Easily readable? Examining the readability of lay summaries published in Autism Research

Abstract

Communicating science to the general public could sometimes be problematic partly because the language used in scientific writing was difficult to understand for people outside the scientific community. Against this backdrop, lay summaries were introduced to the research community. Lay summaries are short, non‐technical summaries of scientific articles that are aimed at a lay audience. Despite the increasing attention on the roles that lay summaries play in scientific communication, it remains unclear whether they are comprehensible to the lay audience. To address the foregoing concerns, this study examines the readability of lay summaries published in Autism Research. It was found that lay summaries were more readable than traditional abstracts but were not easy enough to read for the lay audience. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.

Tips for writing plain language summaries of medical journal publications

“…A readability score estimates the level of education that readers will need to easily understand a text. Texts that are easy to read help create trust with readers while those that are hard to read may discourage them (Wen et al, 2023). For most journals, the audience that plain language summaries intend to serve is members of the general public or non-medical/non-expert/non-technical readers (Gainey et al, 2023).…”

“…Writing plain language summaries in accessible language does not imply the compromise of scientific accuracy (Wen et al, 2023). While trying to make the summary clear and simple, medical writers should ensure that key points of the pertinent research are not missed out (see Tip 3).…”

“…For most journals, the audience that plain language summaries intend to serve is members of the general public or non‐medical/non‐expert/non‐technical readers (Gainey et al, 2023). Accordingly, an average reading level of 10th grade or lower (ideally below 8th grade) is recommended for universal readability and accessibility (Basch et al, 2020; Dubé & Lapane, 2014; Wen et al, 2023).…”

“…Writing plain language summaries in accessible language does not imply the compromise of scientific accuracy (Wen et al, 2023).…”

Sharing Science Made Simple: Exploring the Quality and Readability of Published Lay Summaries

“…Wen et al found that while lay summaries published in Autism Research were significantly more readable than their corresponding abstracts, the mean FRE score for lay summaries was 34.39. 19 Shiely and Daly assessed a random sample of lay summaries from randomised controlled trials from the National Institute for Health and Care Research and found a mean FRE score of 42.77. 20 These findings align with the undergraduate literacy level requirement found in this investigation.…”