Clinical Trials Dictionary

CURTIS L. MEINERT, PhD, is Professor in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he served as founder of the Johns Hopkins Center for Clinical Trials. He is a Fellow of the American College of Epidemiology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Heart Association, and the Society for Clinical Trials. Dr. Meinert has focused his research on the methodological issues in clinical trials, including their design, conduct, policy, and practice. He is the author of Clinical Trials Handbook: Design and Conduct (Wiley).

• Foreword 1st Edition ix Preface xi Contributors xiii Explanatory Notes xv Domain of coverage xv Order and place of entries xv Synonyms, antonyms, and related terms xv Language and usage conventions xv Sources and references xvi Adages xvi Usage notes xvi Etymologies xvi Abbreviations xvii Index xvii Usage Practices, Cautions, And Recommendations xix Recommended and preferred usages xx Comparative and relative terms xxii Redundancies, repetitions, and unnecessary words xxiii Not saying what we mean xxv Humanizing the inanimate xxv Pre-, post-, non-, and un- words xxvi Small troublesome words xxvi The language of praise, implied value judgment, and presumption xxvii Euphemisms xxix Currency words xxix The language of criticism xxx The language of exception xxxi The language of intimidation, implication, and position xxxii The language of division xxxiii Usurpative language xxxiii The language of positivity and negativity xxxiv Pronouns xxxvii The language of equivocation and weaseling xxxvii Vacuous language and claims xxxviii Jargon xxxviii Truth by declaration and repetition xxxix Abbreviations xli Listing of Entries xlvii Dictionary A 1 B 15 C 27 D 63 E 79 F 93 G 107 H 113 I 119 J and K 137 l 141 M 151 N 165 O 175 P 185 Q 217 R 221 S 241 T 273 U 291 V 297 W 301 X, Y, and Z 305 References 307 Index 317

“Clinical Trials Dictionary belongs in any library collection serving readers and writers of clinical trials, including libraries for nursing, social work, epidemiology, medicine, public health, psychology, sociology and any other of the many related fields for which the clinical trial represents a valuable standard of evidence.”  (Reference Reviews, 1 November 2013)“Clinical Trials Dictionary: Terminology and Usage Recommendations” is an insightful and meticulous guide to clinical research that is organized like a dictionary. The author is passionate about the use of language for ill purpose, as evidenced by the usage recommendations and an essay about the language of euphemism, critiicism, intimidation, division, usurpation, equivocation, etc.”  (Journal of Clinical Research Best Practices, 7 July 2013)