John Dixon, independent medical writer and trainer in scientific writing skills, provides a useful tip for medical writers who work in MedComms.

John’s Linkedin page is at https://www.linkedin.com/in/johndixon-lsc/

John’s web page is at https://librasciencecomms.co.uk

Note these “bites” are recorded online using the zoom.us platform and hence quality may be affected by variability in internet connectivity and quality of webcams. The tips, however, are always first class!

Recorded 25 March 2019. Produced by NetworkPharma.tv

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Transcript

Hi, I’m John Dixon, a trainer in scientific writing, and here’s a bite that I hope may help you with your writing.
Using i.e. and e.g. [NEXT SLIDE]

i.e. is the Latin for id est and means ‘in other words’ or ‘namely’
So – He is not punctual – i.e. – or in other words – he is always late

e.g. is the Latin for exempli gratia and means ‘for example’:
So – This was clear when he attended meetings last year – e.g. – or for example – the annual general meeting

We shouldn’t italicise these abbreviations, as they are commonly accepted in the English language.
Importantly – most style guides recommend that if used in formal writing, they should only be used in parenthetical statements – in other words – only inside parentheses. [NEXT SLIDE]

There is no universal agreement on whether or not to use a comma after these abbreviations.
British-based style guides tend to omit the comma …pause… so – He is not punctual – i.e. – no comma – he is always late).
US-based style guides recommend usually using a comma …pause… so – This was clear when he attended meetings last year – e.g. – comma – the annual general meeting.

I hope that’s helpful. For more bites to help your writing, visit networkpharma.tv.

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[For the avoidance of doubt: this video is intended to be freely accessible to all. Please feel free to share and use however you like. Cheers Peter Llewellyn, Director NetworkPharma Ltd and Founder of the MedComms Networking Community activity at http://www.medcommsnetworking.com]