ISMPP Highlights
ISMPP Releases Official Guidance to Address Authorship Challenges Related to COVID-19 Outbreak
Author responsiveness concerns in the wake of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) global pandemic has resulted in apprehension and numerous inquiries from ISMPP members over the past several weeks. To address these unprecedented circumstances, ISMPP convened a consensus panel of experts to develop an Official Guidance…
Predatory Publishing Joint Position Statement Now in Multiple Languages
AMWA, EMWA, and ISMPP released their Joint Position Statement on Predatory Publishing in July 2019, published in Current Medical Research & Opinion (CMRO). The organizations are pleased to announce that six months after publication, the Joint Position Statement is available in eight languages…
Celebrating Record Attendance and a Successful 2020 European Meeting of ISMPP
The 2020 European Meeting of ISMPP was a resounding success, with a record-setting 350 attendees – an impressive 17% increase over the 300 attendees seen the past two years! Meeting attendees were taken on a fascinating journey…

Message from Our Leadership
Robert J. Matheis
ISMPP President and CEO
News and Trends
What Is Health Literacy in Clinical Research Communications, and Why Is It Important?
Communicating with patients about clinical trials is challenging in today’s increasingly complex world of treatment options. While access to information about clinical trials is more widely available, patients with serious illnesses can be easily overwhelmed before they fully understand their options. This gap between access and understanding…
The Year in Review / The Year Ahead
“The only constant is change,” attributed to Heraclitus ca 500 BC, holds true for medical publication professionals in the 21st century. At times, it may feel like every week brings an announcement of a new regulation, guideline, protocol, or requirement, and we must always adapt, adjust, and move forward in kind. “The Year in Review/The Year Ahead”…
One Year Later: Have ICMJE Data Sharing Statement Requirements Impacted Medical Publishing?
In June 2017, ICMJE advised the research community that all clinical trial manuscripts submitted to ICMJE journals after July 1, 2018 would require a data sharing statement for the manuscript to be considered for publication… The MAP Working Group and the Global Trends and Transparency Committee undertook…
What Would You Do?
In our role as medical publication professionals, we may occasionally encounter situations in which it is not obvious how to ensure good publication practice. Have you ever wished you could consult the ISMPP membership for guidance when these situations arise? Here’s your opportunity!
What Would You Do? is a section of The MAP that presents case scenarios as an educational tool for medical publication professionals. The section provides a case scenario to ponder, and readers are invited to participate in a poll by selecting one of the listed solutions. Readers can also submit their thoughts on the scenario anonymously. The poll results, plus educational insights, are posted in a later issue for readers to digest.
POLL RESULTS: Preprint Review Results in Added Author?
An external author posts the first draft of a preclinical manuscript on his/her department preprint server to invite review and comments from colleagues who performed some of the work yet did not meet all ICMJE criteria for full authorship. This author is now petitioning the author group to add one more colleague who provided insightful comments to the author byline…

ISMPP (pronounced IzMap) is the only nonprofit organization founded by medical publication professionals for medical publication professionals