ERIC Number: EJ1458687
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Jan
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1368-2822
EISSN: EISSN-1460-6984
Available Date: N/A
How to Create Accessible Research Summaries for the Developmental Language Disorder Community
Loretta Gasparini; Shaun Ziegenfusz; Natalie Turner; Suze Leitão; Michelle C. St Clair; Emily Jackson
International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, v60 n1 e13142 2025
Background: Eighty-five percent of medical research goes to waste, partly because it is not appropriately communicated to stakeholders. This represents a critical issue for the research community, especially because individuals who are impacted by research should be able to readily access that research. Making research findings accessible to key stakeholders is an important step in implementation science and in enabling research to have meaningful impacts. Plain language summaries are a tool to make research more accessible to individuals with communication disorders. While guidelines exist to support researchers to develop plain language summaries for some populations, no such guidelines exist for the developmental language disorder (DLD) community. Aims: We aimed to develop evidence-informed guidelines to support researchers to create plain language summaries that are accessible for individuals with DLD, their families, and the broader community. This discussion paper describes the development of these guidelines and how they may be implemented by researchers who conduct research on the topic of DLD. Methods: We drew from existing plain language summary guidelines for other populations and knowledge of various barriers that may impact the DLD community's ability to access scientific research. We used this knowledge to create guidelines for researchers to develop plain language summaries of their research relating to the DLD population. This includes guidelines for creating written, visual, audio and video summaries. We consulted with an adult with DLD, an implementation scientist, and a speech-language pathologist regarding the suitability of the guidelines. Main Contribution: The plain language summary guidelines are publicly available via https://osf.io/ydkw9. They include templates and examples, as well as suggestions for writing and visual styles. We encourage strengths-based language, seeking feedback from non-experts, and sharing the summaries on social media. We have also developed an online repository for researchers to disseminate their plain language summaries via DLD advocacy groups. Conclusions: The written, audio and video plain language summaries that researchers create using our guidelines can be used to disseminate research to the DLD community. This can facilitate science implementation and maximise the impact of DLD research. The plain language summaries may also help individuals with DLD better understand the research that has been conducted about them. This may in turn support their engagement with services and empower them to make evidence-informed choices for themselves and partner in co-designing new research. Future research could explore the perspectives of the DLD community and researchers regarding the implementation of these guidelines.
Descriptors: Language Impairments, Information Dissemination, Medical Research, Access to Information, Stakeholders, Scientific and Technical Information, Accessibility (for Disabled), Written Language, Communication Disorders, Documentation, Guidelines, Scientific Research, Audiovisual Aids, Allied Health Personnel, Speech Language Pathology, Scientists, Adults, Disabilities, Attitudes, Language Usage
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2191/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A