Publishers to Require Lay Summaries

Prof. Julian Olden and SAFS research scientist Lauren Kuehne published an opinion article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, titled Lay Summaries needed to enhance science communication. This piece promotes the requirement and publication of lay summaries with peer-reviewed research articles.

In the article, Olden and Kuehne outlined the potential for lay summaries to improve transparency, openness, and accessibility of scientific research, particularly in the rapidly changing science media landscape.  Olden states that the article has “been been pretty enthusiastically received, and we are planning to follow up with major ecology and conservation journals requesting that they adopt and publish lay summaries as part of the peer-review process.”

Olden and Kuehne have created an open letter, and they invite scientists who support the idea to sign the letter.

Please get the word out by sharing this open letter on your social media platforms, including Twitter (!

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