How big is the medical writing industry? Why it matters
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22944293 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Maud Bernisson (0009-0005-1725-8176, Institute for Science in Society, Radboud University , Postbus 9102, 6500 HC Nijmegen), Sergio Sismondo (0000-0002-4635-8142, Queen's University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Health Promotion International (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0957-4824 • E-ISSN: 1460-2245 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/heapro/daaf146 |
| PMID | 40910282 |
| OpenAlex | W4414035752 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 23 |
Medical writing is a key element in pharmaceutical companies’ efforts to shape the relevant medical science literature. As part of what is called ‘publication planning’, medical writing can influence the knowledge base on which prescribers make decisions, and can build specific claims in targeted sales efforts. Most publication planning is done by hired medical education and communication companies (MECCs), with the rest done by other commercial entities, such as units of pharmaceutical companies or of contract research organizations, that provide essentially the same services as MECCs. Here we provide an estimate of the number of MECCs and comparable entities contributing to the medical science literature in English. To identify these companies, we collected data from Web of Science (858 named firms from 20 498 papers mentioning medical writing assistance), LinkedIn (410 company profiles), and Google and DuckDuckGo (68 company websites). After removing duplicates and false positives, we found 1148 MECCs and other comparable entities providing medical writing services. More than 50% of Web of Science papers that acknowledged medical writing support are sponsored by only ten pharmaceutical companies. Most of the remaining papers in our database are sponsored by other pharmaceutical, device, and biotechnology companies. This study likely undercounts MECCs, because it depends on some level of transparency in publications or other leakage of information. Our combining multiple sources for the data should limit the undercount of MECCs. The study does not identify MECCs that work exclusively in languages other than English.
Medical Research and Practices · Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy · Pharmaceutical industry and healthcare · Psychology
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |