The portal is currently ranked eighth for medical journals, third for medical directories, and first for bioscience directories by Google™, with: 8,200 journals within 80 medical specialties and 101 bioscience fields, 7,000 medical and bioscience associations, 25,000 Reuters Health and Industry news articles, 2,000+ bioscience companies.
• National Guidelines Clearinghouse Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines.

Science Training

• The Scientist Access to free, peer-reviewed articles, searchable archives include good, basic reviews, discussions of hot papers that are cited 50 to 100 times more than others, and why.
• Kenyon College Science Division Biology lectures from Kenyon College.
• Howard Hughes Foundation Interactive biology lectures.
• Online Biology Book Revisions date from 2001 but good for basics.
• The Human Genome Lots of information and articles.

Medical Images

• Wellcome Medical Photographic Library Images for purchase: 160,000 images covering the history of medicine and human culture
• MediImages Links offering biomedically related multimedia material, mostly images (photos, illustrations, etc.).
• Flesh and Bones Images from various text books.

Organizations

• DC Science Writers Association Writers and editors from nearly all the major news outlets in the area, public information officers from agencies and institutions, and freelancers. events include guest speakers on timely topics, professional development workshops, mini-symposia.
• National Association of Science Writers Council for the Advancement of Science Writing, keeps abreast of the latest developments in research and science policy. Group health and disability insurance is available through NASW, and membership cards serve as press cards.
• National Writers Union The only labor union that represents freelance writers in all genres, formats, and media. Job hotlines, contracts, mediation, grievances.
• Board of Editors in the Life Sciences Proficiency credentials for manuscript editors (BELS exam)
• Council of Science Editors Science editing and publishing
• Drug Information Association Association focusing on regulatory and clinical writing
• Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Lobbying association for pharmaceutical manufacturers

Disease-specific Associations

For example,

• American Heart Association
• National Association of Rare Diseases
• American Academy of Asthma, Allergy & Immunology

Government

• First Gov The official U.S. gateway to all government information
• US Food & Drug Administration Regulations: everything official you need to know about drugs, biologics, devices.
• National Institutes of Health US Department of Health research arm. Many institutes within NIH.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public health topics, diseases, epidemiology, health statistics.
• National Technical Information Service Central resource for government-funded scientific, technical, engineering, and business related information.
• US Census Bureau Population Statistics.
• Kaiser Family Foundation Health Policy information, Federal and State, web casts, public opinion surveys and archives, policy issue ads, coverage of special conferences: Independent voice and source of facts and analysis for policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the general public.
• Jouhou Koukai Japanese regulatory documents available in English for the first time (fee to access).
• EMEA EU European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products.

Non-Medical Writing

• Sisters in Crime Promotes women mystery writers.
• Mystery Writers Organization Much harder to get into than SinC if you arent published.
• National Federation of Press Women Offers group libel insurance, the only one that does right now (may be expensive).
• Society for Technical Communication Software/technical manual oriented
• Romance Writers of America Romance fiction
• There are also organizations for those who write Westerns, about cats, dogs, etc.

Fun Sites

• Molecules With Silly or Unusual Names
• Kate's Paperie NYC A writers paradise for journals, papers, pens, etc. galore.
• Rite in the Rain Water proof paper, for field notes.
• Coolquiz Trivia, quizzes, jokes, cartoons, useless knowledge; in other words, real time wasters.
• Office Ergonomics Ergonomic exercises to do while at your computer.
• International Stress Management Association Stress management library.