ArticleHealth literacy research and practice2021
Lessons Learned from Developing Plain Language Summaries of Research Studies.
Article in Health literacy research and practice, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Challenges and Opportunities for Professional Medical Publications Writers to Contribute to Plain Language Summaries (PLS) in an AI/ML Environment - A Consumer Health Informatics Systematic Review.AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings. AMIA Symposium · 2023Pooled it
- Plain language summaries: A systematic review of theory, guidelines and empirical research.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Patient Preferences Towards Plain Language Resources During their Multiple Sclerosis Journey: A Qualitative Interview Study.The patient · 2026Article
- Optimizing Development of Plain Language Summaries of Clinical Trial Results.Health literacy research and practice · 2026Article
- Article
- Article
- Practical guidance on publishing plain-language summaries for scientific manuscripts with an Asia-Pacific audience.BMC research notes · 2025Article
- Article
- Assessing the Capability of Large Language Model Chatbots in Generating Plain Language Summaries.Cureus · 2025Article
- Former Primary Caregivers of Patients With Glioblastoma Multiforme Evaluate the PATH (Preparedness Assessment for the Transition Home) Instrument.Journal of advanced nursing · 2025Article
- Article
- Jargon and Readability in Plain Language Summaries of Health Research: Cross-Sectional Observational Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Observational
- Literacy and Language Barriers to Overcome in Laboratory Medicine.Clinics in laboratory medicine · 2024Review
- "I just don't know enough": Australian perspectives on community involvement in health and medical research.Research involvement and engagement · 2024Article
- Article
- Leveraging artificial intelligence to summarize abstracts in lay language for increasing research accessibility and transparency.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2024Article
- Practices and Barriers in Developing and Disseminating Plain-Language Resources Reporting Medical Research Information: A Scoping Review.The patient · 2024Article
- Recommended characteristics and processes for writing lay summaries of healthcare evidence: a co-created scoping review and consultation exercise.Research involvement and engagement · 2023Article
- Dissemination of knowledge from Cochrane Public Health reviews: a bibliographic study.Systematic reviews · 2023Article
- Development and Acceptability of a Kidney Therapy Decision Aid for Patients Aged 75 Years and Older: A Design-Based Research Involving Patients, Caregivers, and a Multidisciplinary Team.Kidney medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPlain language translation may facilitate the public's ability to understand and use results of scientific research. Brief description of activity: This article describes the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute's (PCORI) approach to and lessons learned from developing plain language summaries of PCORI-funded research for the lay public. IMPLEMENTATION: We developed and tested a standard template for the summaries, incorporating feedback in the template design from focus groups with members of the public. Between February 2017 and March 2020, we completed translation of 272 plain language summaries of PCORI-funded studies, covering topics including cardiovascular disease, obesity, cancer, mental health, asthma, HIV/AIDS, and comparative effectiveness research methods.
resultsTemplates use a question-and-answer format, with sections on the rationale, methods, results, limitations, and how the research will help inform decisions. In addition to feedback on template heading wording and order, focus group participants stressed the importance of establishing relevance and conveying credibility and limitations. LESSONS LEARNED: Lessons learned relate to supporting consistency across individual summaries, carefully prioritizing content to include in the summaries, and balancing plain language and reading level with precision. These lessons learned from template development and implementation may be useful to other organizations or publishers contemplating similar efforts to make scientific research results more accessible.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.