Plain Language Summaries

Plain language summaries allow you to explain your research in simple terms.

Plain Language Summary Guidelines

The plain language summary is aimed at scientists in other fields, researchers across disciplines, undergraduate and graduate students, and readers not fluent in English. Plain language summaries should be written in language that can be understood by an undergraduate student. We suggest writing at a ninth-grade level so that the PLS is easy to read for readers across a variety of disciplines. Make the summary clear, concise, interesting, and free from jargon. Emphasize your results—what you found and why it is important—rather than your methods. The goal is to draw the reader into the journal and to your research. Avoid the use of abbreviations.

The summary should contain a five- to six-sentence summary starting with one or two sentences explaining the problem or issue, followed by a description of what you discovered, your key findings or conclusion, and what the results mean. Plain language summaries in our journals have a limit of 1000 characters (about 150 words).

We recommend that you structure your plain language summary with four key elements: subject overview, research purpose, key findings, and key takeaways.

• Subject Overview (1-3 sentences)—What does a nonspecialist reader need to know about the subject to understand your paper? Explain the broad scientific topic to provide context for your study.
• Research Purpose (1-3 sentences)—What did you set out to investigate? Give a brief overview of what you set out to do in the research and how you went about it.
• Key Findings (1-3 sentences)—What was your most significant result or conclusion? Describe your overall findings but don’t get caught up in explaining technical details.
• Key Takeaways (1-2 sentences)—Why should a reader care about your findings? Explain the scientific importance or societal relevance of your study.

Once it is complete, ask someone from outside your scientific discipline to read your summary and provide feedback. If they cannot understand the study or its conclusions, revise it for clarity.

The following journals require plain language summaries at submission:

• Crop, Forage & Turfgrass Management
• Crop Science  
• The Plant Genome
• Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems
• Vadose Zone Journal

All other ASA, CSSA, SSSA journals strongly encourage plain language summaries.