Interlude: "Dumbing It Down," the Laundry Method, and Publication Facts Labels

I've heard a lot of researchers admit that they hesitate to write with simple language because they fear they will offend readers by "dumbing it down."

But simple language is not "dumbing it down." Simple language is clear, direct, and easy to understand.

And those features will help you impress readers, not offend them.

So, what if we could reframe our thinking?

What if instead of thinking of simple language as "dumbing it down," we think of it as "clearing it up" or "translating it across"?

I like the simplicity of these reframes and the parallelism of the language. And I think that these parallel reframes can help us to more easily shift our mindset to a more impressive way to write—with simple language that showcases our work and makes our reader's job easy.

What do you think?

Now onto this week's round-up...

💌 Round-up

👓 Reading

Researchers want a ‘nutrition label’ for academic-paper facts​
“Through transparency, we want to show how closely journals and authors are adhering to the scholarly standards of publishing. We want to help readers, including researchers, the media and the public, to decide whether an article is worth reporting on or citing. The facts that we have selected for the label include publisher and funder names, the journal’s acceptance rate and the number of peer reviewers. The label also shows whether the paper includes a competing-interests statement and an editor list, where the journal is indexed and whether the data have been made publicly available.”

​Authorship of Publications Supported by NCI-Funded Grants Involving Low- and Middle-Income Countries​
"…the percentage of LMIC-affiliated first and last authors remained low. The percentage of publications with at least 1 author affiliated with an LMIC increased but remained below 50%. Furthermore, bibliometric output was lower for publications with LMIC-affiliated authors than for those with HIC-affiliated authors. . . These findings will provide an important benchmark when assessing strategies to promote equitable scientific participation by LMIC institutions and investigators in global cancer research...”

🎧 Listening

Insights from Google's Productivity Expert—On Saying No, Cozy Corners, The Laundry Method, and More with Laura Mae Martin​
When we do laundry, we don't process clothes one item at a time. Yet, that’s how many people tackle their email. In this podcast episode, Laura shares how we can better manage our email inbox with The Laundry Method. With this method, we process our email in batches by separating sorting, reading, and answering into separate activities. So if you have limited time, you can do just one of those activities.

🖥️ Watching

FastPPT​
Do you use PowerPoint to create slide presentations? I recently discovered the FastPPT Instagram account that shares short tutorials for creating beautiful and informational slides in PowerPoint. After watching only a few tutorials, I realized the incredible potential of PowerPoint.

💭 Thoughts

You take a powerful step toward achieving your goals when you turn someday into today.

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal