MSD Manual

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The Manuals Staff

Content last modified Jan 2023

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Sandy Falk, MD

Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA; 
Clinical Instructor, part-time, Harvard Medical School, and Director of Gynecology of the Sexual Health Program, Adult Survivorship Program, Dana Farber Cancer Institute

DEPUTY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Justin L. Kaplan, MD

Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA; 
Clinical Associate Professor, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University

SENIOR EDITOR

Richard B. Lynn, MD 

SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITOR

Ernest Yeh, MD

EDITORIAL STAFF

Karen T. Albright

Keryn A.G. Lane

Liz Leiby

Crystal G. Norris 

Susan C. Short

Michelle A. Steigerwald

PUBLISHING AND PRODUCTION STAFF

Michael DeFerrari

Jennifer Doyle

Vahe Grigoryan

Caroline Harvey

Ahmad Ibrahim

Brian Konrad

Jamie Poole

Sheryl Olinsky Borg 

MARKETING AND BRAND AWARENESS STAFF

Melissa Adams

Adeyemi P. Adegoke

Leta S. Bracy

Kayla Marie Farrer

Keith Guse

Eryn Werner

PRODUCTION CONTRIBUTORS 

Christopher C. Butts

David Goldman, MD

Bram Greenberg, MD

Marjorie Lazoff, MD

Robert S. Porter, MD

Michael Reingold

Susan Schindler

Roger I. Schreck, MD

THE MANUALS'S EDITORIAL PROCESS

The Manuals' content is generated following the same process as the most respected medical textbooks and journals. The steps include an

  1. External author
  2. External peer reviewer
  3. External pharmacologist reviewer
  4. Internal physician editor
  5. Internal medical writer
  6. Editor-in-Chief
  7. Executive editor
  8. Final review and revision by author

Our over 300 independent authors, all of whom are experts in their field, prepare the content of their chapters and pass it on to one or more of the 26 independent medical peer reviewers on the MSD Manual Editorial Board and review staff. The peer reviewers, who are authorities in their respective specialty and not otherwise connected to MSD, review the content to ensure that it is complete, accurate, and unbiased; when necessary, they request additions or corrections to the author's material. After peer review, an expert pharmacologist outside of MSD reviews drug dosage and recommendations to ensure accuracy. After these external steps, the Manuals' internal editorial staff of physicians and trained medical writers review the content to see whether any material (including multimedia and external links) should be added, deleted, or revised to make it clearer for non-specialist health care professionals (Professional Version) and consumers (Consumer Version). In addition, all of The Manuals' internal editors edit the content to ensure it meets the clarity and style standards for which The Manuals have long been known.