ArticleCochrane evidence synthesis and methods2025
ChatGPT-4o Compared With Human Researchers in Writing Plain-Language Summaries for Cochrane Reviews: A Blinded, Randomized Non-Inferiority Controlled Trial.
Article in Cochrane evidence synthesis and methods, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Auditing frontier general-purpose large language models in biomedical tasks: reasoning gains, extraction limits, and benchmark reliability.Research square · 2026Article
- ChatGPT-4o Compared With Human Researchers in Writing Plain-Language Summaries for Cochrane Reviews: A Blinded, Randomized Non-Inferiority Controlled Trial.Cochrane evidence synthesis and methods · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Plain language summaries in Cochrane reviews are designed to present key information in a way that is understandable to individuals without a medical background. Despite Cochrane's author guidelines, these summaries often fail to achieve their intended purpose. Studies show that they are generally difficult to read and vary in their adherence to the guidelines. Artificial intelligence is increasingly used in medicine and academia, with its potential being tested in various roles. This study aimed to investigate whether ChatGPT-4o could produce plain language summaries that are as good as the already published plain language summaries in Cochrane reviews. Methods: We conducted a randomized, single-blinded study with a total of 36 plain language summaries: 18 human written and 18 ChatGPT-4o generated summaries where both versions were for the same Cochrane reviews. The sample size was calculated to be 36 and each summary was evaluated four times. Each summary was reviewed twice by members of a Cochrane editorial group and twice by laypersons. The summaries were assessed in three different ways: First, all assessors evaluated the summaries for informativeness, readability, and level of detail using a Likert scale from 1 to 10. They were also asked whether they would submit the summary and whether they could identify who had written it. Second, members of a Cochrane editorial group assessed the summaries using a checklist based on Cochrane's guidelines for plain language summaries, with scores ranging from 0 to 10. Finally, the readability of the summaries was analyzed using objective tools such as Lix and Flesch-Kincaid scores. Randomization and allocation to either ChatGPT-4o or human written summaries were conducted using random.org's random sequence generator, and assessors were blinded to the authorship of the summaries. Results: The plain language summaries generated by ChatGPT-4o scored 1 point higher on information ( Conclusion: ChatGPT-4o shows promise in creating plain language summaries for Cochrane reviews at least as well as humans and in some cases slightly better. This study suggests ChatGPT-4o's could become a tool for drafting easy-to-understand plain language summaries for Cochrane reviews with a quality approaching or matching human authors. Clinical Trial Registration and Protocol: Available at https://osf.io/aq6r5.
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.