Author Archives: Campbell Aitken

See my article at http://www.westernalliance.org.au/in-brief-3/mhealth-using-mobile-technologies-to-improve-access-and-efficiency-in-health-care-delivery/

See my article at http://www.westernalliance.org.au/in-brief-3/sugary-drinks-and-public-health-the-bittersweet-solution-of-a-sugar-tax/

See my article at http://www.westernalliance.org.au/in-brief-3/eradicating-infectious-diseases-could-hepatitis-c-be-next/

Lots of things of course, starting with an excellent idea. However, are particular words important? In his article for The Conversation (27 February 2015), Owen Churches (Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychology at Flinders University) counts and charts the occurrences of words … Continue reading →

All languages evolve – if they don’t, they’re dead (Latin anyone?) New words arise from many sources. ‘Twerking’ was coined in the New Orleans bounce scene in the 1990s, and Miley Cyrus did the rest. Shakespeare alone added 1700+ words … Continue reading →

Modern science is almost entirely conducted in English. A Medline search will occasionally turn up an article with its English- translated title in square brackets and French or German or Spanish at the end of its publication details, which for … Continue reading →

I’m very pleased and proud to report that I’ve signed a contract to provide editing services to Marie Stopes International (MSI). If you don’t already know, MSI is an international not-for-profit humanitarian organisation that helps men and women control their fertility … Continue reading →

Wondering whether employing an editor or proofreader is financially sensible? In 2009, a 124-year-old family business employing 250 people was bankrupted thanks to a typographic error – a single misplaced letter ‘s’ – on a government register. Companies House (the … Continue reading →

I’ve written previously about the importance of publishing in science and academia, and the proliferation of dodgy online journals that exist to harvest authors’ fees. In contrast to these dead-end dubiously refereed publications, high-quality online-only journals such as PLoS ONE … Continue reading →

To paraphrase a great line from Yes Minister, we can talk in clichés until the cows come home. Cliches are useful in everyday communication precisely because people know what they mean, but they don’t make for great writing. As lexicographer … Continue reading →