Calling all language lovers – new plain language panellists needed
7 November 2022
The National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West) is looking for new members for its plain language panel.
Panellists play an important role in ensuring ARC West’s research summaries and other content are accessible to a wide audience. If you are a member of the public who’s interested in health research and how language is used to convey studies and their results, this opportunity is for you.
The plain language panel is a group of members of the public who enjoy editing and feeding back on written summaries of research projects. It was set up in 2016 and has been an essential part of the ARC’s communications work.
What’s involved?
Every plain language summary on the ARC West website is reviewed by two panellists. Summaries are sent to panellists in Word format every few weeks, sometimes more, sometimes less. The two panellists who choose to review the summary then give their feedback either by track changes or whatever method they feel most comfortable with.
The feedback is then combined into a final version by the ARC West communications team, which is sent for final sign off by the researchers involved in the study.
Sometimes panellists review other types of content, such as patient information sheets or website content, following the same process.
Will I be paid?
Yes! ARC West pays all its public contributors at the NIHR’s standard rate of £25 an hour. Most summaries take around an hour to review.
You will also be paid if you attend any meetings as part of your work with the panel, including expenses. This could include attending training or giving feedback to researchers in person.