Wendy Science: Don't Explain So Much At Once, And Other Advice From Young Science Readers

Though scientists are often motivated to explain their research to the public, many find themselves floundering with how best to communicate what they do for those with little or no experience in their field of study. Like any skill, translating science for novice readers—especially kids and teens—is developed through practice and feedback. For many scientists these kinds of opportunities can be infrequent enough to make learning from them difficult.

The authors who have written for knew going in that they will be helping to create a valuable science resource by translating their work directly for young readers. But many of them have found that having direct access their target audience as reviewers yielded feedback that was not only helpful, but occasionally surprisingly blunt in regards to their communication skills.

Thanks to their frank honesty, the FYM Young Reviewers of our first ~45 manuscripts have revealed many of the pitfalls that scientists face when trying to explain their own work to a novice audience. While we are in the process of compiling this feedback into a how-to guide to help our future authors learn from the experiences of those in the past, I wanted to allow some of the most notable comments from our Young Reviewers to shine in their own right.

Below I have selected eight pieces of feedback that highlight some of the most common pitfalls. I think of this as an important starting place. But as soon as these pitfalls are addressed, I am certain that our Young Reviewers will find more ways for scientists to improve their communication skills.

Explaining your motivation