Extending the reach of science – Talk in plain language

There has been increasing interest by the general public to read and share mainstream medical and scientific literature. Consequently, more and more medical journals are adopting strategies to make complex literature more accessible to the lay public. One such strategy is the creation of so called “...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cassie Sedgwick, Laura Belmonte, Amanda Margolis, Patricia Osborn Shafer, Jennifer Pitterle, Barry E. Gidal
Format: article
Language:EN
Published: Elsevier 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doaj.org/article/49b3bcd3c1a74c98a21a1fc3859e35d7
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:There has been increasing interest by the general public to read and share mainstream medical and scientific literature. Consequently, more and more medical journals are adopting strategies to make complex literature more accessible to the lay public. One such strategy is the creation of so called “lay summaries”. The benefits of lay summaries can include wider dissemination of knowledge, and is increasingly being recognized as a unique expertise by authors. While on the surface, it may seem to be an easy task to translate scientific literature into a lay summary. However, occasionally authors who are experienced in communicating complex information to a peer group, may struggle with translating their work to an audience with limited medical or scientific background. The objective of this review is to discuss strategies that scientific writers may consider to better facilitate translating scientific literature into lay summaries.