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PNAS (probably the highest-impact science journal) has something like this. Every Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. paper has an abstract, which can be quite technical an
by mturmon 10y ago
PNAS (probably the highest-impact science journal) has something like this. Every Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. paper has an abstract, which can be quite technical and intended partly for insiders, but also a "Significance" statement, which is highlighted at the top of the article, is limited to 120 words, and is intended as a near-layman summary of the article. From the author guidance:
"Authors must submit a 120-word- maximum statement about the significance of their research paper written at a level understandable to an undergraduate- educated scientist outside their field of specialty. The primary goal of the Significance Statement is to explain the relevance of the work in broad context to a broad readership. The Significance Statement appears in the paper itself and is required for all research papers."
Example:
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/07/27/1603632113 http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/07/27/1603632113
- mcguire 10y agoDoesn't Science have a similar feature for articles published in it? A short, educated-layman-level summary of the meaning of the work?
- mturmon 10y agoYes, Science partly does this too (I'm a subscriber). They have relatively simple abstracts that try to serve both purposes -- summary for laymen and experts -- but they are tilted more towards a non-specialist summary. The layout of PNAS really emphasizes the Significance statement. The best thing about Science for outsiders is the "Perspective" article that sometimes accompanies high-profile research articles. The "Perspective" places the more in-depth research article in context. It can be more valuable for an interested non-specialist than the research article itself.