The accuracy of expert reports is paramount; however, accuracy goes hand-in-hand with well-written reports and reputable and applicable references (not fly-by-night webpages or publications).

There is certainly more to learn in the area of writing than in the span of an hour. But there are basic principles to lay the groundwork for writing and citing references well when putting together your expert report. This short lecture will focus on basic writing skills (ones you may have forgotten from the 5th grade!), the top 10 mistakes spellchecking software won’t catch, spell-check add ons (for those who want spellcheckers do some extra work), plagiarism (it’s not just a word-for-word offense), information searching (in common search engines and in databases like PubMed), how to critically evaluate references (and how to properly cite them),  and an overview of referencing software (for those who cite more than a couple of references and want to make moving around sentences as painless as possible).

Dr. Muller is a medical writer and although a portion of the program will refer to medical/scientific databases and search terms, the content of the course is applicable to non-medical/scientific experts as well.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identifying five common pitfalls in writing and how to avoid them
2. Listing three ways to identify reputable references
3. Describing the different styles of citing references
4. Listing the steps for conducting an online information search
5. Naming two databases for medical or drug information resources

Dr. Allison Muller is an expert witness in the area of toxicology. When she is not running her full-time consulting business, Acri Muller Consulting, LLC (www.AcriMullerConsulting.com) she is teaching students at the University of Pennsylvania, healthcare professionals, attorneys, and fellow consultants about topics ranging from the in’s and outs of toxicology, starting a consulting business, medical writing, healthcare education, to best practices for expert witnesses. Please join Dr. Muller for this webinar as she shares some pearls on literature searching, literature evaluation, and good old fashioned writing practices to help experts draft reports in their area of specialty.