Policy Brief

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GUIDELINES FOR WRITING BRIEFS

Policy brief is an action-oriented tool targeting policy communities. It helps to

bridge the gap between the academics and policy practitioners. It is one of the

most common and effective written communication tools that outline the

rationale for a particular policy alternative or course of action in a current policy

debate. The purpose of a policy brief is to point out the urgency of a policy

issue for policy communities and the need to adopt the preferred alternative or

course of action outlined. It is, therefore, designed to serve as an impetus for

action. The purpose of a policy brief ranges from exploration of alternative

policies (objective briefs) to advocacy for the adoption of a particular policy

(advocacy briefs). All briefs are focused, professional, evidence-based,

understandable, accessible, practical and feasible, and action-oriented.

The target audience of your brief may possibly be from non-academic and non-

specialist backgrounds and they could be potential decision makers with varying

levels of expertise, policy makers in our selected set of countries, as well as

other global actors with stakes in the region, and finally lobbyists and interest

groups, but not the general public.

For the purposes of our class you can limit your policy briefs to around 2000

words.

Policy Briefs are designed to give balanced information for the policy

communities to make up their own mind on our particular areas of focus. Yet at

particular and critical times a policy group may issue briefs to urge

governments, decision-makers, or local and international actors to adopt a

particular approach to pressing policy problems.

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WHAT SHOULD A POLICY BRIEF DO? A policy brief should:

 Provide enough background for the reader to understand the problem.

 Convince the reader that the problem must be addressed urgently.

 Provide information about alternatives (in an objective brief).

 Provide evidence to support one alternative (in an advocacy brief).

 Stimulate the reader to make a decision.

WHAT SHOULD A POLICY BRIEF CONTAIN? To achieve its objectives, a policy brief should:

 Be short and to the point. It should focus on a particular problem or issue.

 not go into all the details. Instead, it should provide enough information

for the reader to understand the issue and reach a decision.

 Be based on firm evidence, not just one or two experiments or a single

year’s experience. It should draw evidence from various sources –

preferably from several different areas or organizations.

 Focus on meanings, not methods. Readers are interested in what you

found and what you recommend. They do not need to know the details of

your methodology.

 Relate to the big picture. The policy brief may build on context-specific

findings, but it should draw conclusions that are more generally

applicable.

PROPOSED STRUCTURE AND STYLE FOR POLICY BRIEFS A) Cover Page: Your cover page should include the following information:

i) Title, ii) Your name, iii) The organization you represent iv) The name of your

target organization(s).* v) Your executive summary.

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*It/they could be real or fictitious. You are targeting these groups hoping that they will adopt

your policy recommendations. In some cases, your pitch could be made to the organization

you work for –that is, an internal policy brief (e.g. a bureaucrat writing for the congressional

committee s/he is working for); but in most cases it will be another organization, government

agency, branch of an international organization, etc.

The title should be short, catchy, and to the point. You should try to keep it to

less than twelve words. If that is not possible, consider breaking it into a title

and subtitle. It should also be catchy and grab the reader’s attention. Try to

include relevant key words, or find an unusual turn of phrase that sticks in the

mind. Also consider using a question as a title. Finally, it should be to the point:

It should be relevant to the topic.

Executive Summary ( not more than 150 w o rds) : A short summary is

customarily written for Policy Briefs. It gives an overview of the purpose and

conveys its overarching message. The goal is to catch the attention of the reader

and it is usually written at the end of the writing process. They are sometimes

printed in a box or in bigger type. This may contain three or four bullets giving

the main points in the policy brief. Ask yourself, “What are the main points you

want policy communities to get – even if they read nothing else?”

B) Introduction and Statement of the Issue/Problem: The introduction will

set the scene by presenting the context for the policy problem and linking this to

the specific focus of the policy paper. The introduction will demonstrate that a

problem exists and that the paper will offer possible solutions to the problem.

The introduction will include a statement on the purpose of the policy paper. It

may also contain a brief overview of the methodology used (if you have

employed a unique approach and you need to establish a credible base for the

recommendations that follow).

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The problem description identifies and elaborates the nature of the problem

being discussed. This may include:

- The background of the problem (the history of the problem: its causes; who is

affected; past policies and their outcomes. Give evidence or examples.) or

- The current status of problem (the current extent and impact of the problem,

who is affected, the current policy and its successes and failures. Give evidence

and examples).

C) The Background: Includes only the essential facts that a decision maker

“needs to know” to understand the context of the problem.

D) Pre-existing Policies: This summarizes what has been done about the

problem thus far. The objective of this section is to inform the reader of policy

options that have already been pursued, if any. Note that the absence of action

may be considered a policy decision.

E) Policy Options: This section outlines, evaluates and compares the possible

policy alternatives. All possible policy options should be presented to build a

comprehensive and convincing case. The focus is on evaluating how each

option compares in solving the specific problem. On the basis of this evidence

an argument is made for the preferred policy alternative. This section underlines

the possible courses of action or inaction that you may pursue. The potential

courses of action will be given. Some of them may be wildly unrealistic in your

opinion, but please pose them as policy options nonetheless. Be sure to present

at least three options and not to overwhelm your audience with any more

than five options.

F) Advantages and Disadvantages of Each Policy Option: For clarity, you may

present the pros and cons of the options in bullet points or outline format. This

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may seem like stacking the deck since some options may have only one

advantage and several downsides, but it isn’t always that obvious. Your

organization’s perspective is expected to be most visible in this section. If there

seems to be a clearly better option among possible alternatives, you can go

ahead and make your case for that one.

