Ghostwriting - the ghost who writes!

Ghostwriting is a practice when someone else writes a book or article in another person?s name. Ghostwriting has been in practice for a long time, but only in the recent years, has it grown in importance and is being recognized by many. It is not unusual to find that someone else has written books by a particular author. Ghostwriting is not cheating, as the person who ghostwrites for others is fully aware that the book or article would be published in another name, and he does this for a fee.

Medical Ghostwriting is common today, with many pharmaceutical companies engaging scientifically qualified writers to write or author an article about their drugs.

Ghostwriting cannot be called as cheating or wrong, because the practice has been in the society for long and many acknowledges it. There are many reason as to why Ghostwriters are engaged, for one there may be a lack of time, second it has become a prestige issue to appoint one and last is the need to present an article or book in a readable format which is the specialization of a few.

Ghostwriting as a profession has been taken up by many, and they don't mind when the credit goes to others, the reason being that it is a profitable issue for both the parties, because the ghostwriter benefits monetarily as for the person who engages a ghostwriter, he gets good publicity for the work. Some times the person provides all the information that is required by a ghostwriter and the ghostwriter, merely puts those in a readable manner.

Medical ghostwriting involves writing for scientific and medical journals in the name of another author. Some times a pharmaceutical company many engage a ghostwriter to write about its product and to compare it with its rival product, then it may go on and endorse a well known author name for the article. This type of medical ghostwriting may be harmful and unethical, because not only do many medicos refer to these journals, thinking that the article was really contributed by the author but also the loss suffered by others if the article published is found to be false. Another important fact in medical ghostwriting is that the ghostwriter is not directly responsible for the published articles and whatever be the consequence would befall the author, who claims to have written the articles.

Medical ghostwriting though in practice is highly opposed in many parts, because of the reliability of many medical journal come under question. Though medical ghostwriting can be accepted if the details or the data given in the articles are by the authors and the ghostwriter merely puts those in a readable format. The engaging of medical ghostwriter has been on the increase because of the lack of time for many medical professionals, and many education institutions conduct surveys and engage ghostwriter to put the same as a article for a journal. Not many are in 8 hours working regime, many opt for the comfort of the home and comfort of their time to earn money, this has increased the demand for ghostwriter.

Ghostwriting is an accepted and encouraged practice in the normal way, i.e. if a ghostwriter is engaged in writing a non fiction novel or articles of varied interest but medical ghostwriting is a different game altogether, because medical writing means taking responsibility of the many medicos and the scientific community who refer them for their research, and if the published article is done purely for commercial purpose, to boost a pharmaceutical name for example, then it is a highly condemned practice.

Ghostwriting is an evolving phrase, and ghostwriters are a new breed. Ghostwriters must take the responsibility of doing a complete research on the article they are wiring and get the suggestion of the author on his idea before publishing the same. Ghostwriters are the new breeds who write for both their own satisfaction and for a guaranteed revenue. Ghostwriting is thus here to stay.