Communicating your science: Mastering the layperson summary

Research papers are written for other scientists. They're not easy for nonscientists to understand—and let's be honest, they're not always easy for other scientists to understand, either. Academic writing is full of jargon, acronyms, and algorithms; in a word, it's dry. And, although Eureka! moments happen often in movies, they're rare in real science. Most scientific advances happen incrementally, and it can be hard to convey why they matter, and how they fit into larger research problems.

For these reasons, it's important for scientists and engineers to learn to translate their scientific output into language that can be easily understood, which is the arena of science communication. Science communication translates research written for an audience of academic peers to a public audience. Recent issues of Photonics Focus included a series on "A scientist's Guide to Social Media," which focused on the modern outlets of science communication, but there's another skill yet to master: the layperson summary.

The layperson summary—or significance statement, nontechnical summary, or plain—language summary—is written in accessible language, and briefly summarizes the research paper in terms that are understandable to an educated person without specialized training in the academic topic. It can be useful, for example, in communicating with the press or with nonspecialists in grant-funding agencies or organizations. So, how do you write a layperson summary? Fortunately, like Snell's law, there's a formula for that.

PARAGRAPH 1: DESCRIBE THE HIGHEST-LEVEL PROBLEM THAT YOUR RESEARCH AIMS TO SOLVE.
In one to three sentences, describe the context of your research project. This might be the "Big Question" that got you interested in this field in the first place.

PARAGRAPH 2: BRIEFLY REVIEW THE DOMINANT METHODS USED TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM NOW.
In three to five sentences, give credit where it's due. Explain the other approaches to the same problem and note their shortcomings. This background will set you up for justifying the need for your new approach or tool.

PARAGRAPH 3: STATE YOUR THESIS AND METHOD.
In the first sentence of paragraph three, state simply the main thesis of your paper. Then, describe your experiment in the most accessible, simple way possible. This paragraph should be no more than five sentences long.

PARAGRAPH 4: STATE YOUR FINDINGS.
What is the result of your study? In three to four sentences, summarize your results, and be specific and honest about your findings. If your approach shows a "significant" gain, then give a percentage to contextualize just how significant it really is—and maybe use a metaphor to help your audience understand the magnitude.

PARAGRAPH 5: GET A QUOTE.
Quotes are a great way to bring personality and human interest back into the science. You might ask your lab leader for a quote about why the study is important, or to comment on a unique collaboration that took place. Alternatively, you could ask the editor who accepted your paper for publication for a quote about why it's worthy of publication in your journal of choice.

PARAGRAPH 6: STATE SOME APPLICATIONS WHERE THIS RESEARCH MIGHT BE USED.
Wrap up your layperson summary in two or three sentences by suggesting how this research might someday be used and tie it back to your intro where you stated the high-level problem. This type of conclusion can be more challenging for basic research, which doesn't have an application in mind, but researchers working on basic science can often imagine different arenas that will be interested in their findings.

Your completed summary should be 500-600 words.

Writing a layperson summary of a research paper should be a normal part of the writing process and is a good final step before submitting a manuscript to a journal for publication. The exercise will ensure that your manuscript is clear and well-organized. If you can't concisely summarize a paper's methods and takeaways immediately after completing the paper, this lack of clarity is likely also reflected in your manuscript. Plus, it's best to write your summary when the details are very fresh.

Once written, there are a few different things to do with it. First, excerpt a small part and share it on LinkedIn when your paper publishes. Some journals also publish layperson summaries alongside the research article, so find out if that's an option. And finally, send your summary to your university's communications office or corporate PR manager. Find out how they distribute research advances at your institution and ask if they'd be willing to share your summary via their public outreach channels.

Positive attention on your research can pay dividends. Your enthusiasm for the topic will be contagious, and you may find collaborators or future lab members as a result of your efforts. Also, funders like public acknowledgement, and you want to be on their good side. Likewise, research institutions love visibility, and are motivated to show that their research dollars are being put to good use; they'll appreciate the publicity. And, if these reasons aren't enough, research articles that are promoted online via press releases, article summaries, and social media are downloaded two to 10 times more than papers without promotion.

Science communication has a real, measurable impact—not just on downloads and citations, but on public trust in science. And no one will trust what they can't understand.

Gwen Weerts is Editor-in-Chief of Photonics Focus.