Recently I came across a website advocating plain English.
It made me happy, so I read further.
The Australian Clinical Trials Alliance advocated a plain language title for research so people could find and understand it.
“In the case of clinical research, the audience may be a specific patient population or the general public,” the website says. “A well-constructed plain language title is critical as it is likely to be a consumer’s first point of contact with a trial, giving them their first impression of what the trial is about.”
So far, so good. But why stop at the title?
The website then gives advice on plain language summaries, which are helpful to consumers and make clinical research accessible to professionals in similar fields.
I was impressed to learn that the European Union has mandated plain language summaries for drug trials in Europe.
So, it’s required for international research.
And why not?
Research shows that 80 per cent of people prefer sentences written in plain language when given a choice. The more complex the issue, the more people like the plain alternative.
In fact, research by law professor and plain language advocate Chris Trudeau found that the more educated the reader, the more they wanted plain English.
It doesn’t just work for people who didn’t finish high school or don’t speak English as their first language.
It works for the most highly educated among us!
And no one is more educated than the researchers doing clinical trials.
#PlainEnglish #GetItWrite