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Policy briefs are a key tool to present research and recommendations to a non-specialized audience. They serve as a vehicle for providing evidence-based policy advice to help readers make informed decisions.
A strong policy brief distills research findings in plain language and draws clear links to policy initiatives. The best policy briefs are clear and concise stand-alone documents that focus on a single topic.
Take a look at policy briefs in IDRC’s digital library
Planning your policy brief
Purpose, audience, content, and structure are the vital elements of an influential policy brief.
Policy brief template
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to writing policy briefs because the topic and audience will shape each one. However, effective policy briefs tend to contain the same key elements and therefore have similar structures: an executive summary, an introduction, an overview of the research or problem, an examination of the findings, and a concluding section that explains the policy recommendations and implications of the research.
Review the elements of an effective structure (in detail below) before writing your policy brief. Examples drawn from IDRC’s GrOW policy briefs are included throughout to help you gain a better understanding of layout and the content requirements of each section.
This final section of the policy brief should detail the actions recommended by the research findings. Draw the link for your readers between the research findings and your recommendations. Use persuasive language to present your recommendations, but ensure that all arguments are rooted firmly and clearly in evidence produced by the research. You want your readers to be completely convinced that yours is the best advice.
Examine theimplicationsand therecommendationsproduced by the research.Implicationsare the effects that the research could have in the future. They are a soft but persuasive approach to describe the potential consequences of particular policies. This is a good opportunity to provide an overview of policy alternatives by presenting your reader with the full range of policy options.
Follow up the implications with yourrecommendations. Beyond being descriptive, your recommendations should act as a call to action by stating precise, relevant, credible, and feasible next steps. It may strengthen your argument to demonstrate why other policies are not as effective as your recommendations.
Tip:
- Think of the conclusion as a mirror to your introduction: you are once again providing an overview of your argument, but this time you are underlining its strength rather than introducing it.
”Lessons for policy and practice”, the conclusion ofUnpaid care and women’s empowerment: Lessons from research and practice, presents a series of broad policy recommendations that are clearly linked back to the research. Each recommendation has its own section and heading to make them easy to identify and understand.
Designing your policy brief
A policy brief should be convincing and interesting to read. The design and presentation of your brief are important considerations and can help keep the reader engaged. Use compelling titles and headings, sidebars featuring interesting details, bulleted lists to summarize your points, and graphics such as charts and images.
Revising your policy brief
Once the policy brief has been drafted, reflect once again on its purpose, audience, content, and structure. Will your brief help to achieve your goals? Test it by trying to explain it in a twenty-second elevator pitch and assessing what information stands out. Revise the brief to make it as user-friendly as possible by removing jargon and statistics that make it less approachable. Ask a colleague with no prior knowledge of the issue to read the brief and provide feedback. What points do they draw from it, and do they match your intentions?
Using your policy brief
A good policy brief can play double duty by standing on its own or as an effective accompaniment to a presentation. Tailor any accompanying visual presentation to your brief by focusing only on the key points and answering important questions. Your audience can refer to the document when needed, so avoid repeating all of the brief’s text in your presentation. When distributing your policy brief, it is often a good idea to develop a short question-and-answer package and a section for further reading.
