This article provides a corpus-driven overview of the ‘epistemic space’ surrounding the use of two lockwords of Early and Late Modern English writings on midwifery and childbirth, child and uterus. Rather than searching for epistemic stance markers themselves, this study employs the ‘bottom-up’ approach by examining the propositions containing these lockwords, and then seeing what particular epistemic meanings are signalled by the surrounding discourse context. Both treatises and periodicals representative of medical writing from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries are examined, thus allowing any diachronic trends characteristic of a period that witnessed much change in midwifery practices, and medicine more broadly, to be uncovered. Data are drawn from the Early Modern English Medical Texts (EMEMT) and Late Modern English Medical Texts (LMEMT) corpora.

Introduction: Medical journals are an essential venue for knowledge translation. Skilled reviewers and editors are required to ensure quality standards in research publications and yet postgraduate programs rarely include this training in their curricula. Imparting appropriate skills and developing capacity in journalship has thus proved challenging. The Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine (CJEM) is the national journal for Emergency Medicine (EM) in Canada. The CJEM editorial board recently decided to provide longitudinal mentorship for junior academic faculty members and trainees through an editorial internship. The internship had three goals for participants: (1) introduce and develop the responsibilities and skills of a good editor; (2) enhance a career in academic EM; and, (3) galvanize future participation as a reviewer or editor in scientific publications. Methods: The senior editorial board of CJEM and the inaugural intern developed a one-year Editorial Internship that was launched in June 2017. The curricular framework was designed by current and prior CJEM senior editors from four Canadian universities, and was informed by similar programs in the United States. The curriculum was refined iteratively based on feedback and discussion between the senior editors and intern. The internship was designed for a single individual in the Canadian EM community, including residents, pediatric fellows and practicing emergency physicians. Results: To develop the responsibilities and skills of being a good editor, the intern performed six mentored reviews of manuscripts either under current review at CJEM or previous submissions identified as difficult peer review decisions. In addition, the intern learned about CJEM values and norms by participating in monthly videoconference meetings and quarterly editorial board meetings. To enhance an academic career, the intern was assigned two writing projects under the guidance of senior editors for publication in CJEM, and completed an online critical appraisal course. Conclusion: The inaugural editorial intern gained experience as an editor and produced scholarly work. We feel the internship met its first two goals, and CJEM has committed to continue the internship annually. The ultimate determination of whether the internship achieved its third goal will only be known after longitudinal tracking of participants career involvement in academic publishing and editing.