Plain language summaries: A systematic review of theory, guidelines and empirical research

Stoll, Marlene; Kerwer, Martin; Lieb, Klaus; Chasiotis, Anita

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0268789

Cited by 38 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…Yet, while some relevant studies on the subject focus on the benefits in terms of costs and time for resorting to plain language like Kimble (2012), Lobban et al (2021) and Stoll et al (2022), few researchers have demonstrated the preference for plain language within the legal profession. For instance, amongst the first studies on this topic was the research conducted by Adler (2004) whereby some clients were provided with a legal advice and they were asked questions about their understanding of the content.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plain language in Mauritius: an empirical study of legal communication in Mauritius

Beebeejaun¹

2023

IJLMA

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Purpose Irrespective of various forms of language existent worldwide, it is still imperative that recipients of professional legal advice be communicated in clear terms to avoid a chaotic situation and to better fulfil obligations and enjoy the rights to which they are entitled to appropriately. As such, the objectives of this paper are twofold: firstly, this paper aims to assess the extent to which clients of the legal profession prefer plain over traditional legal language in Mauritius, a country using a myriad of languages, and secondly, to suggest recommendations for the legal stakeholders in Mauritius regarding guidelines and mechanisms on plain language provisions. Design/methodology/approach This study will use a desk-based research methodology by analysing existing literature on the importance of plain language in legal writing. In addition, an empirical study will be conducted to gather information on clients’ preferences in legal communication. Findings The responses were received on a complete anonymous basis, and it was found that in general, clients of the legal profession in Mauritius are more at ease when law practitioners use simple, direct and straightforward terms, sentences structured in active voice rather than passive voice or the use of legal jargons or complicated words. These clients also prefer when their legal advisers explain the legal meaning or interpretation in a document or agreement even if these advices may be longer than shorter sentences with only the legal jargons. Originality/value At present, there are few literature on the researched topic and this study will be among the first academic writings on the effectiveness of using plain language in legal documentation in Mauritius. The study is carried out with the aim of combining a large amount of empirical, theoretical and factual information that can be of use to various stakeholders and not only to academics.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plain language in Mauritius: an empirical study of legal communication in Mauritius

Beebeejaun¹

2023

IJLMA

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“…A physician may be interested in mode of action relative to therapeutic alternatives to select optimal therapy, a pharmacist focused on drug interactions to ensure safety, an infusion nurse ensuring the correct gauge needles are used with specific medications. For patients and caregivers, the widespread adoption of plain language summaries (PLS) affords an opportunity to communicate more effectively with this group of stakeholders [ 6 ]. What a PLS looks like is only constrained by limited thinking—they can take written, spoken, and visual forms in any channel, medium or format that that best meets patient needs.…”

Section: Medical Affairs and Communication Of Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Considerations for Effective Communication of Medical Information

Power

2023

Pharm Med

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An ongoing and increasing shift is occurring in ways in which the healthcare community (healthcare providers, patients, biopharma) disseminates and consumes information. Adoption of digital technologies, accelerated by the virtual environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic, are leading to new and innovative ways in which medical and scientific information and data are communicated. Digital technologies have largely enabled these approaches and led to an explosive increase in availability of information. This article describes considerations in how the healthcare community, and Medical Affairs organizations in biopharma, can effectively harness these channels to communicate effectively, and incorporate changes in behaviors and approaches to redefine what medical information and data look like.

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“…Specifically, PERbites's three main goals are to (1) help researchers and educators keep up with recent DBER work; (2) lower barriers around understanding DBER papers; (3) expose readers to new teaching and research methods, so that they can apply them in their work. These goals are broadly aligned with common aims of plain language summaries according a recent review [16] and what readers of evidence summaries and blog posts care about [17]. Based on the authors' estimation, around 40% of the posts to date advance goal 3 by exposing readers to new teaching and research methods, while the remaining posts cover 'pure research', advancing the goal of helping researchers and educators keep up with DBER.…”

Section: About Perbitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using blogs to make peer-reviewed research more accessible

Young¹,

Lewis²,

Kerr³

et al. 2022

2022 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings

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Discipline-based education researchers produce knowledge that aims to help instructors improve student learning and educational outcomes. Yet, the information produced may not even reach the educators it is intended to influence. Prior work has found that instructors often face barriers to implementing practices in peer-reviewed literature. Some of these barriers are related to accessing the knowledge in the first place such as difficulty finding and understanding research and a lack of time to do so. To lower these barriers, we created an online blog, PERbites, that summarizes recent discipline-based education research in short posts that use plain language. Having covered nearly 100 papers to date, we conducted a survey to see if we were addressing the need we had originally set out to address. We posted a 23-item survey on our website and received 24 usable responses. The results suggested that readers do generally agree that we are meeting our original goals. Readers reported that our articles were easier to understand and used more plain language than a typical discipline-based education research (DBER) journal article. At the same time, readers thought that all the important information was still included. Finally, readers said that this approach helped them keep up with DBER studies and read about papers they otherwise would not have. However, most readers did not indicate they changed their teaching and research practice as a result of reading our blog. Our results suggest that alternative methods of sharing research (e.g., non-peer reviewed publications or conference talks) can be an effective method of connecting research with practitioners, and future work should consider how we as a community might build on these efforts to ensure education research can make meaningful changes in the classroom.

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Plain language summaries: A systematic review of theory, guidelines and empirical research

Cited by 38 publications

References 71 publications

Plain language in Mauritius: an empirical study of legal communication in Mauritius

Plain language in Mauritius: an empirical study of legal communication in Mauritius

Considerations for Effective Communication of Medical Information

Using blogs to make peer-reviewed research more accessible

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