Today, we’re launching the Open Pharma recommendations for multi-stakeholder plain language summaries of publications and inviting public consultation!
Over the last few months, the Open Pharma Accessibility workstream has been hard at work, drafting our recommendations for the ‘minimum standard’ for multi-stakeholder plain language summaries of publications. These recommendations were the focus of the January 2021 Roundtable, during which we heard feedback on the recommendations from Open Pharma Members, Supporters and key Advisers.
Now, we’re asking for your input! The one-page recommendations document is available to read on our figshare page. If you have any thoughts, questions or comments, or if you just want your voice to be heard, you can email us at OxfordProject@pharmagenesis.com or join the conversation on Twitter. Please make sure to share your insights before the end of the consultation period on 31 March 2021!
Why develop the recommendations?
Multi-stakeholder plain language summaries of publications are an effective means of sharing research with a broad and non-specialist audience. Plain language summaries can improve the transparency, accountability, accessibility, discoverability and inclusivity of medical research publications. Existing initiatives are already in place that provide detailed guidance on lay language best practice, co-creation methods, plain language summaries for patients, graphic and digital considerations, and publisher-specific guidelines. However, there remains a need for a foundational set of recommendations that will outline the ‘minimum standard’ for multi-stakeholder plain language summaries.
Ultimately, these are discussions for authors and sponsors to consider when drafting plain language summaries and for publishers to consider when including plain language summaries in enhancement options. Consensus on many of these items is still growing, and parts of these considerations have been comprehensively detailed in other resources. The Open Pharma recommendations are intended to be a concise outline of a minimum standard that provides top-line guidance for authors, publishers and sponsors but does not prescribe in detail.
The Open Pharma recommendations are now entering a public consultation to expand upon the discussions and gather input from a wide range of stakeholders.
