Plain Language Summaries

A Plain Language Summary (PLS) is a short summary of clinical trials, research, review articles, grant applications, case reports, and congress abstracts.

PLS are usually around 250 words or less, but some can be longer – grant applications may run up to 600-700 words.

PLS are increasingly being published by scientific and medical journals as well as organisations producing patient-friendly healthcare materials.

With a Plain Language Summary, you can

• Attract more readers thereby increasing access to the article
• Connect with a wider readership: non-specialist healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers, policy makers and other stake holders
• Improve access to medical and scientific data by rendering complex information accessible
• Contribute to helping the public engage with medical and science research

How to Write a PLS

There are some excellent guides available if you’d like to write the PLS of your paper yourself. The following are just two examples.

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/documents/plain-english-summaries/27363

https://authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/TF-PLS-Guidelines-for-Authors-08-Mar-21.pdf

A PLS should never be a cut-and-paste of the original article!

My Services

Writing:  A Plain Language Summary of appropriate length of any medical or scientific document. The PLS is reviewed by a panel of non-professionals before sending to you, the client. Any further revisions or edits can be discussed and incorporated.

*Summaries are written according to regulatory standards, up-to-date health literacy and numeracy principles.

Reviewing: A PLS should be reviewed to enhance its quality before publication. Reviewing is important to check that the PLS

• accurately represents the original document
• is free of jargon or other language that may be unknown to a non-specialist reader
• is well-written
• is an appropriate length
• is understandable to a non-specialist reader