The Virtual College Training Hub

This guidance has been produced bu NIHR, and is aimed at researchers writing plain English summaries, and board and panel members including public reviewers.

What is a plain English summary?

A plain English summary is a clear, brief summary of the research – that has been written for members of the public, rather than researchers or professionals.

It should be written clearly and simply, without jargon and with an explanation of any technical terms.

A good quality plain English summary provides an easy to read overview of your whole study and will help:

• those carrying out the review (reviewers and board and panel members) to have a better understanding of your research proposal
• the research funders to publicise the research that they fund
• members of the public, health professionals, policy makers and the media to understand the research

Follow this link to access the Toolkit: Plain English Summaries