ISMPP 2026: My lived experience
I love publications. I love writing them, I love reading them. I don’t want artificial intelligence (AI) to write a publication for me – I want to write it myself. I am, however, less keen on the repetitive and mundane aspects of planning and producing a publication. So I was delighted to see that the theme for this year’s European Meeting of the International Society of Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP) was ‘Evolving with Purpose: Excellence in an Era of Efficiency’. More efficiency, fewer mundane tasks, more time for writing? Yes please!
AI and its role in helping us do our jobs was a key thread throughout the meeting. Several speakers commented that we should think of AI as an intern – plenty of knowledge but in need of our guidance and expertise to achieve optimal performance. I found a session on the practical application of AI particularly useful, working in small groups to build a prompt using the RICCE (Role; Instructions; Context; Constraints; Examples) framework.
Another useful session outlined the European Union AI Act, which highlights the importance of transparency, oversight, and governance. The speakers noted that AI will discard anything it cannot parse – good writing alone is no longer enough, content must also be machine readable (content hidden behind a paywall, for example, will not be picked up by AI). We should therefore always be looking through an AI lens, thinking about the four Cs: Clearly structured; Citable; Consistent (e.g. with respect to terminology); and Contextualised (e.g. referring AI to a previous conversation).
One of the most entertaining sessions was ‘Med Comms on Trial: Reforming for Efficiency and Sustainability’ – five defendants, each representing a med comms practice: home working; face-to-face congresses; AI; a 200-slide deck; and the print journal. It was up to the audience to decide who deserved to be locked up (down with the 200-slide deck!).
Parallel sessions looked at improving efficiencies in publication planning, manuscript development, or the post-submission process. I attended the manuscript development session, where misalignment (in various forms – target journal, authors, content, etc.) was discussed together with the importance of collaboration and communication. There was also an update on the upcoming Good Practice for Conference Abstracts and Presentations (GPCAP) guidelines, which will feature new sections on accessibility and inclusivity, enhanced content, and AI, to reflect the evolving congress landscape.
Other topics included: involving the patient at all stages – from study design through to publication; remembering to guard the ‘soul’ of your story to avoid emphasis drift; translating publication metrics into meaningful messages; and using digital opinion leaders to effectively disseminate content in a viral world.
A highlight for me was earning CMPP credits with every session I attended – these go towards my annual tally and mean I won’t have to put myself through the exhausting 3-hour exam again!
Overall, it was a great meeting, and I enjoyed the opportunity to compare notes and catch up with fellow writers. Did those jangly metal lanyards drive anyone else crazy though?!
If you’re looking for an agency partner to support your publications planning strategy, Scientific Group can help! Get in touch with Claire at claire.foskett@remedica.com.
