• Skip to main content

Plain Language Summaries

Standalone, citable summaries published in the Future Science Group journals written to be understood by a lay audience

  • How To Publish
  • How to Write Plain Language Summaries
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Publications
    • Animated Videos
    • Bladder, Kidney and Genitals
    • Brain and Nerves
    • Cancer
    • Diabetes and Metabolic Hormones
    • Eyes and Vision
    • Heart and Circulation
    • Infections
    • Inflammatory and Immune-related disorders
    • Mental Health
    • Muscle and Bone
    • Rare Diseases
    • Skin
    • Vaccines
  • Advisory Panel
  • Supporters
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Blog

Insights, thoughts, events and interesting publications about plain language summaries and communicating research to patients and non-specialist audiences


Plain language summaries at ISMPP EU 2023: Out of sight, out of mind?

Joanne Walker
24th January 2023

In this blog post, Jacqui Oliver (Envision Pharma Group) and Adeline Rosenberg (Oxford Pharma Genesis) talk about two of their posters that were presented at the 2023 European Meeting of the International Society of Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP): Plain language summaries: journal intent is just the first step… Social media metrics of plain language summaries on Figshare Why was the research needed? Plain language summaries (PLS) are valuable to a broad range of readers, including patients and healthcare professionals, seeking understandable and accessible information [1–5]. The value of PLS is…

Opinion: Why plain language summaries should be the norm rather than a novelty

Joanne Walker
11th July 2022

Read why Alpharmaxim are advocating for plain language summaries.

Plain language summaries of publications in Future Oncology to mark Cancer Immunotherapy Month

Joanne Walker
17th June 2022

Details of the plain language summaries of publications from studies in immunotherapy published Future Oncology.

Peek Behind the Research: Do healthcare professionals really value plain language summaries?

Joanne Walker
25th March 2022

In this ‘Peek Behind the Research’ interview from the 2022 European Meeting of ISMPP, Dawn Lobban and Jacqui Oliver from Envision Pharma Group talk about their work looking what healthcare professionals think about plain language summaries.

Peek Behind the Research: Seek and you will [potentially] find: the impact of plain language summary accessibility on engagement and wider dissemination

Joanne Walker
25th March 2022

Our latest ‘Peek Behind the Research’ interview from the 2022 European Meeting of the ISMPP sees insights from Simon Foulcer, David Sheppard and Nichola Gokool of Parexel International.

Peek Behind the Research: Prevalence and characteristics of plain language summaries indexed in PubMed

Joanne Walker
25th March 2022

In our third ‘Peek Behind the Research’ interview, we speak with Will Gatrell about his poster presented at the 2022 European Meeting of ISMPP.

Peek Behind the Research: Analysis of reach for different formats of plain language summaries

Joanne Walker
25th March 2022

Our next ‘Peek Behind the Research’ interview from the 2022 European Meeting of ISMPP takes a look at the research into the impact and reach of different formats of plain language summaries.

Peek Behind the Research: Do plain language summaries encourage readers to access your publication? A pilot study

Joanne Walker
25th March 2022

In our first ‘Peek Behind the Research’ interview, learn more from Caroline Halford and Steve Winter about their poster from the 2022 European Meeting of the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP).

Harnessing the power of plain language summaries in cell and gene therapy research

Joanne Walker
15th March 2022

A new article published on RegMedNet has outlined importance of plain language summaries to improve the trust and understanding in communicating cell and gene therapy research.

Could plain language summaries of publications be the much needed tool to help the public understand scientific data?

Joanne Walker
14th February 2022

In their latest article, Lisa Chamberlain James and Rachel Beeby of Trilogy Writing and Consulting explain how the need for plain communication of COVID-19 information should be applied across the whole spectrum of science and could be achieved through plain language summaries of publications.

Do plain language summaries have a place alongside health technology assessments?

Joanne Walker
7th February 2022

A new article published on The Evidence Base asks why regulatory and other agencies need to use plain language summaries alongside health technology assessments.

Peek Behind the Guidelines: Why the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy is now requiring authors to add plain language summaries

Joanne Walker
4th February 2022

Learn why the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy (JMCP) is now requiring authors to publish plain language summaries.

