Who writes dermatology randomized controlled trials? The need to specify the role of medical writers

Abstract

Medical writers may make major contributions to the preparation of a manuscript, but are not listed as authors. We assessed the prevalence, affiliation and role of medical writers in dermatology randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in 2019 in the top 7 medical and top 10 dermatology journals. Medical writers were identified in 39/83 trials (47%), all of which were exclusively industry-funded trials (39/47, prevalence 83%). Most studies stated their role as 'medical writing support' and/or 'editorial assistance' (35/39, 90%), but when more information was provided, four studies specified first draft preparation (50% of RCTs in general medical and 1.3% of RCTs in dermatology journals). Medical writers are common in dermatology trials but their role is often vaguely stated. In April 2020 the British Journal or Dermatology and Clinical and Experimental Dermatology adopted CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy), which describes contributions of authors and may help clarify who writes trial manuscripts.

A systematic scoping review of the ethics of contributor role ontologies and taxonomies

“…For instance, Alpi and Akers note that “CRediT does not currently describe all roles that librarians play” [15]. According to Steele, it is not clear whether CRediT accurately captures the role played by medical writers, a particularly critical issue in the field of dermatology where only ∼1% of published Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) make a distinction between editing and preparing the first draft [16].…”

“…For instance, Alpi and Akers (2021, p. 362) noted that “CRediT does not currently describe all roles that librarians play”. Steele et al (2021) examined the ability of CRediT to capture the contribution of medical writers to reports of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) in dermatology. They found that in only 1% of published RCTs a distinction is made between copyediting and preparing the first draft (Ibid.…”