Medical Sciences Library
Policy briefs are a way for researchers to help inform policymakers on current literature and research surrounding a health topic. These briefs are designed to be comprehensive and non-biased, presenting the latest research and data on a current health issue. They are not designed to persuade, but to educate policymakers on the most current literature surrounding their chosen topic (European Observatory).
The goal of a policy brief is to make policymakers aware of the most current research done on a chosen public health issue. These briefs can be utilized by policymakers to guide their judgement on interventions and are usually not meant to be argumentative or persuasive in nature. Policy briefs differ from research articles in that they aim to inspire action (ideally policy changes) by pulling on existing literature, while research articles hope to add new knowledge to the current discourse of a chosen topic (University of Iowa). These briefs are often short summaries of complex problems, presenting key figures and data in a concise format in order to quickly bring the reader up to speed on the issue (University of Iowa).
Most policymakers often handle several policies at a time. Due to the nature of their job, they do not always have time to research topics on their own. Policy briefs are a way that researchers can help to educate policy makers on a given health topic (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). These policy briefs are quick and detailed, allowing the policymaker to form a solid understanding of the topic at hand in a short time span (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). This allows policymakers to make informed policy suggestions based on the latest available evidence (Cochrane). Policy briefs have the potential to impact current and future public health policy, so it is imperative that the author fully understand the scope of their topic and clearly present their findings.