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POLS 3236-International Relations ROY: Find Policy Papers

Strategies for Effective Googling

Many fantastic public policy resources--in particular, policy briefs from think tanks, NGOs, and research institutes--can be found online. Here are a few tips for more efficient, effective Google searches:

Include the phrase "policy brief" in your search. (Keep the quotation marks around "policy brief" to find this exact phrase.)

Use a site: search. This will limit your search to a broad domain (e.g., .org sites, .edu sites, .gov sites) or to a specific website (e.g., http://www.urban.org).

If you're not sure which think tank, NGO, or agency might have issued policy papers on your topic, try a search engine that's powered by Google but limited to a select group of sites.

 

General Contents of a Policy Paper

  • Title: A good title quickly communicates the contents of the brief in a memorable way.

  • Executive Summary: This section is often one to two paragraphs long; it includes an overview of the problem and the proposed policy action.

  • Context or Scope of Problem: This section communicates the importance of the problem and aims to convince the reader of the necessity of policy action.

  • Policy Alternatives: This section discusses the current policy approach and explains proposed options. It should be fair and accurate while convincing the reader why the policy action proposed in the brief is the most desirable.

  • Policy Recommendations: This section contains the most detailed explanation of the concrete steps to be taken to address the policy issue.

  • Consulted or Recommended Sources: These should be reliable sources that you have used throughout your brief to guide your policy discussion and recommendations.

Policy Paper Resources

PolicyArchive, CIAO, and PAIS are good starting points in the search for policy papers. Check out the other sources below, or the tabs for Think Tanks and NGOs/IGOs, for additional resources.