Plain language

Plain language lets intended readers find, understand and use the information they need. The parts divide by the work of establishing and applying it: definition, words readers misunderstand, planning and wording, learning the skill, organisational practice and the origins of rules and policy. Audience definition, health literacy, resource collections, readability assessment and reader testing, general language mechanics and particular document types belong to neighbouring concerns.

• What plain language is, and what it is not — definitions and the ISO standard, its value for professional and lay readers, and the limits of simplification
• Words and jargon a lay reader misunderstands — familiar and technical meanings, medical and research vocabulary, side-effect jargon and bodily-function euphemisms
• Planning and wording a plain-language text — team, audience, goals and key messages, content order and presentation, words, numbers, sentences and tone, and adaptation from technical text
• Learning to write plainly, and why specialists resist it — learning through practice, beginner rules, barriers for specialists and training scientists
• Making plain language an organisation’s practice — clear communication across routine work, resources and reported returns, and acceptance in the pharmaceutical industry
• Where plain-language rules and policy came from — Orwell’s rules, campaigns and legislation, international movements and the development and revision of the ISO standard