{"id":37382,"date":"2021-05-24T16:29:59","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T10:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/?p=37382"},"modified":"2025-11-25T15:10:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T09:40:56","slug":"dont-just-produce-plain-language-summaries-seven-tips-to-get-them-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/dont-just-produce-plain-language-summaries-seven-tips-to-get-them-read","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Just Produce Plain Language Summaries: Seven Tips to Get Them Read"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The primary purpose of plain language summaries (PLS or Lay summaries)\u2014synopses of research in simple, jargon-free language\u2014is to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.msfhr.org\/news\/blog-posts\/plain-language-summaries\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">make science accessible to the public<\/a>. PLS(Lay summary) enable scientists and academic Societies to engage with a broader audience, even crossing language barriers. But it\u2019s not enough to merely produce PLS; they should be easy for the public to find. Publishers and Societies can consider some of the below strategies to make their PLS discoverable and drive readership.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Label and position PLS(Lay summary) properly<\/strong><br \/>\nOn the landing page of a scientific article, the PLS(Lay summary) should be easy to spot at first glance. It should be clearly labelled and not tucked away below the abstract like an afterthought.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Use an alternative title<\/strong><br \/>\nIf the original title is complex and lengthy, the PLS(Lay summary) should have an alternative, simplified title. For instance, few lay readers would read further than a title like \u201cPositive Effects of Maternal Dietary Diversity on the Neonatal Gastrointestinal Microbiome.\u201d Many more would be inclined to read a PLS(Lay summary) titled \u201cEating a Variety of Foods During Pregnancy Improves Your Newborn\u2019s Gut Health.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Include graphics and artwork<\/strong><br \/>\nVisuals make it easier for readers to both\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5256450\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">understand\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s11251-011-9197-y\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">remember<\/a>\u00a0the content. Figures accompanying the PLS(Lay summary) should, like the language of the PLS, be easy to understand and intuitive. A bar graph may be acceptable; a box-and-whisker plot, probably not.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Allow subheadings and vertical lists<\/strong><br \/>\nPLS(Lay summary) presented as a large slab of text are difficult to read. Subheadings, bullet points, and tables make it easier for lay readers to process the information, as shown by this\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0895435614002133#sec3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">randomized controlled trial of PLS for Cochrane reviews<\/a>. Readers may also perceive PLS(Lay summary) with subheadings as more\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/online.ucpress.edu\/collabra\/article\/7\/1\/18898\/116069\/Straight-From-the-Scientist-s-Mouth-Plain-Language\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">credible and useful for decision-making<\/a>.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/tech\/annals-of-technology\/a-list-of-reasons-why-our-brains-love-lists\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bulleted or numbered lists<\/a>\u00a0not only attract readers\u2019 attention but also enable them to process and recall information with minimal effort.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5. Relax length restrictions if needed<\/strong><br \/>\nIf the editors judge an article to have potentially high social or economic impact, the length restrictions on the PLS(Lay summary) could be relaxed further, even up to around 800-1000 words. This would allow the PLS(Lay summary) to present all key details, preventing the research findings from being distorted or misrepresented.<\/p>\n<p><strong>6. Use PLS(Lay summary) as a basis for additional content<\/strong><br \/>\nPLS(Lay summary) can form the basis for social media posts and press releases. Articles that receive more attention in mainstream news media, online blogs, or social media are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.0234912#sec002\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more likely to be cited<\/a>\u00a0than other articles. Social media (especially Twitter) mentions also\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.0047523\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">increase downloads and early citations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>7. Invest in SEO to optimize metadata<\/strong><br \/>\nAcademics may not realize that the public searches for information online differently: via Google, Bing, etc., rather than PubMed. Publishers and Societies therefore need to adopt specific strategies to improve their website rankings on popular search engines. Investing in search engine optimization (SEO) is essential for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC6055554\/#rth212098-bib-0003\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">getting research found and read<\/a>. SEO experts can analyze and optimize journal practices around metadata so that articles can be found more easily by various search engines.<\/p>\n<p>If Societies want to truly engage with the public and disseminate their research, PLS(Lay summary) should be not just appropriately written and ethically sound, but also easy to find. Increasing \u201caccessibility\u201d to research also means increasing its \u201cdiscoverability.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The primary purpose of plain language summaries (PLS or Lay summaries)\u2014synopses of research in simple, jargon-free language\u2014is to\u00a0make science accessible to the public. PLS(Lay summary) enable scientists and academic Societies to engage with a broader audience, even crossing language barriers. But it\u2019s not enough to merely produce PLS; they should be easy for the public [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":33313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5889],"tags":[],"new_categories":[],"new_tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-37382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-media-and-tools-for-science-communication"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Don\u2019t Just Produce Plain Language Summaries: Seven Tips to Get Them Read | Editage Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/?p=37382\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don\u2019t Just Produce Plain Language Summaries: Seven Tips to Get Them Read | Editage Insights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The primary purpose of plain language summaries (PLS or Lay summaries)\u2014synopses of research in simple, jargon-free language\u2014is to\u00a0make science accessible to the public. 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