Promoting the use of patient-sensitive language when talking about lung cancer

Joanne Walker
1st February 2022

How using patient-sensitive language when discussing lung cancer can improve patient-physician relationships.

Why early-career researchers should explain their work using plain language summaries 

Joanne Walker
28th January 2022

A new article featured on Bioanalysis Zone outlines why researchers, especially those in the early stages of their career, should consider using plain language summaries to explain their work.

Ipsen pledge to publish plain language summaries for all their journal publications

Joanne Walker
25th January 2022

Ipsen have pledged to publish plain language summaries alongside all journal publications they support.

Could plain language summaries increase the public’s trust and understanding of vaccine research?

Joanne Walker
21st January 2022

New research suggests plain language summaries could increase health literacy and build trust, knowledge and confidence in vaccine research.

Plain language summaries in psychology: Project PLan Psy by the Leibniz Institute for Psychology

Joanne Walker
17th January 2022

Learn more about the project PLan Psy being carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Psychology to understand and develop evidence-based guidelines for writing plain language summaries of meta-analyses in psychology.

Do patients have a preference for formats of plain language summaries?

Joanne Walker
13th January 2022

What format of plain language summaries do patient want to read? This new research article published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research investigates this issue.

12 design principles to ensure patient information is easy to use and understand

Joanne Walker
23rd December 2021

Article by patient engagement consultant Marie Ennis O’Connor providing a handy checklist for the design of patient information materials.

Understanding research literature: a plain language guide to reading a scientific paper

Joanne Walker
3rd December 2021

Plain language summaries provide an overview of a scientific article written in non-technical plain language. But how do you read and understand the original article on which the summary is based?

ISMPP-sponsored article on plain language summaries now published

Joanne Walker
9th November 2021

Read more about the ISMPP-sponsored study on plain language summaries.

Future Science Group’s plain language summaries in lung cancer

Joanne Walker
8th November 2021

Details of the plain language summaries in lung cancer published in the Future Science Group journals.

Oncology Central features top 5 plain language summaries published in Future Oncology

Joanne Walker
3rd November 2021

Discover the top 5 plain language summaries published in Future Oncology.

Open Access Week 2021: Webinar on the Open Pharma recommendations for plain language summaries

Joanne Walker
2nd November 2021

Hosted by the MedComms Networking, this webinar explains the Open Pharma recommendations for plain language summaries of peer-reviewed medical journal publications.

October is Health Literacy Month

Joanne Walker
1st October 2021

Learn how the Future Science Group are supporting Health Literacy Month.

Increasing accessibilty of plain language summaries through translations

Joanne Walker
29th September 2021

Publishing translations of plain language summaries helps all readers access and understand the content.

Open Pharma recommendations for plain language summaries of peer-reviewed medical journal publications

Joanne Walker
23rd September 2021

Open Pharma have announced their recommendations for plain language summaries of peer-reviewed medical journal publications have been published in the peer-reviewed journal Current Medical Research and Opinion.

Why researchers and scientists must use plain language when discussing their work

Joanne Walker
21st September 2021

Article from Scientific American calling for scientists to use simple, jargon free terms when discussing their work.

Understanding the different types of plain language summary

Joanne Walker
20th August 2021

Discover Open Pharma’s new crib sheet explaining the different types of plain language documents.

Developing publication plain language summaries: Insights from Pfizer

Joanne Walker
12th August 2021

Learn how Pfizer implemented a company-wide program for developing plain language summaries to support their publications.

Developing plain language summaries of research studies: Lessons from PCORI

Joanne Walker
14th July 2021

A new article discusses the lessons from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute’s (PCORI) programme developing plain language summaries of the research they have funded.

PREPRINT: Open Pharma recommendations for plain language summaries of peer-reviewed medical journal publications

Joanne Walker
28th June 2021

Open Pharma have announced their recommendations for plain language summaries of peer-reviewed medical journal publications is now available as a preprint.

Future Science Group shortlisted for ALPSP Awards for Innovation in Publishing 2021

Joanne Walker
23rd June 2021

We are pleased to announce that our initiative for publishing standalone Plain Language Summary of Publication (PLSP) articles has been shortlisted for the ALPSP Awards for Innovation in Publishing 2021.

Should plain language summaries be a requirement for all journal submissions? The Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth thinks so.

Joanne Walker
10th June 2021

The editors of Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth announce that plain language summaries will be required for all manuscripts.

‘How-To’ Guide for the development and dissemination of plain language summaries of peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations

Joanne Walker
9th June 2021

Much awaited ‘How-To’ Guide for the development and dissemination of plain language summaries of peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.

Tips to ensure plain language summaries are discovered and read

Joanne Walker
2nd June 2021

In their latest post “Don’t Just Produce Plain Language Summaries: Seven Tips to Get Them Read”, Deborah Wyatt and Marisha Fonseca of Impact Science at Cactus Communications share their thoughts on how to make PLS discoverable and drive readership.

17th Annual Meeting of ISMPP Highlights: Current state and challenges for plain-language summary development in Japan

Joanne Walker
31st May 2021

Overview of the poster ‘Current state and challenges for plain-language summary development in Japan’ presented at the 17th Annual Meeting of ISMPP.

17th Annual Meeting of ISMPP Highlights: Are plain language summaries of health economic publications needed for patients and non-expert audiences?

Joanne Walker
25th May 2021

Summary of the poster ‘Are plain language summaries of health economic publications needed for patients and non-expert audiences?’ presented at the 17th Annual Meeting of ISMPP.

CISCRP Webinar: Plain Language Summaries of Publications (PLSP)

Joanne Walker
20th May 2021

Hosted by the CISCRP, this webinar provides a greater understanding on how Plain Language Summaries of Publication (PLSP) can help meet the demand and expectations for the disclosure of clinical trial results.

Five tips to optimize plain language summaries for a global audience

Joanne Walker
14th April 2021

In this post, Deborah Wyatt and co-author Marisha Fonseca from Impact Science at Cactus Communications, share five simple ‘hacks’ to make plain language summaries (PLS) of research papers easier to translate.

European Medicines Agency’s Medical Terms Simplifier

Joanne Walker
7th April 2021

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recently published a new resource providing descriptions of medical terms commonly used in information about medicines written in plain language.

Open Pharma and PFMD public consultations on plain language summaries of publications

Joanne Walker
26th March 2021

Two new initiatives on plain language summaries of publications are now inviting public consultation.

2021 ISMPP European Meeting Highlights: How readable are plain language summaries?

Joanne Walker
15th February 2021

Summary of the poster ‘How readable are plain language summaries?’ presented at the 2021 ISMPP European Meeting.

The key to a good plain language summary: write it before you even start to develop the research project

Joanne Walker
21st January 2021

Start as you mean to go on: why Roger Wilson advocates that all research projects should start with writing a plain language summary.

Why the Future Science Group publishes Plain Language Summary of Publication articles

Joanne Walker
20th January 2021

Keen to recognize and promote the vital role of patients in medical and scientific research, the Future Science Group is publishing Plain Language Summary of Publication articles. Find out more about this new initiative.

Register now! February 3, 2021: ISMPP U Webinar on plain language summaries

Joanne Walker
20th January 2021

Learn about plain language summaries in the upcoming ISMPP U webinar taking place on February 3rd 2021.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: The role of plain language summaries

Joanne Walker
19th January 2021

The recent call to action in the MAP newsletter from the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP) has set out a roadmap for how medical publication and communication professionals can ensure equity, diversity, and inclusion in communicating scientific research.

Hear from us at the 2021 European Meeting of ISMPP

Joanne Walker
15th January 2021

Our very own Laura Dormer will be speaking at the 2021 European Meeting of ISMPP parallel session on ‘Patient Engagement in Publications: The ‘What’, ‘Who’, ‘Why’, ‘When’ and ‘How’. Taking place on Tuesday 26th January 2021, the session will look at key areas of the publication ecosystem where patients can and should be involved.

Copyright © 2023 · Plain Language Summaries · Terms and Conditions · Privacy Policy ·