Academic research papers are often too dense and technical for non-experts, creating barriers for students, professionals in adjacent fields, and curious individuals who could benefit from the knowledge. This gap limits the societal impact of research and perpetuates information inequality.

Simplifying Research for Broader Accessibility

One way to bridge this gap could be through a platform that provides radically simplified versions of research papers while preserving their core insights. Each paper would be rewritten in plain language, with jargon replaced by everyday terms, complex concepts broken into step-by-step explanations, and visual aids added where helpful. The content could be generated through a mix of crowdsourced explanations from domain experts, community peer-review, AI-assisted simplification with human oversight, and direct collaborations with researchers.

Potential beneficiaries include:

• Students encountering advanced topics outside their major
• Professionals needing to grasp relevant research quickly
• Journalists and science communicators
• Lifelong learners without formal academic training

Building a Sustainable Platform

An initial version could start by curating 50-100 seminal papers across diverse fields, recruiting PhD students to create simplified versions, and building a basic website with search functionality. As the platform grows, it could develop a submission system for user requests, add multimedia explanations, and introduce tiered membership options.

Key considerations would include:

• Maintaining academic rigor through multi-layer review systems
• Navigating copyright issues by focusing initially on open-access papers
• Ensuring quality through reputation systems and expert verification

Differentiation from Existing Solutions

Unlike existing platforms that offer surface-level summaries or AI-generated explanations, this approach would combine the depth of academic content with true accessibility. By directly linking to original papers while providing community-verified simplifications, it could create a new bridge between research and public understanding.

Potential revenue streams could include freemium features, institutional licenses, and sponsored content from research institutions, while providing value to both knowledge seekers and researchers wanting greater impact for their work.