Interview


‘Researchers whose careers have been overshadowed by barriers to scientific communication will be beginning to shine’


access it, no institution login is required, and then TooWrite Papers will be paid for by the institutions: universities, research institutes and industry. Once an institution pays for a licence, any scientist with an institutional login can use TooWrite Papers with as many co-authors as they deem sensible. For the immediate future, users can


and those who currently face barriers to publishing. Our users come from all stages of their


career, from PhD students facing their first open-call for abstracts, to incredibly senior professors – everyone, across the board, will see benefits from using TooWrite Abstracts, whether it be support in learning how to effectively communicate their research within incredibly narrow word-limits, or even just learning how to fine-tune certain aspects of their narrative and tailor their story-telling to certain journals or readers. Writing an abstract isn’t just a case of summarising your research in as few a words as possible, it’s a scientist’s opportunity to grab their reader’s attention and say: ‘Hey – I know your time is precious, but this information right here is mission-critical and you need to read the rest of this paper.’ A good abstract informs, yes, but a great one inspires. And that is what TooWrite Abstract accomplishes.


‘In 15 minutes flat she’d written a winner’ Saving researchers time so they can get back to the research that truly matters is only one of our core aims; however, for many researchers, it will be the most important factor when deciding to use the TooWrite Platform. When it comes to abstracts, it’s hard to


quantify a ‘starting position’, an average time taken to write an abstract in the traditional manners – and that’s largely down to the procrastination factor. I mean,


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do you start the clock at the first moment a researcher considers sitting down to write their abstract, only to put it off until a later date, or do you only count the active hours spent writing? So, instead of pulling a number out of thin air I will simply say that the average time taken by our users to write using TooWrite Abstracts is 30 minutes from start to finished draft. We actually had a case study where a


senior researcher had been attempting to write an abstract for months and every draft she wrote it just wasn’t quite right; the perfect storyline and layout was just eluding her. But then she got on to TooWrite Abstracts and in 15 minutes flat she’d written a winner. When it comes to TooWrite Papers, with


our prototype we estimate a decrease in the time it takes to write a paper by up to 96 per cent, from the average 18 months down to as little as one week.


‘Collaboration is key’ We already have a partnership with The University of Sussex, and Aspect – which is a collaboration between 21 UK universities. We’ve performed workshops and pilots at three universities, and we’re about to start a multidisciplinary, interdepartmental academic study with a team at London South Bank University measuring the mental health outcomes of TooWrite Abstracts. We operate via what’s called a


‘freemium’ model, by which TooWrite Abstracts will be free, everyone can


access TooWrite Abstracts of their own volition, but we are also now beginning our free roll out to various conferences. What this means is that when a conference sends out an open-call for abstracts, they can include a link to the platform – ensuring a higher quality of abstracts are submitted, and attendees face less of a barrier to submitting their work.


‘Fulfilling our promise’ By this time in 2024, we’ll have launched TooWrite Papers and it’ll be being used by a wide variety of different universities and research institutes, all clamouring for the best numbers for the impending Research Excellence Framework awards. In two years’ time, we will be well on


our way to changing the landscape of scientific communication. More data will be shared than ever before, and faster than we could ever have imagined. Scientist mental health during the writing process will no longer be taking a nose-dive, and researchers whose careers have been overshadowed by barriers to scientific communication will be beginning to shine. We’re funded by Bethnal Green


Ventures, which is a ‘tech for good’ fund, and the reason I bring this up is because this fund only invests in ventures that are capable of positively affecting the lives of 100 million people. And while we won’t have reached such lofty heights by 2024, we will hopefully be well on our way to fulfilling that promise.


Find out more at: www.tswrevolution. com/abstracts


Interview by Tim Gillett


Spring 2022 Research Information 27


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