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Scientific technical writer vs contributing writer

The differences between scientific technical writers and contributing writers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a scientific technical writer and a contributing writer. Additionally, a scientific technical writer has an average salary of $78,877, which is higher than the $51,372 average annual salary of a contributing writer.

The top three skills for a scientific technical writer include sops, subject matter experts and FDA. The most important skills for a contributing writer are lifestyle, web content, and SEO.

Scientific technical writer vs contributing writer overview

Scientific Technical WriterContributing Writer
Yearly salary$78,877$51,372
Hourly rate$37.92$24.70
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs79,68010,292
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 54%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Average age4646
Years of experience22

Scientific technical writer vs contributing writer salary

Scientific technical writers and contributing writers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Scientific Technical WriterContributing Writer
Average salary$78,877$51,372
Salary rangeBetween $57,000 And $109,000Between $34,000 And $75,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between scientific technical writer and contributing writer education

There are a few differences between a scientific technical writer and a contributing writer in terms of educational background:

Scientific Technical WriterContributing Writer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 54%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Most common majorBiologyJournalism
Most common collegeUniversity of Southern CaliforniaMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Scientific technical writer vs contributing writer demographics

Here are the differences between scientific technical writers' and contributing writers' demographics:

Scientific Technical WriterContributing Writer
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 35.4% Female, 64.6%Male, 44.6% Female, 55.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 8.8% White, 71.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 8.7% White, 71.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between scientific technical writer and contributing writer duties and responsibilities

Scientific technical writer example responsibilities.

  • Help company achieve ISO registration by determining best practices, writing ISO compliant manufacturing instructions and teaching best manufacturing processes.
  • Maintain contacts within the FDA and EPA to stay abreast of the latest regulatory actions.
  • Develop sophisticated PowerPoint presentations for cross-departmental meetings.
  • Develop sophisticated PowerPoint presentations for cross-departmental meetings.

Contributing writer example responsibilities.

  • Collaborate with overseas team and manage documents using SharePoint to conceptualize and generate new marketing content.
  • Pitch, write and photograph audience-aligned content, which are centered on the European-American luxury lifestyle in the greater Chicago area
  • Create SharePoint site for marketing and communications that include project tracking, document governance and collaboration space.

Scientific technical writer vs contributing writer skills

Common scientific technical writer skills
  • Sops, 26%
  • Subject Matter Experts, 20%
  • FDA, 14%
  • Technical Reports, 9%
  • ISO, 6%
  • Adobe Acrobat, 6%
Common contributing writer skills
  • Lifestyle, 13%
  • Web Content, 7%
  • SEO, 6%
  • Feature Stories, 6%
  • Conduct Interviews, 5%
  • Blog Posts, 5%

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