Plain Language Summary Generator
Draft a lay summary of your research in your own words. Answer four prompts — the problem, what you did, what you found, why it matters — choose a target length, and the tool assembles the summary and checks it: Flesch–Kincaid grade, sentence length, jargon with plainer alternatives, and unexplained abbreviations. Honest templates, no AI.
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Your summary
Answer at least one of the four prompts to start your summary.
How to Use the Plain Language Summary Generator
- 1. Answer the four prompts. Write a few short sentences for each: the problem, what you did, what you found, and why it matters. Write for someone with no background in your field.
- 2. Choose a target length. Pick the format your journal uses — a 150–200-word PLOS author summary, a 200-word AGU summary, a 400–850-word Cochrane summary — or set your own range.
- 3. Read the check. Under the summary you get the word count against your target, the Flesch–Kincaid grade, the average sentence length, any jargon from the tool's list with a plainer alternative, unexplained abbreviations, and sentences of 25 words or more.
- 4. Revise and copy. Rewrite what the check flags, then copy the summary as one paragraph or under four headings.
Who Asks for a Plain Language Summary
| Who | What they call it | Length | What else they ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| PLOS Biology, Computational Biology, Genetics, Pathogens, Neglected Tropical Diseases | Author summary | 150–200 words | Non-technical, in the first person, placed right after the abstract; avoid acronyms and complex terms. |
| AGU journals such as Geophysical Research Letters | Plain Language Summary | One paragraph, up to 200 words | Free of jargon, acronyms and equations, for readers outside the field. |
| Cochrane | Plain language summary | 400–850 words, including the title | One per review; aim for an average of about 20 words per sentence. |
| EU clinical trials | Summary for laypersons | Set by the regulation's content list | Regulation (EU) No 536/2014 requires sponsors to submit a summary of trial results understandable to laypersons. |
Requirements change and differ between journals in the same family — check your journal's instructions for authors.
Cochrane's guidance adds a useful benchmark: summaries for a UK audience can aim for a reading age of around 11, written in everyday words without technical terms or jargon. The same four-part structure also works for a press release, a newsletter or the public summary of a grant.
How the Readability Check Works
The grade is the Flesch–Kincaid grade level: grade = 0.39 × (words ÷ sentences) + 11.8 × (syllables ÷ words) − 15.59. It estimates the US school grade a reader needs, so long sentences and long words both push it up. Syllables are counted by vowel groups — the same method as the site's readability checker — so expect small errors on unusual words. A sentence ends at a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark followed by a space, which keeps numbers like 2.5 in one sentence.
The tool describes grade 8 or below as plain enough for most adult readers, above 12 as college level, and flags an average sentence length over 20 words, following Cochrane. The jargon list is the tool's own — about 60 research words and phrases with everyday alternatives — and abbreviations are any word with two or more capital letters. All of these are prompts to look again, not rules: a formula can score a sentence as easy without it being clear.
Example
Try an example fills the prompts for an illustrative study of walking and sleep in older adults. As one paragraph, the summary reads:
Plain language summary
Many people over 65 sleep badly. Sleeping pills can help, but they also make falls more likely. We wanted to know whether a daily walk could improve sleep instead. We randomized 240 participants aged 65 to 80 into two groups. One group walked for 30 minutes every afternoon for 12 weeks. The other group kept to their usual routine. Everyone wore a wrist sensor that recorded their sleep. People in the walking group fell asleep about 15 minutes faster and slept about 30 minutes longer each night than people in the other group. No one was hurt while walking. A daily walk is cheap, safe and easy to start. Doctors could suggest it before prescribing sleeping pills. Next, we want to find out whether the benefits last after the 12 weeks end.
The check
- 132 words — 18 below the 150–200-word PLOS target
- 12 sentences, averaging 11.0 words
- Flesch–Kincaid grade 6.1
- Jargon: "participants" (try "people") and "randomized" (try "assigned by chance")
- One sentence of 25 words, the one that reports the results
The fixes are visible at once: say "We put 240 people aged 65 to 80 into two groups by chance", split the results sentence in two, and use the words you save to add one sentence on who might benefit.
Common Mistakes
- Shortening the abstract. A lay summary is a rewrite, not a cut. Start from what a reader wants to know — what was the problem, and what changes now — rather than from your methods.
- Keeping the jargon. "Participants", "intervention", "statistically significant" and "cohort" read as code to most people. Replace them or explain them in a few words.
- Leaving abbreviations in. PLOS and AGU both ask authors to avoid acronyms. Spell terms out, or leave out the ones the reader does not need.
- Overselling. Report what you found, with its limits. PLOS asks for significance to be stated simply and objectively.
- Numbers without context. "30 minutes longer each night" means more to a reader than an effect size. Give the comparison that makes a number meaningful.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a plain language summary?
- A short account of a research study written for readers outside the field — patients, the public, journalists, policymakers. It says what question was asked, what was done, what was found, and why it matters, in everyday words. Journals call it a plain language summary, lay summary or author summary.
- How long should a plain language summary be?
- It depends on who asks. PLOS author summaries are 150–200 words, AGU plain language summaries are one paragraph of up to 200 words, and Cochrane plain language summaries run from 400 to 850 words including the title. Choose the matching target in the tool, or set your own.
- What reading level should a lay summary aim for?
- As low as you can make it without losing accuracy. Cochrane suggests a reading age of around 11 for UK audiences and an average of about 20 words per sentence. The tool calls a Flesch–Kincaid grade of 8 or below plain enough for most adults — treat that as a guide, not a guarantee of clarity.
- Is a plain language summary the same as an abstract?
- No. An abstract is written for researchers and can use technical terms, statistics and abbreviations. A plain language summary covers the same study for a general reader, so it explains rather than compresses, and AGU describes it as conveying the abstract's information in completely different language.
- Does this tool write the summary for me?
- No — it is an honest template, not AI. You write each part; the tool puts them together in order, measures the result, and flags jargon, abbreviations and long sentences. Everything runs in your browser, and nothing you type is sent anywhere.
- How accurate is the Flesch–Kincaid grade?
- It is an estimate. Syllables are counted with a vowel-group rule that occasionally miscounts, and the formula only sees sentence length and word length — not whether an idea is explained well. Use it to compare drafts, and ask someone outside your field to read the summary.