Public Policy | gradPSYCH Blog

Mary Fernandes, Elyse Mowle, & Melanie Arenson

Why do we need it?

As mentioned in a previous blog post, there is a well-known lack of consistent translation of scientific research into public policy. Researchers and policy-makers often have differing timescales and incentives that contribute to limited communication between the two groups. For example, policy-makers are often required to work under strict deadlines to produce immediate policy results, and their time-constraints frequently preclude them from staying up-to-date on the vast scientific literature pertaining to the issues they are interested in. As a result, research findings that are easily digestible are more likely to be read, utilized, and acted upon. Researchers have the ability to coherently summarize their work into a short document that provides clear recommendations for policy and practice. In fact, 79% of policy-makers identified policy briefs as valuable communication tools (Jones & Walsh, 2008).

So, what is a policy brief?

A policy brief is a short document that summarizes important research findings about a specific problem to a lay audience and makes recommendations for improving the identified problem. The document is typically focused on a single topic, and is no more than 2-4 pages or 1,500 words long. A policy brief is written with an audience in mind, and should be easy to understand without specialized knowledge or additional reading. Succinct, simple, and smart. The main goal of any policy brief is to convince the audience of the urgency of the problem, as well as to provide feasible, evidence-based solutions to it, and calling the policy-maker(s) to action.

Who is it for?

Policy briefs are used by local, national, and regional policy stakeholders. Other individuals or groups who have access to the policy making process (including nonprofits, government advisers, lobbyists, Think Tanks, and the media) also use policy briefs.

How do I write one?

First, identify the aim of your policy brief. What are you trying to achieve, or communicate to your reader? Next, consider your audience. What is their technical knowledge? How familiar are they likely to be with the issue? What information will they need? With your audience and aim in mind, target the key aspects that a policy-maker will want from your policy brief:

Title- It should be informative and short.
Summary- This is like an abstract, but without the jargon. It summarizes the overview of the problem and makes evidence-based recommendations. This section should appear on the top of the first page of your brief and it should draw the reader in.
Introduction- Provide an overview of the context of the problem. Identify a few salient points that provide support for the urgency of the topic. Also, give an overview of the research objectives, findings, and conclusions. Include why this problem is important to the audience, and if applicable, why previous efforts to solve the problem have failed.
Methods/Approach and Results- Here, explain the methodology used in the presented research as well as the results of the project(s). Distill the results into a few, key take-home messages. Be sure to simplify the language and avoid technical terms.
Conclusions- Provide clear conclusions based on the data, and express them in an assertive manner, without scientific jargon. Solidify the key take-away from the study.
Policy Recommendations- Propose solutions that are relevant to the stated policy problem. The brief should systematically and clearly describe the evidence in support of the proposed solutions. Recommendations should be specific and backed by the evidence you outlined. Ensure that your recommendations are appropriate for the audience. All solutions should be realistic and feasible (cost-effective, reasonable, etc.). State the next steps precisely.
References- Include a list of the references used and provide resources they might be helpful. A large list of references, akin to a research paper, is unnecessary and even unhelpful – this should be a small section of your brief!
Disclaimers- Just like in a presentation, detail any funding sources that contributed to the research presented. Also list contact details and institution disclaimers that might be necessary.
Visual aids/Infographics- Infographics and visual aids often make detail-heavy content more digestible and appealing.

When you’re done, ask yourself if the document answers these questions:

What is the purpose of the brief?
What problem does it hope to address?
What recommendations does it make to address the problem?
Does it pass the breakfast test? A good policy brief should be able to answer all of these questions and be read in the time that it takes to drink a coffee over breakfast.

Style Tips

Draw the reader in by starting with your conclusions. Clearly state what the problem is from the start.
Break up the text – use headings, bulleted lists, font or call-out boxes to highlight key points. Have healthy margins and plenty of white space.
Write using active rather than passive voice
Write for clarity and simplicity. Can you say in one sentence what you just said in two or three? Think “economy of words”. For example:
- Did you use a bigger word when a smaller one would have worked? (“Operationalize” versus “define”)
- Can you cut words or phrases without changing the meaning? (“Due to the fact that” versus “because”)

How to disseminate your policy brief?

Share with key players in the policy field. Have copies ready for policy-makers whom you meet with.
Share with other stakeholders who might influence the policy-making process (see our ‘Science Meets Policy: Part 1’ post for information about stakeholders). If emailing, mention in the body of the email why the brief will be useful to them. Make sure that the subject of your email is concise, says everything that you want to convey, and eye-drawing (ex. “Importance of Science Influencing Policy: A Policy Brief).
Strategically plan the timing of your dissemination (i.e. during preparations for policy shifts, while there is media attention, etc.).
Submit the brief to journals that specify a call for briefs (https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/ipp/call-for-policy-briefs).
Combine with other communication methods such as posters and presentations at conferences.
Use social media to disseminate your brief (e.g. newsletters, Facebook, Twitter).

Further Resources

Sample Briefs

References
Jones, Nicola & Walsh, Cora. (2008). Policy Briefs as a Communication Tool for Development Research. ODI Background Notes.

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