More Impact by Reaching Out to Wider Audience
The number of academic papers per year has come to its peak of nearly 4M in 2018, nearly triple from 20 years ago, yet impact remains unknown (source). In 2018, Times Higher Education developed a new global university ranking that aimed to measure institutions’ success in delivering the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (source). Challenge faced by researchers is to reach out to wider audience with a whole new writing style and skill. Academic journal publishers are encouraging researchers to provide Plain Language Summary and Graphical Abstract in their future publishing
What is Plain Language Summary (PLS)?
“A plain language summary is a brief outline of a research project…They are helpful in making information about research more open, transparent and accessible. Plain language summaries are not an attempt to ‘dumb down’ scientific information. It is important to be able to speak or write about research in a way that potential funders, supporters, policy makers, consumers and the community can understand.” McKenzie A. Consumer and Community Participation Fact Sheet M11: Plain Language Summary (2011)
What is Graphical Abstract?
“A Graphical Abstract is a single, concise, pictorial and visual summary of the main findings of the article… which captures the content of the article for readers at a single glance” Elsevier
Example of PLS vs. Abstract of
Tseng, H. H., Yeh, W. C., Tu, Y. C., Yang, B. F., Lai, Y. T., & Lee, H. K., et al. (2018). Proteomic profiling of Ganoderma tsugae ethanol extract-induced adipogenesis displaying browning features. Febs Letters, 592(10), 1643-1666. doi:10.1002/1873-3468.13061
Research suggest that creating a plain language summary and sharing it actively leads to 23% increase in full-text downloads
Source: Erdt, M., Aung, H. H., Aw, A. S., Rapple, C., & Theng, Y. L. (2017). Analysing researchers’ outreach efforts and the association with publication metrics: A case study of Kudos. Plos One, 12(8), e0183217-e0183217.
Example of Graphical Abstract
Kaminskas, L. M., & Porter, C. J. (2011). Targeting the lymphatics using dendritic polymers (dendrimers). Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 63(10), 890-900. doi:10.1016/j.addr.2011.05.016
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