Once you know what a lay summary is, the next question you’ll probably be asking yourself is ‘how to write a lay summary?’ But why is this important for researchers? For one, there has been a surge in research output. The past decade has seen a 4% annual increase in peer-reviewed science and engineering (S&E) journal articles and conference papers being published.1 However, it’s not just the increasing number of published articles but the visibility your work receives that indicates a researcher’s productivity and success. While researchers often come up with ground-breaking and crucial findings, it can be challenging for non-academics and even specialists from other disciplines to understand its importance. Communicating research findings to a broader audience is a crucial aspect of any scholarly work. So in this article, we will explore the importance of writing a lay summary, explaining how to write a lay summary to ensure your research reaches and resonates with a wider audience.
What is a lay summary in research?
Lay summaries are condensed descriptions of research findings that are written in a simple way so that wider audience can understand the work presented with ease. Writing a lay summary also aids in bridging the gap between often complex research work and non-specialist readers, providing them with a clear overview of the research’s purpose, key findings, and real-world implications. By making the published study more widely available, researchers can foster inclusivity, promote wider engagement, and spark new research, and influence public policy. Writing a lay summary in a simple, compelling manner goes a long way in not only ensuring visibility, it also makes it more comprehensible and usable for journalists, policymakers, and people around the world.
4 Reasons you need to write an effective lay summary
- Create greater visibility: An impactful lay summary is a great way of describing and communicating details of the research done to the general public and can help those who don’t have an academic background to better understand your work.
- Enhance transparency: A well-crafted lay summary can boost transparency, adding to the reliability and credibility of your research. A lay summary that describes and communicates your research findings in a clear, simple way leaves little room for misrepresentation.
- Improve engagement: A succinct lay summary makes research findings easier to understand and highlights its significance. This means that audiences can engage more actively with your work, leading to an increase in the number of citations.
- Widen research impact: Writing a lay summary that is engaging and compelling helps researchers effectively convey their research findings, emphasize their work’s applicability and potential, and drive real-world impact.
How to write a lay summary of scientific papers
A lay summary of a scientific paper doesn’t have to be challenging to write. Here are some simple steps to keep in mind when writing a lay summary.
1. Identify your audience
Before you start crafting your lay summary, consider who your target audience is and tailor your language accordingly. This will make your lay summary more engaging and relevant to your readers, whether they’re policymakers, patients, or the general public.
2. Keep it simple, yet informative
Simplicity is the key to an effective lay summary, so avoid jargon and technical terms that might confuse your readers. Think of it as telling a story rather than presenting scientific data and focus on conveying the core message of your research in straightforward manner.
3. Highlight the importance
Describe the real-world impact of your findings and how they contribute to solving relevant issues or advancing knowledge in your field. Clearly articulating the significance of your work can keep your readers interested and invested in your research.
4. Follow a logical structure
A well-structured lay summary guides the reader through your research logically, step by step. When writing a lay summary, cover the problem you aimed to address, your methodology and key findings, and the implications and potential applications of your research.
5. Provide relevant context
Avoid assuming prior knowledge from your audience, provide enough context and background information to help readers understand your research without overwhelming them with technical details.
6. Use engaging examples
Analogies or real-life scenarios can help your audience grasp complex concepts and appreciate the relevance of your research. So integrate relatable examples when writing a lay summary.
7. Emphasize the benefits
Highlight the benefits of your research, how it can improve lives or contribute to societal advancements, and the practical implications of your work to resonate with readers.
8. Add the final touches
Employ formatting styles like subheads and bullet points and add visual elements like illustrations, tables, or graphs, to easily present data. Write a catchy headline or introduction and use a conversational tone when writing the lay summary.
9. Seek peer feedback
Get colleagues or friends outside your field to review your lay summary. Their feedback will help you gauge whether your summary successfully conveys the essence of your research to a broader audience.
10. Proofread and edit
As the last step, proofread and edit your work to polish language, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. Clear, error-free writing lends credibility to your research, ensuring it’s taken seriously and leaves a lasting impression on your readers.
Lay Summaries vs. Abstracts
It is common for to get confused between research paper abstracts and lay summaries. While both are used to convey research findings, they have vastly different purposes and audiences.
Abstracts provide a synopsis of a research project that is written for an audience of scholars and experts interested in a particular field of study. An abstract usually includes complex concepts and technical terms when trying to explain the relevance of the research topic. Researchers use an abstract to outline and highlight their objectives, approach, and finding. Abstracts provide a summary of the research paper so that readers may quickly grasp its ideas and decide whether it is pertinent to their areas of interest. An abstract requires usually is more detailed and longer than a lay summary.
Lay summaries on the other hand offer non-technical explanations of a research project. It is typically written for a wider audience, including non-academics and experts from other fields. A lay summary’s main objective is to make the study findings accessible to those who are not subject-matter experts by using analogies to simplify concepts. They highlight the practical relevance of the research in a succinct, impactful way.
Though both lay summaries and abstracts are different, if written in a compelling way, they can be powerful tools to engage readers and help you garner greater visibility for your work.
References:
1. India is world’s third largest producer of scientific articles, following China and US: Report. India Today, Jan 2, 2020. Available online at https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/latest-studies/story/india-is-world-s-third-largest-producer-of-scientific-articles-following-china-and-us-report-1633351-2020-01-02
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