Audio Abstract Service
Pubrica produces audio abstracts: short narrated summaries of published research for listeners who cannot read the paper at that moment. The service supports authors, journals, societies and institutions who want research to reach listeners while they commute, work in the laboratory or on the ward, or exercise. Our science writers and audio producers write a script that can be followed without a figure, record and edit it to a professional standard, and deliver it with a transcript so the recording is accessible and searchable.
- Written for listening, not read from the page, because a listener cannot go back to an earlier sentence as a reader can
- Two to four minutes long, a length most listeners complete, with the main finding in the first thirty seconds
- Professionally recorded and edited, with clean levels, no room noise and a consistent pace, delivered as WAV and MP3
- Transcript included, so the recording is accessible, indexable and reusable as a caption file if it later becomes a video
- Accurate to the paper, including the limitations, because a spoken claim is quoted as readily as a written one
Script written for listeningIncluded
Recording, editing and masteringIncluded
Transcript and caption fileIncluded
WAV and MP3 deliveryIncluded
Hosting and podcast distributionProvided by you or the journal
Paper → scripted → recorded → edited → audio
- Script written for listening
- Main finding in the first thirty seconds
- Professionally recorded and edited
- Transcript included
- Checked against the paper
Deliverables
Four Components of Every Audio Abstract
Each audio abstract presents one paper to one listener, so the script includes only what can be followed without seeing a figure.
Example from a scriptThe primary endpoint, which was assessed at 30 days (see Table 2), was met (p=0.01).People who received the treatment were less likely to be readmitted to hospital within a month: twelve in a hundred, compared with sixteen. The difference is unlikely to be due to chance.
Example structureThe finding, why it matters, how the study was done and the limitation. This reverses the order of a paper and suits a recording.
Example from a deliveryJournals and repositories reject audio that clips or has an uneven noise floor, so we record to the required standard from the start.
Example from a transcriptAn audio-only file without a transcript does not meet WCAG and cannot be found by search engines, so the transcript is always included.
The samples shown are illustrative and anonymised. Hover over a sample to replay it.
Compliance and Standards
Audio Abstract Standards and Accessibility Guidelines
Where your journal specifies an audio format or duration, we follow its requirements.
Journal audio requirements (format and duration)
Journals that host audio usually specify length, file format, loudness and whether a transcript is required. These requirements vary, and we check them for each project.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (level AA)
Contrast, text alternatives, captions and transcripts, which universities and funders increasingly require for any content they host.
COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics)
A derived format may not claim more than the paper supports. Overstating a finding in a graphic or a recording is a publication ethics issue.
Quality management (cert. H3CR9TCU20251212INDQM10N)
Our certified quality system governs how work is briefed, produced, reviewed and released.
Responsible Use of AI
Our Approach to AI Use in Audio Abstracts
AI image generation presents a particular integrity risk in scientific figures. A generated cell, scan or apparatus that does not exist constitutes image fabrication, and journals now screen for it.
Why We Do Not Publish AI Accuracy Figures
Accuracy figures for AI tools are usually reported by the companies that sell them.
Pubrica therefore does not quote a self-generated accuracy figure, because it would carry the same conflict of interest. Instead, we tell you which tool was used on your project, at which stage, and what a specialist changed afterwards.
Our Process
How Our Audio Abstract Process Works
The script determines the quality of the finished recording, so most of the work goes into writing it.
Paper Review and Key Message Selection
We read the full paper and agree the main point a listener should remember before writing begins.
Scriptwriting for Audio
The script is written to be spoken, with short sentences, natural frequencies instead of percentages where helpful and no references to figures. We send it to you for approval.
Recording and Editing
A professional narrator records the script, or you record it with our guidance if you prefer to use your own voice. We then edit, level and master the recording.
Delivery with Transcript
WAV and MP3 files, a transcript and a caption file on request, with the journal’s format requirements applied where the audio will be published as a supplement.
Our Experts
Your Audio Abstract Team
A named team of subject specialists stays with your project from scoping to delivery. Your project coordinator introduces each team member by name before work begins.
Reviews the scientific content for accuracy and confirms that each conclusion is supported by the evidence. Each expert is matched to your field of research.
Writes the script and produces recordings that represent the findings accurately and meet the specifications of the target journal or platform.
Checks the finished work independently against the agreed scope and the applicable checklist. Findings are logged and resolved before delivery.
Manages the timeline, keeps you informed at each stage and coordinates the team so that questions are answered and deadlines are met.
Packages
Audio Abstract Packages
Prices depend on the length of the recording and whether we supply the narrator or you record it yourself.
Audio abstract
Authors and institutions disseminating a published paper
Quoted per projectAccording to length and voice
Delivery Quoted by scope
- ✓Script written for listening and approved by you
- ✓Professional recording and editing
- ✓WAV and MP3 delivery
- ✓Transcript included
- ✓One revision of the script
If you prefer to use your own voice, we write the script and direct the recording.
Deliverables Request a quoteSeries or programme
For journals, societies and institutions producing audio abstracts regularly
Quoted per projectOn volume and cadence
Delivery By arrangement
- ✓Consistent script structure across the series
- ✓One narrator or a consistent group of narrators
- ✓Shared introduction and closing where required
- ✓Delivered to a publishing schedule
- ✓Transcripts and caption files for every recording
For a series, we keep structure and narration consistent across every recording.
Deliverables Request a quoteSend us your paper, and we will draft the first thirty seconds of the script free of charge.
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions About Audio Abstracts
If your question is not answered here, please ask an expert. No quote is required.
We do not recommend it. A written abstract is dense, uses parenthetical asides and refers to tables and figures the listener cannot see, so it is difficult to follow when read aloud.
An audio abstract presents the same content in a different text: the finding first, one idea per sentence and numbers in a form listeners can remember.
A professional narrator by default, or you, if you prefer the paper to be presented in the author’s voice. Many authors choose to narrate, and listeners often respond well to it.
If you record it yourself, we write the script, guide you on pace and microphone technique, and edit the recording.
Yes, always, as standard. Without a transcript, the recording is inaccessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing readers and cannot be found by search engines.
The transcript can also be converted directly into a caption file if the audio later becomes a video abstract.
No. Hosting and distribution are managed by you, your institution or the journal, and most journals that accept audio host it as a supplement.
We deliver files in the formats the journal requests and apply its published duration and loudness requirements.
Related Services
Related Research Impact Services
Other formats for presenting the same paper to different audiences.
1OTHER FORMATSoften commissioned together
Video abstractThe same finding presented on screen. Graphical abstractA single image, $150 for 2D and $250 for 3D.2FOR CONFERENCESpresentation support
Slide deck and slide abstractDesigned for presentation to an audience. Poster preparationThe poster version of your paper.3FOR A WIDER AUDIENCEplain language
Simplified abstractStructured to the journal’s format. Scientific news reportA media-ready press release, from $149.Request a Free Draft of Your Audio Abstract Opening
We will draft the first thirty seconds of your script free of charge, because the opening determines whether listeners continue.