Plain Language Summaries in Health Communication

Plain Language Summaries (PLSs) have emerged as a core component of health communication, bridging the gap between scholarly research and non-specialist audiences. By translating complex study designs, statistical outcomes and clinical implications into accessible narratives, PLSs enhance transparency, foster health literacy and support shared decision-making. Originating in evidence-based review organisations and research funders, these summaries now accompany journal articles, clinical trial reports and policy documents. Their global significance is underscored by initiatives that cultivate patient engagement, inform public health campaigns and democratise access to medical knowledge across diverse cultural and educational backgrounds. Recent work emphasises the integration of visual elements such as infographics alongside text to cater to different learning styles, while collaborative development—co-creation with patients, caregivers and community stakeholders—ensures relevance and inclusivity. Moreover, standardisation efforts have sought to harmonise structure and terminology, addressing persistent challenges in readability and consistency. Together, these advances reflect a maturing field that balances methodological rigour with audience-centred design, ultimately aiming to empower individuals with clear, actionable information and to strengthen the broader ecosystem of health research dissemination.

Research from Nature Portfolio

No recent Nature Portfolio content available.

Plain Language Summaries in Health Communication publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in plain language summaries in health communication across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

plain language summary: A concise, non-technical synopsis of research findings designed for a lay audience.

readability: The ease with which written text can be processed and understood by a target population.

jargon: Technical or specialised vocabulary understood primarily by experts within a field.

co-creation: A collaborative development process in which researchers and end users jointly produce content or tools.

infographic: A visual representation combining graphics and text to convey complex information in an accessible format.

References

1. Jargon and Readability in Plain Language Summaries of Health Research: Cross-Sectional Observational Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research (2025).
2. Development of the Reporting Infographics and Visual Abstracts of Comparative studies (RIVA-C) checklist and guide. BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine (2024).
3. Plain language summaries: A systematic review of theory, guidelines and empirical research. PLOS ONE (2022).
4. Assessing and presenting summaries of evidence in Cochrane Reviews. Systematic Reviews (2013).
5. Cochrane plain language summaries are highly heterogeneous with low adherence to the standards. BMC Medical Research Methodology (2016).
6. A practical ‘How-To’ Guide to plain language summaries (PLS) of peer-reviewed scientific publications: results of a multi-stakeholder initiative utilizing co-creation methodology. Research Involvement and Engagement (2022).