If we do some research for a company, a lay summary is usually much more useful to them than the full report. Even more useful is a set of infographics: a picture of the lay summary. A visual summary of the summary, if you will.
Below are some questions we should answer when putting the lay summary together:
- What should go in a lay summary? The 5 Ws, effectively: what, where, why, when, who and how (the last being the honorary 'w') (Tancock, 30 November 2018)
- What is the most important thing? Demonstrate impact (Green, 2019), highlight the "so what" (Tancock, 2018) element of Driscoll's model (2007)
- How should I write it? Tell a clear story, explaining the WHY of the research; what else we need to learn; and who will benefit (Joy, 2018)
- What level of readership? Aim for year 10. Use first person, simple, direct, active language (Joy, 2018). Remove jargon (Green, 2019)
- How long should it be? Short. Aim for two pages, or one infographic
Ensuring that we have answered these questions will help us to write a lay summary that aids our reader, makes our research results clear, and shares knowledge.
Sam
References:
- Driscoll, J. (Ed.) (2007). Practising Clinical Supervision: A Reflective Approach for Healthcare Professionals (2nd ed.). Baillière Tindall
- Green, S. (24 April 2019). How to Write a Lay Summary for Your Research. The Wiley Network. https://www.wiley.com/network/researchers/preparing-your-article/how-to-write-a-lay-summary-for-your-research
- Joy, S. (2018). Guide to writing a lay summary. Imperial College London. http://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/blog/fom/files/2018/05/Lay-Summary-v2018_PFDC.pdf
- Tancock, C. (30 November 2018). In a nutshell: how to write a lay summary. https://www.elsevier.com/connect/authors-update/in-a-nutshell-how-to-write-a-lay-summary
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