Medical Writing Writing for Lay Audiences Writing for lay audiences: A challenge for scientists

Volume 24, Issue 4 - Writing for Lay Audiences

Writing for lay audiences: A challenge for scientists

Abstract

Writing for lay audiences, especially lay summaries, is needed to increase health and science literacy, but this kind of writing can be difficult for scientists. The article describes why it can be so difficult and gives some advice on how scientists can cope with the challenge and how institutions and organisations can help.

Download the full article

References

  1. Fenner M. One-click science marketing. Nature Mat 2012;11:261–263. (Abstract only)
  2. Woolson C. Petition calls for lay summaries in ecology journals. Nature 2015;520(7546).
  3. Brehm D. MIT News; 1999 [cited 2015 July 14]. Available from: http://newsoffice.mit.edu/1999/forum-0224
  4. Duke M. How to Write a Lay Summary. DCC How-to Guides. Edinburgh: Digital Curation Centre; 2012. Available from: http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/how-guides/write-lay-summaryonline
  5. Shipman M. Soapbox Science; 2012 [cited 2015 July 14]. Available from: http://blogs.nature.com/soapboxscience/2012/03/14/the-promise-pitfalls-of-public-outreach-part-3-social-media-taking-science-to-the-people
  6. Woolson C. Scientists are cautious about social media. Nature 2015;518(7540).
  7. Highfield R. The Royal Society Publishing Blog; 2015 [cited 2015 July 14]. Available from: http://blogs.royalsociety.org/publishing/fssc-scientist-layperson/
  8. Brownell SE, Price JV, Steinman L. Science communication to the general public: why we need to teach undergraduate and graduate students this skill as part of their formal scientific training. J Undergrad Neurosci Educ 2013;12(1):E6–E10.
  9. Bromme R, Nückles M, Rambow R. Adaptivity and anticipation in expert-laypeople communication. Amer Assoc Artif Intel; 1999. Available from: https://www.aaai.org/Papers/Symposia/Fall/1999/FS-99-03/FS99-03-003.pdf
  10. Bromme R, Jucks R. Wenn Experten und Laien sich nicht verstehen. Psychologie 2003;FJ November(03):20–25.
  11. Radford T. Of course scientists can communicate. Nature 2011;469:445.
  12. Rowlands G, Protheroe J, Price H, Gann B, Rafi I. Health Literacy Report from an RCGP-led Health Literacy Workshop. 2014. Available from: http://www.rcgp.org.uk/news/2014/june/~/media/Files/Policy/RCGP-Health-Literacy-2014.ashx
  13. Stossel LM, Segar N, Gliatto P, Fallar R, Karani R. Readability of patient education materials available at point of care. J Gen Internal Med 2012;27(9):1165–1170.
  14. Cutts M. Making leaflets clearer for patients. Med Writing 2015;24(1):14–19.
  15. Reeves A. Time to make it shorter: plain English in our context. Med Writing 2015;24(1):4–8.
  16. Freeman T. Stroppy Editor; 2014 [cited 2015 July 14]. Available from: https://stroppyeditor.wordpress.com/2014/11/27/physician-explain-thyself-science-english-vs-lay-english/
  17. Somerville RCJ, Hassol SJ. Communicating the science of climate change. Physics Today 2011;October:48–53.
  18. Howell D. The Washington Post; 2008 [cited 2015 July 14]. Available from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/05/AR2008120502959_2.html
  19. Kinsella WJ. Problematizing the distinction between expert and lay knowledge. NJ J Comm 2002;10(2):191–207.
  20. Rothman J. The New Yorker; 2014 [cited 2015 July 14]. Available from: http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/why-is-academic-writing-so-academic
  21. Kristof N. The New York Times; 2014 [cited 2015 July 14]. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/opinion/sunday/kristof-professors-we-need-you.html?_r=1
  22. Research Gate. Research Gate Forum; 2014 [cited 2015 July 14]. Available from: http://www.researchgate.net/post/Should_writing_a_textbook_have_equal_weight_to_writing_a_top_tier_article
  23. Kuehne LM, Olden JD. Opinion: Lay summaries needed to enhance science communication. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 2015;112(12):3585–3586.
  24. Dube CE, Lapane KL. Lay abstracts and summaries: writing advice for scientists. J Cancer Educ 2014;29(3):577–579.
  25. Munger D. Science Blogs; 2007 [cited 2015 July 14]. Available from: http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2007/02/01/how-to-report-scientific-resea/
  26. Oregon State University Extension and Experiment Station Communications; 2015 [cited 2015 July 14]. Available from: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/eesc/how-to/distilling-science-lay-audience
  27. Smith M, Ashmore C. The lay summary in research proposals – is it becoming more important? (Poster) [cited 2015 August 1]. Available from: https://www.keele.ac.uk/media/keeleuniversity/ri/istm/documents/posters/Lay_summary_poster_final.pdf
  28. Badarudeen S, Sabharwal S. Assessing readability of patient education materials. Clin Orthop Rel Res 2010;468:2572–2580.
  29. Zamanian M, Heydari P. Readability of texts: state of the art. Theor Prac Language Stud 2012;2(1):43–53.
  30. Austin EG. The Economist; 2012 [cited 2015 July 14]. Available from: http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2012/01/readability
  31. Ness R. Science Careers; 2007 [cited 2015 July 14]. Available from: http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2007_04_06/caredit.a0700047
  32. Parmer J, Baur C. How CDC is promoting a clear communication culture. Med Writing 2015;24(1):9–13.
  33. Dienstman C. Philadelphia Ticket; 2015 [cited 2015 July 14]. Available from: http://www.phillymag.com/ticket/2015/05/27/local-teens-record-audio-tours-to-get-youth-interested-in-phillys-museum
  34. JISC Patients Participate!. Patients Participate! Case Study Report; 2011 [cited 14 July 2015]. Available from: http://blogs.ukoln.ac.uk/patientsparticipate/files/2011/10/Case-study-report-Final.pdf
  35. Lunt I. Ian Lunt's Ecological Research Site; 2012 [cited 2015 July 14]. Available from: http://ianluntecology.com/
  36. Nunn E, Pinfield S. Lay summaries of open access journal articles: engaging with the general public on medical research. Learned Publ 2014;27(3):173–184.

Search

Articles

Writing for lay audiences
President's Message
Writing for lay audiences: A challenge for scientists
Patient education accessibility
Legislation and the lay audience: Challenges of communicating benefit and risk in the light of new regulations
Medical writing for two audiences – The RMP public summary
Layperson summaries of clinical trial results: Useful resources in the vacuum of regulatory guidance
Package leaflets for medication in the EU: The possibility of integrating patients’ perspectives in a regulated genre?
What do writers need to know about user testing?
Medical journalism: Another way to write about science
Elements of storytelling in medical journalism
A stroll through the medical blogosphere
Writing narrative style literature reviews
News from the EMA
Profile: An interview with Laura Carolina Collada Ali: On the peculiarities of working for independent research organisations
The Webscout
In the Bookstores
Regulatory Writing
Lingua Franca and Beyond
Gained in Translation
English Grammar and Style
Out On Our Own

Links

The Write Stuff Archive Contact Instructions for Authors Article Template (Word) Journal Policies

Editoral Board

Editor-in-Chief

Raquel Billiones

Co-Editors

Evguenia Alechine

Jonathan Pitt

Managing Editor

Victoria White

Associate Editors

Anuradha Alahari

Jennifer Bell

Nicole Bezuidenhout

Claire Chang

Barbara Grossman

Sarah Milner

John Plant

Sampoorna Rappaz

Amy Whereat

Section Editors

Daniela Kamir

AI/Automation

Jennifer Bell

Biotechnology

Nicole Bezuidenhout 

Digital Communication

Somsuvro Basu

EMWA News 

Ana Sofia Correia 

Gained in Translation

Ivana Turek

Getting Your Foot in the Door

Wendy Kingdom / Amy Whereat

Good Writing Practice

Alison McIntosh 

In the Bookstores

Maria Kołtowska-Häggström

Lingua Franca and Beyond

Maddy Dyer

Publications

Lisa Chamberlain-James

Medical Communications/Writing for Patients

Payal Bhatia

Medical Devices

Evguenia Alechine

My First Medical Writing

Anuradha Alahari

News from the EMA

Adriana Rocha

Out on Our Own

Tiziana von Bruchhausen

Pharmacovigilance

Clare ChangZuo Yen Lee 

Regulatory Matters

Sam Hamilton

Regulatory Public Disclosure

Claire Gudex

Teaching Medical Writing

Louisa Ludwig-Begall / Sarah Kabani

The Crofter: Sustainable Communications

Louisa Marcombes

Veterinary Writing

Editors Emeritus

Elise Langdon-Neuner

Phil Leventhal

Layout Designer

Chris Monk