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Certification Maintenance Case Examples

Certification maintenance for the ELS credential can be accomplished many different ways. Below are 5 scenarios of how different people may choose to count the 50 points required over a 5-year renewal period. Other ways are possible, of course, and these are just illustrative examples. 

1. Mary was certified in 2015 and remains quite active in professional organizations such as AMWA, CSE, and BELS. She often attends webinars and occasionally a conference when her employer allows her time away from work. To meet her 50 credits for certification maintenance, she has followed the path shown below:

  Number of credits/hours
CATEGORY YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3 YEAR 4 YEAR 5 TOTAL
Education/Professional Development
(25 min / 40 max)
(webinars, conference attendance, etc.)		 5 7 5 8 6 31
Service
(memberships, 1 credit/year maximum)		 1 1 1 1 1 5
Service
(BELS and AMWA committee volunteer)		 6 0 0 4 0 10
Contributions
(AMWA and CSE presenter)		 0 3 0 3 6 12
Experience            
TOTAL 12 11 6 16 13 Grand Total
58

 

2. Jorge is all about his job — he works in an academic institution and makes sure to attend a few seminars and lectures related to the therapeutic area in which he works as a department and academic journal editor. He also occasionally registers for webinars as a refresher on key topics or pertinent updates on style guide changes, etc. He is able to document the required minimum of 25 credits/hours over the 5-year certification period, earning the remaining credits from his work as an editor in the life sciences (5 credits per year maximum). 

  Number of credits/hours
CATEGORY YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3 YEAR 4 YEAR 5 TOTAL
Education/Professional Development
(25 min / 40 max)
(webinars, self-study modules)		 4 6 3 5 7 25
Service            
Contributions            
Experience
(full-time employment as editor,
5 credits/year max)		 5 5 5 5 5 25
TOTAL 9 11 8 10 12 Grand Total
50

 

3. Pursuing an 18-hour educational certificate in editing was a bold move for Munia, but with all the learning modules being online, she could satisfy the certificate requirements within 2 years and earn credits toward her ELS certification maintenance when it needed to be renewed after 5 years. By taking a few webinars annually in years 3 through 5, she had accumulated plenty of credits. Here is how she did it:

  Number of credits/hours
CATEGORY YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3 YEAR 4 YEAR 5 TOTAL
Education/Professional Development
(25 min / 40 max)
Editing certificate online (years 1-2),
plus 2-3 one-hour webinars
each following year		 10 8 2 3 2 25
Service
(memberships, 1 credit/year max)		 1 1 1 1 1 5
Contributions            
Experience
(full-time employment as editor,
5 credits/year max)		 5 5 5 5 5 25
TOTAL 16 14 8 9 8 Grand Total
55

 

4. After obtaining his PhD in immunology, Antonio decided to pursue a career as an editorial manager in an academic research department at a large state university. He obtained his ELS certification after completing his second year as a full-time editor, and he knows he must obtain 50 education and professional development credits to renew his certification after 5 years. He is passionate about mentoring others and typically takes on an intern each year. He counts this activity as a contribution to the profession, and in the service category, he counts his service on a BELS test development/review committee over the past 2 years. His primary educational activity comprised 2 semester-long university courses on technical writing and editing (spring and fall of the same calendar year).

  Number of credits/hours
CATEGORY YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3 YEAR 4 YEAR 5 TOTAL
Education/Professional Development
(25 min / 40 max)
(some webinars plus an
academic course, 30 max)		 2 1 20 1 1 25
Service
(BELS committee member,
6 credits/year max)		 0 0 0 6 6 12
Contributions
(Mentorship, 4 credits/year max)		 4 4 4 4 4 20
Experience            
TOTAL 6 5 24 11 11 Grand Total
57

 

5. Phillipa had wanted to pursue her Diplomate Editor in the Life Sciences designation, ELS(D), for several years but never got around to starting the process. Because her ELS certification maintenance deadline will be coming up in a couple of years, she decided that it was the right time to put her portfolio together and apply for certification as an ELS(D). After she was accepted in candidacy and submitted her portfolio of work per the ELS(D) criteria for peer review, she passed and was awarded her ELS(D). Now, when her certification is due for maintenance renewal, she will be able to apply attaining the ELS(D) on a one-time basis to satisfy the 50-credit renewal requirement.