Ever read a research paper or looked at a figure and wanted a deeper explanation of what it shows or what it means, or as an author, wanted to tell readers more about your work?
We’ve made that a reality by introducing author explainer videos, where authors can provide an engaging high-level overview of their entire paper, or explain individual figures. This makes them more accessible and gives readers the experience of being in a seminar.
Are you interested in submitting an explainer video with your next paper but not sure where to start? Our practical tips will help you create an accessible, clear, and engaging explanation of your research or figures.
Use clear language
The aim of a video is to help the reader understand your research. Given the reader may not be a specialist in your area, keep your language use as easily understandable as possible to reach the broadest possible audience.
Keep videos short
With the growing popularity of shortform videos on social platforms, audiences are engaging more with short, concise videos rather than longer-form, so we suggest producing a video no longer than five minutes.
If you also plan to share your video on social media channels to increase engagement, then be mindful of restrictions; for example, Bluesky has a time limit of three minutes for video in posts.
Tell a clear and simple story
Structure your video with a logical narrative flow:
- Briefly introduce yourself
- Set the scene
- Describe your approach
- Present your findings and their implications
A clear storyline can help make the most complex research and figures easier to follow.
For high-level explainer videos, however, avoid repeating text from the written abstract. Instead:
- Talk about your motivation behind the work
- Outline the methodology
- Highlight the main discoveries and their implications
Consider accessibility and set-up
Successful explainer videos are easy for everyone to watch and understand. Clear audio, good lighting, and a neutral background can help viewer engagement and accessibility.
People also watch in many different ways, on mobile devices, in noisy environments, or without sound, so keeping the content accessible with captions can help people interact with your video.
Other practicalities of eLife author explainer videos
Once you’ve got your video ready to go, there are a few points to be aware of:
- Videos are not peer-reviewed and are shared under a CC-BY 4.0 license
- Rather than sharing longer talks as explainer videos, consider hosting them on a public sharing video network and including a link within your submission
- Videos should be supplied as AVI, WMV, MOV, MP4, or H264, and uploaded using the “Rich Media” file type during submission.
Three points to remember when creating your video:
- This is your chance to tell the story of your research and figures, so keep a logical narrative flow and mix clear visuals with explanation
- Think about the production values of your videos – record against a neutral background, with clear audio and good lighting
- Make your video accessible to all – through clear, concise language use, captions, and length of video
Find out more about author explainer videos in our Author Guide.
If you are ready to submit your research alongside an author explainer video, visit our submission page. Alternatively, find out more about the eLife Model and how we’re changing research communication and assessment.
