International Society of Medical Publication Professionals announce the initiation of an annual survey into practices and challenges in the medical publications arena

On April 25, 2012, the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP), announced the initiation of an annual survey into the practices and challenges that affect the medical publications profession today.

This benchmarking survey is designed to better understand issues and educational needs across a broad range of medical publication stakeholders, and how organizations such as ISMPP might address these to improve the understanding of the role that medical publication professionals play in the publication of medical research. In addition, the survey aims to generate evidence of current practices in the profession and clarify and monitor trends that may require further research or insight.

In a recent, exploratory survey conducted within the ISMPP membership in early 2012, key issues raised by the respondents focused on improving education and enhancing transparency, both key areas of focus for ISMPP. The goal is to distribute the full survey to a broad range of individuals involved in medical publications when the annual survey launches later in 2012. The survey will be conducted by TGaS, a specialist company who are experienced in establishing long-term benchmark communities and surveys and who are independent of medical publications.

Russell Traynor, Chair of ISMPP commented ‘This is a major new initiative for ISMPP and our partners. We hope that this will move the understanding of the profession forward and help to ensure best practices in the medical publications field.’

More information about ISMPP can be found at http://www.ismpp.org.

About the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals

ISMPP is an independent, non-profit, professional association with members from the pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology industries; publication planning and medical communication companies; academia; and medical journal staff, including editors and publishers. Its goals are to support the educational needs of publication professionals and to develop best practices that ensure the rigorous maintenance of all ethical standards for reporting results of medical research. Additional information about ISMPP is available by contacting Kim Goldin, Sr Director of Operations and General Manager, (phone: +1 914-945-0507; email: kgoldin@ismpp.org) or online at http://www.ismpp.org