Written by: Peter Brennan, Courtney Gammon, Eliza Hurst, Sara Schulkowski, Yngrid Marques and Nimisha Thakur

Though translating complicated science into layman’s terms can be a surprisingly laborious task, it’s beneficial to both the reader and the author to include plain language summaries (PLS) within research articles. PLS serve as a way to directly increase readership and make the scientific process more inclusive. As a large percentage of scientific research is funded with taxpayer dollars, scientists should strive to make our research more accessible and understandable to the average citizen. Thus, the PLS is an excellent way to bridge the communication gap between the scientific community and the people we are aiming to help with our research.

Communicating your science outside of academia can help to inform political or economic choices, inspire future scientists through outreach, or to share your findings with the community so they know what is happening in the natural world around them.

The language used in a PLS should be kept simple. Jargon or discipline-specific terms should be avoided.

Thinking of the PLS as an upside-down pyramid helps. The first sentence should introduce the key point readers must know about your research while the following sentences broaden this key point. The summary should end with the significance of the research. Another helpful tip for writing a PLS is to tell your science like a story. It should be short and focus only on the most important details; however, remember that the PLS may require more context than the abstract since the audience likely has less preliminary knowledge about the subject than the scientific community.