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Plain Language Reviews open up the latest medical research through visual, jargon-free summaries

Newly launched open access articles from Taylor & Francis will empower patients, policymakers, and healthcare professionals

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Taylor & Francis has announced the introduction of Plain Language Reviews (PLRs): comprehensive research summaries designed to make technical information accessible to readers without a specialist background.

The launch of PLRs builds on Taylor & Francis’ successful introduction of Plain Language Summaries of Publications (PLSPs) in 2023. Unlike PLSPs, which summarize a single publication, the new PLRs provide an overview of research data along with information from multiple related peer-reviewed articles that give context to the primary research.

Written using jargon-free language and peer reviewed, PLRs aim to empower non-specialists, including patients and their caregivers, healthcare professionals and policymakers, by helping them keep up to date with research topics in medicine and health.

PLRs are published open access and have their own DOI (Digital Object Identifier), maximizing their discoverability. They use an engaging visual design to aid understanding of data and include ‘How to say’ audio sections and glossary definitions, guiding readers on the pronunciation and meaning of scientific words.

Rachel Jenkins, Head of Plain Language Summaries at Taylor & Francis, explained: “Non-specialist audiences are eager to stay informed about the latest medical findings, but research data is not usually presented with them in mind. That is why we’ve developed Plain Language Reviews: to open up knowledge to a much broader readership, enabling patients to make informed decisions based on a complete understanding of the latest research.”

Read an example Plain Language Review, published in Current Medical Research and Opinion: Cortisol’s role in difficult-to-control type 2 diabetes: Insights from the CATALYST study—a plain language review

More details about Plain Language Reviews can be found on Taylor & Francis Author Services.

About Taylor & Francis

Taylor & Francis supports diverse communities of experts, researchers and knowledge makers around the world to accelerate and maximize the impact of their work. We are a leader in our field, publish across all disciplines and have one of the largest Humanities and Social Sciences portfolios. Our expertise, built on an academic publishing heritage of over 200 years, advances trusted knowledge that fosters human progress.

Our 2,400+ people, based in a global network of offices in more than 15 countries, use their skills and the latest technology to curate, validate and share impactful advanced, emergent and applied knowledge. Under the Taylor & Francis, Routledge and F1000 imprints, we publish over 2,500 journals, 8,400 new books each year and partner with more than 700 scholarly societies.

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Media contact: Mark Robinson, newsroom@taylorandfrancis.com