When doctors talk to each other about scientific research and medical discoveries, it can sound like they’re speaking another language. As a patient, you may think, “This is all Greek to me!” And it might as well be.
When scientists publish their research findings, they’re not writing for you and me. They’re writing for each other. They share a secret language, usually open only to those who have advanced science education or extensive experience conducting research.
The average healthcare consumer is not part of that club. That may be fine when you’re healthy. You can pick up the latest medical news when your favorite TV station or mainstream news sources covers it.
But if you have a complicated medical condition or you’re trying to get a diagnosis, you might need the details. The dense language used in scientific studies can make it impossible to understand the research. That can be more than simply an inconvenience. It can keep you in the dark about your own condition or treatment options.
Plain language summaries (PLS) are reports that translate complex data and science jargon into everyday English, in terms anyone can understand.
In the spirit of making complex ideas easy to digest, here’s what you should know about plain language summaries.
What is a plain language summary?
A plain language summary (PLS) is a concise, easy-to-understand summary of a scientific article or study, which will typically be published in scientific or medical journals.
PLS turn complex information into easy-to-read content, using terms non-experts can grasp. It’s like having someone who’s really good at explaining things help you make sense of complex science.
Why do we need plain language summaries?
Scientific research studies are usually peer-reviewed, which means other experts in the specific field of research review the study and decide whether it’s high quality and worthy of being published. It’s a hurdle scientists have to get over before they can publish their work. And that helps explain why these studies are so hard to understand. They’re not written to be clear to an average person. They’re aimed at an audience of other expert scientists.
You may have thought you’d left science behind when you finished school. You might not have believed it when your science teacher tried to convince you that you’d use their lessons in real life someday.
But maybe you or a loved one are experiencing a serious medical condition, or you want to understand a new vaccine. Maybe you have symptoms that your doctor can’t explain, and you wish you could get to the bottom of it. Now suddenly, you might wish you’d paid more attention in science class. At least you might admit that your science teacher may have been right that understanding science can be useful in daily life.
PLS are the bridge between the complex, detailed science behind medical research and discoveries and the rest of us — who may not have loved science class or retained much from it. PLS give non-scientists the power to understand research that may be directly relevant to their health.
Without plain language summaries, patients are at the mercy of their doctors and other experts. If you are someone who likes to understand what’s going on or who wants to do some of your own research, PLS are a gift. They give you access to information that otherwise only experts might understand, like a decoder ring or a foreign-language translator.
With the rise of AI, it’s now easy to get summaries of complex information in an instant. But there’s a catch: not all AI output is trustworthy. Some AI tools make things up. They might reference sources that don’t exist or aren’t applicable. They might look and sound convincing, but you should beware of putting too much trust into these summaries just yet. They will no doubt keep getting better, but in the meantime, PLS are created by trusted, expert sources and can be more reliable summaries of the research.
Who are plain language summaries for?
PLS are for everyone: patients and regular healthcare consumers as well as healthcare providers (HCPs). HCPs may have specialized training and more knowledge about medical topics than regular people but they are often busy and may appreciate a quick summary, especially if it’s in an area outside of their regular practice area.
As patients, we may never know as much as our HCPs — and some of us don’t want to know as much as they do. It helps to be able to trust our HCPs’ expertise. But PLS help put patients on a more even playing field with their HCPs. They allow patients to ask good questions and make truly informed decisions about our own care.
How to find and read a plain language summary
Not all studies have a companion PLS, and PLS can be tricky to find because there’s no standard for where and when to publish them. More and more, though, PLS are seen as a way to help share scientific findings with the public. The Cochrane Collaboration, a global network of health researchers and professionals, publishes reviews of medical research that assess the effectiveness of different interventions, based on published studies. It now publishes a PLS alongside each review. You might also find PLS on the website of the journal that published the study. One study of PLS found that PLS might be within the article, alongside the article in a link or separate tab on a website, or in separate channels such as social media platforms or a separate website.
This educational resource was created with support from Sumitomo Pharma, a HealthyWomen Corporate Advisory Council member.
