Publisher Perspective

2:05 PM - 2:35 PM

Advances in medical research are increasingly discussed in the general media and the recent Covid-19 pandemic has only increased the public interest in the latest research developments. A few publishers have recently introduced the option for authors to include short summaries written in plain language in peer-reviewed publications, in order to improve the understanding of complex medical data by a larger non-specialised audience. These plain-language summaries (PLSs) are therefore targeted at non-specialists, such as patients, carers and other healthcare professionals working in different areas of medicine. This session will focus on the journey that led to the introduction of PLSs in Dove Medical Press and on how these summaries are evaluated during peer-review. A case study on the development of a series of PLSs will also be presented. This session is aimed at improving the audience’s understanding on the importance of PLSs in peer-reviewed publications and on their development.