Interlude: "Stupid Questions," Excess Vocabulary, and AI Grant Rejections
In my years of teaching, I've noticed that many students will preface their questions with the same phrase:
"This might be a stupid question, but...?"
Here's the truth: there is no such thing as a "stupid question."
First, if you have a question, there is a really good chance that someone else has the same question, and they'll be grateful that you asked.
Second, asking questions out loud takes courage, and every courageous act builds confidence.
And third, questions give important feedback. They show me what's resonating and where I can bring more clarity—which helps me improve and makes our discussions richer.
So keep asking questions. They’re a powerful part of learning.
What questions do you have? Just hit reply and let me know.
Now onto this week's round-up...
💌 Round-up
💻 From My Desk
What I Wish I Knew About Scientific Writing in Grad School
Most graduate programs do not offer formal training in scientific writing, leaving many of us to pick up bad habits and outdated conventions. In this video, I show you how I would use what I've learned in my editing career to transform a short excerpt from my PhD thesis.
...Oh, and if you want to submit an excerpt of your own writing for a similar review video, complete this form.
👓 Reading
When AI rejects your grant proposal: algorithms are helping to make funding decisions
"In this year’s funding round, the algorithms highlighted 122 applications from a total of 714 as having a low chance of success. This decision was checked by two human reviewers, who rescued 46 applications initially flagged for rejection by the AI system. The remaining 76 were rejected. Of the 638 proposals then sent to specialists for peer review, just 34 were funded."
Delving into LLM-assisted writing in biomedical publications through excess vocabulary
"Hundreds of words have abruptly increased their frequency after ChatGPT-like LLMs became available. In contrast to previous shifts in word popularity, the 2023–2024 excess words were not content-related nouns but rather style-affecting verbs and adjectives that LLMs prefer. . . Our analysis of the excess frequency of such LLM-preferred style words suggests that at least 13.5% of 2024 PubMed abstracts were processed with LLMs."
Seven Actions Towards Advancing Patient Authorship and Collaboration in Peer-Reviewed Publications
"Patient involvement in research processes through collaborative workstreams provides authentic insights and perspectives, enhances trust between stakeholders and the patient community, brings balance to authorship groups and adds value and contextualisation to publications. Here, patient advocates, representatives from patient and caregiver communities and pharmaceutical and medical communications professionals propose seven actions to advance patient authorship and collaboration in peer-reviewed publications."
🎓 Training
Finding the Freelance Clients You Deserve
If you’re a medical writer looking to build a stable, successful freelance business that focuses on helping clients, my colleague Lori De Milto is running a 7-week online course with personal coaching. The fall session starts September 22.
Thank you so much for reading.
Warmly,
Crystal
