Welcome

A scientific journal article or research grant proposal can be a joy to read. But researchers aren’t trained to produce effective writing, and often don't have time to do justice to the manuscript. The result is that readers tire from deciphering the meaning. If a professional freelance writer or editor is hired to make the logical connections overt and unambiguous, so that the ideas flow from one sentence to the next and are restricted to the appropriate sections, then you’ve caught your readers. They’ll relish your insights.

A scientific writer needs to understand both the scientific concepts and the art of writing. For example, I’m a graduate of the UBC Neuroscience Program and I also have 30 years of training in creative and technical writing in genres such as screenplays, corporate documentaries, proposals, procedural manuals, and academic science. Over the last 6 years I’ve been hired as a freelance to write, edit, and illustrate over 40 very different pre-clinical and clinical biomedical research reports, literature reviews, NIH R01 proposals, and other grant proposals. The authors were thrilled with the quality and effectiveness of these manuscripts.

The writing principles that I apply can be found in Zeiger’s Essentials of Writing Biomedical Research Papers. These principles matter even if you hire a freelance editor simply because English is a second language. These are principles that you don’t have time to learn or apply. But if you want to publish in higher impact journals, or maximize your odds of getting a grant, these are what you need.

Writing and editing services

• Improving the language, flow, structure, and clarity of manuscripts for original research, scientific review articles, and grant proposals

• Developing and writing NIH R01 research grant proposals according to their new short form

• Applying the rigorous standards of Zeiger’s Essentials of Writing Biomedical Research Papers, Hofmann’s Scientific Writing and Communication, and Gerin’s Writing the NIH Grant Proposal

• Writing sections of journal review articles from assigned literature searches

• Making grant proposals interesting, creative, innovative, and scientifically sound

• Evaluating foundations and developing sucessful letters of intent (LOI)

Clear conceptual illustrations of cell signaling

I also provide scientific illustrations--designed and produced by the same person who wrote or edited the manuscript. This is a rare combination. No time is needed to give directions to the artist/designer. My previously commissioned illustrations were researched, designed, and produced by me as a supplementary service. The content was clear and accurate from the first draft. No corrections to the content were needed for any of the figures or their legends. I'm now available for hire as an illustrator who can develop a polished figure with minimal direction, no prior sketches needed.

Copyright © SXA Stephen X. Arthur 2019.  Site by Stephen X. Arthur in basic HTML.

Clients

Indivior Inc.