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Scientific writer vs content writer

The differences between scientific writers and content 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 writer and a content writer. Additionally, a scientific writer has an average salary of $99,550, which is higher than the $58,918 average annual salary of a content writer.

The top three skills for a scientific writer include IND, NDA and abstracts. The most important skills for a content writer are digital marketing, wordpress, and web content.

Scientific writer vs content writer overview

Scientific WriterContent Writer
Yearly salary$99,550$58,918
Hourly rate$47.86$28.33
Growth rate6%4%
Number of jobs15,96019,621
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 57%Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age4642
Years of experience22

What does a scientific writer do?

Scientific writers are professionals who are responsible for conducting research and writing articles that are related to scientific topics for many different kinds of publications and scientific journals. These writers are required to conduct interviews with scientists and other important people to ensure accurate information about the essays they are writing. They must adapt and comply with in-house style guides as well as perform copy-editing and proofreading duties. Scientific writers must also build up a network of contacts with other professionals in the industry such as press officers, PR executives, and researchers.

What does a content writer do?

The job of content writers is to create the best possible written or visual content ranging from blog posts to press releases. They produce the content for various types of websites, including social networks, news aggregators, and e-commerce sites. The job of content writers is not limited to writing, but also ensuring that the content connects or is relevant to the website pages. They are expected to set the tone of the website and revise the content upon customers' or clients' requests. They are also responsible for assisting in the creation of style guides.

Scientific writer vs content writer salary

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

Scientific WriterContent Writer
Average salary$99,550$58,918
Salary rangeBetween $66,000 And $150,000Between $40,000 And $84,000
Highest paying CityRichmond, VASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateVirginiaCalifornia
Best paying companyMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterCisco
Best paying industryPharmaceuticalFinance

Differences between scientific writer and content writer education

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

Scientific WriterContent Writer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 57%Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common majorBiologyEnglish
Most common collegeUniversity of Michigan - Ann ArborMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Scientific writer vs content writer demographics

Here are the differences between scientific writers' and content writers' demographics:

Scientific WriterContent Writer
Average age4642
Gender ratioMale, 39.2% Female, 60.8%Male, 39.8% Female, 60.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 7.6% Asian, 8.6% White, 72.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 6.0% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 5.0% White, 75.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%16%

Differences between scientific writer and content writer duties and responsibilities

Scientific writer example responsibilities.

  • Manage, and assist in the recruiting activities of, CRO resources preparing regulatory documents on behalf of APGD.
  • Harmonize USP and EP methods.
  • Exhibit proficiency in researching, writing, editing, and proofreading.
  • Create internal LIMS for NIH lab using Drupal, MySQL and git version control.
  • Organize and consolidate information into standard report formats, preparing and proofreading correspondence and documents in accordance with HIPAA regulations.
  • Use APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, AMA, and in-house style guides for error-free documents.
  • Show more

Content writer example responsibilities.

  • Implement and manage Salesforce and Marketo for client to establish lead nurturing campaigns.
  • Maintain guest blogging strategy and policies to achieve a consistently diverse authorship and to grow readership.
  • Manage the editorial production of the pamphlets, brochures and graphic material to target worldwide audiences including china.
  • Manage proposal process from RFP (request for proposal) receipt to writing and editing various contributions to final RFP submission.
  • Collaborate with overseas team and manage documents using SharePoint to conceptualize and generate new marketing content.
  • Produce a wide array of literature ranging from poetry to short stories.
  • Show more

Scientific writer vs content writer skills

Common scientific writer skills
  • IND, 10%
  • NDA, 10%
  • Abstracts, 7%
  • Regulatory Submissions, 6%
  • Proofreading, 6%
  • Clinical Study Reports, 6%
Common content writer skills
  • Digital Marketing, 10%
  • WordPress, 9%
  • Web Content, 6%
  • Blog Posts, 6%
  • Digital Content, 3%
  • Content Marketing, 3%

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