Many academics face problems when translating their research into lay and executive summaries, which is becoming increasingly more important when we think about impact. One solution is to ask a colleague or someone from your marketing and media department to interview you. How can you ensure that your work is translated to a wide audience, whilst still retaining control of what you say and how you say it?

Applying the 5Ws might not work for every research, but is a useful idea worth exploring:

Who: Who has conducted this research, who will benefit from it and who has funded it?

What: What has happened with this research? What was done to complete it, what processes were involved, what methods and what was the results and conclusion?

Where: Where did this research take place, at which organisation/s and geographical location?

When: When did this take place, when did the project start and when did it finish?

Why: Why did this research happen? Why was there a need for it?

Read Andy Tattersall’s post in full online: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2015/04/08/using-the-5-ws-to-communicate-your-research/

npj Science of Learning makes it easy to understand all original research articles with accompanying brief summaries, written to engage the wider research community and interested general public with important research findings.