Many nurse authors aren’t familiar with the plain language summary (PLS), an easy way to expand the reach of their work. As the name suggests, a PLS summarizes your article in language easily understood by the general public. A PLS also can help other clinicians better grasp your work, especially if they work in a different specialty. Even your colleagues in the same specially may appreciate a PLS of your highly technical article. Ultimately, anything you do to improve understanding increases the likelihood that others will share your work.
Unfortunately, not all journals publish PLSs. However, even if it’s not included with your article, you can still disseminate the PLS through other channels, such as social media.
Steps for creating a PLS
A PLS should give the who, what, how, and why of your topic. Dormer and colleagues collaborated with patients to develop a handy guide authors can follow in developing a PLS. Here’s a brief overview of the steps.
- Consider the rationale and scope. Consider why you’re creating the PLS, where you want to publish it, and resources required for its creation.
- Identify your target audience. This helps determine the audience’s needs and, therefore, what you should include.
- Consider dissemination channels. The channel (for example, a social media platform) will affect content and format. Check journal requirements related to PLSs.
- Identify your key stakeholders for co-creation. You want to involve members of your target audience so content remains relevant.
- Write. As you write, consider factors such as reading level. Ideally, test your PLS with your target audience to obtain feedback.
- Disseminate. Those positioned to disseminate the PLS include the journal that published it, you, your organization, patients, advocacy groups, and healthcare providers. Outlets include social media and websites. As part of dissemination, reference your article and provide a link to it.
The guide strongly recommends that authors involve patients in PLS creation as much as possible. That might not always be possible but as noted above, try to have at least one lay person review the summary before you disseminate it.
Writing tips
Switching gears from writing for clinicians to writing for the general public can prove challenging. Following a framework can help. Although journals have different requirements, Gunn says a common PLS format for a study includes the following:
- The article topic
- Background information a nonexpert might need
- Why the study was done
- If it was a trial of some kind, the results
- What the results mean
- How to apply the results
- Any keywords and how to pronounce them
- Why a nonexpert would be interested in the article
Some publishers also permit a graphical PLS. For this type, you can apply strategies similar to graphical abstracts but remember to use nontechnical language and keep it simple.
Haylock recommends considering three questions before writing for a general audience; they also apply to writing a PLS:
- Why is this information important to the reader?
- What difference will this information make?
- How will the information be helpful?
Here are a few final writing tips:
- Avoid jargon. It may help to think about how you would explain your article to a friend, neighbor, or relative. You also can use resources such as the Plain Language Medical Dictionary, which enables you to find substitutes for complex medical terms.
- Write in the active voice.
- Keep sentences short and be concise with overall length. Aim for about 250 words, although that varies by journal.
- Check readability. You can do this in Word by clicking on the Insights section that appears when you check grammar and spelling. The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level is one measure you’ll see. The general agreement is to write at a 6th to 7th grade level, but you also need to consider your target audience. In the end, the best test is to have a target reader review the PLS.
I encourage you to give PLSs a try!
Cynthia Saver, MS, RN, is editor of the award-winning book Anatomy of Writing for Publication for Nurses, 5thed. She has more than three decades of publishing experience as a writer, editor, and publishing executive. Cynthia’s work has appeared in many journals, and her past positions include editorial director for American Nurse Journal, which she helped launch. Cynthia is passionate about helping nurses share their expertise by writing for publication and happily shares her knowledge though The Writing Mind blog, articles, short presentations, and workshops.
References
Dormer L, Schindler T, Williams LA, et al. A practical ‘how-to’ guide to plain language summaries (PLS) of peer-reviewed scientific publications: Results of a multi-stakeholder initiative utilizing co-creation methodology. Res Involv Engagem. 2022;8(1):23. doi:10.1186/s40900-022-00358-6
Gunn E. Give it to me straight: Plain language summaries and their role in scholarly journals. Sci Ed. 2024;47:12-3. doi:10.36591/SE-4701-09
Haylock PJ. Writing for a general audience. In: Saver C. Anatomy of Writing for Publication for Nurses. 5thed. Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau International; 2024; 319-30.
Landers T, Schulte SJ. Promoting your work. In: Saver C. Anatomy of Writing for Publication for Nurses. 5thed. Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau International; 2024; 171-83.