G) Conclusions and recommendations: A separate “Conclusion” section is not

normally necessary in a policy brief. The Summary (at the beginning)

and the Recommendations section (also may come at the beginning sometimes)

often take over the role of the conclusions section in a policy brief. It is advised

to include a “Conclusions and Recommendations” section to be together in your

Policy Briefs, should you decide to include a conclusions section. Here, the

concluding statements must be short- a total of one paragraph is enough and it

must not merely repeat what you have already stated. Instead, use this space to

draw the text to a close by explaining how urgent the situation is, or how

important it is to select the policy option you recommend.

This section should be rather interested in clearly presenting the case to decision

makers and providing a call to action. The concise synthesis of major findings

will highlight links with the main policy recommendations that follow. The

reader is provided with a set of clear, strong and coordinated policy

recommendations - practical steps that need to be taken to implement the

proposed policy option. Please ensure these are actionable (i.e. linked to specific

policy processes, feasible in terms of policy steps to be taken).

Recommendations do not necessarily have to come at the end of briefs. Some

present recommendations as part of the Summary, or immediately after it, or in

a separate box or sidebar. Some others prefer to distribute them throughout the

policy brief where they best relate to the text, but with each recommendation

highlighted in some way (e.g. with boldface type).

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Some Practical Tips for Structuring the Body of the Policy Brief Make sure you structure the text in a logical manner. Do not force the reader to

work to understand the logical flow. Some ways to do this:

 Keep the paragraphs short and restricted to a single idea. Consider putting

this idea into a single phrase or sentence and printing it in boldface at the

beginning of the paragraph.

 Use more headings and subheadings than you would do normally. In a

four-page policy brief, you should have at least six subheadings – one for

every two to four paragraphs.

 Re-read each paragraph and ask yourself “so what?” If it is not obvious

what the paragraph is trying to say, rewrite it or delete it.

 A key piece of information to consider is how much your readers may or

may not know about the issue. It is best to write in clear simple language,

avoid jargon and give acronyms in full on first use in the text.

H) Sources Consulted and Recommended: Please provide an annotated

bibliography. You can also describe and evaluate each of the sources for the

audience and recommend certain ones concerning particular dimensions of the

policy issue.

*For your policy briefs, you are advised to use ‘Harvard Style’ format for

references (See Appendix III). If you want to use another style, you should let

me know and use it consistently throughout your briefs.

REFERENCES USED FOR THE POLICY BRIEF GUIDE This guide relies heavily on and is a synthesis of the material drawn from the

following sources:

Developmental Leadership Program, “Drafting DLP Policy Briefs: A Guide,” Birmingham,

UK: DLP, Policy and Practice for Developmental Leaders, Elites and Coalitions.

http://www.ceps.eu/system/files/article/2010/12/Guide%20to%20writing%20CEPS%20Polic

y%20Brief.pdf (May 28, 2014).

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Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), “Writing Policy Papers

and Policy Briefs,” Rome, Italy: FAO Food Security Programme,

http://www.foodsec.org/fileadmin/user_upload/eufao-fsi4dm/docs/1_policy_paper_guide.pdf

(May 28, 2014).

Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2011) “Writing Effective

Reports” in Food Security Communications Toolkit, Rome, Italy: FAO Food Security

Programme,

www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2195e/i2195e.pdf (May 28, 2014).

Johns Hopkins University, “Writing Policy Briefs: A Guide to Translating Science and

Engaging Stakeholders,” Baltimore, MD: The Women's and Children's Health Policy Center

(WCHPC) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,

http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/womens-and-childrens-health-policy-

center/de/policy_brief/index.html (May 28, 2014).

Tsai, K. (2003) “Guidelines for Writing a Policy Brief” Kellee Tsai's Home Page, Baltimore,

MD: Johns Hopkins University

https://jshare.johnshopkins.edu/ktsai1/web/policybrief.html (May 28, 2014).

APPENDIX I: PREPARATORY QUESTIONS FOR WRITING UP BRIEFS Before writing up your brief, be sure that you have clear answers to the

following questions:

1. What is the problems that your brief is going to address? What is the aim of the policy brief? Write one or two sentences from which the rest of the

brief will follow.

2. Who is the audience? What do you know about the audience (e.g., technical knowledge, political or organizational culture or constraints,

exposure to the issue, potential openness to the message)?

3. Why is the problem important to them? What is the best hook for the audience?

4. What background information does the audience need? 5. What other policy or issue briefs already exist? How will your brief differ

(e.g., different information, perspective, aim, or audience)?

6. What data are most important to include for your audience? How will you present the data so it best conveys its message (e.g., in text, bar

graph, line graph)?

7. What are the policy options (if appropriate to your topic/aim)? 8. What recommendations will you make?

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APPENDIX II: CHECKLIST FOR POLICY BRIEFS o Do you think your title is interesting, clear, succinct and descriptive

enough to catch the attention of the audience, especially potential

decision-makers?

o Do you think the section and sub-section headings of your brief are chosen effectively, and they provide a clear overview?

o Does the executive summary convey the overarching message of the brief?

o Is the policy problem clearly and convincingly defined? o Does your statement of the problem convince the readers that there is an

urgent problem?

o Are all possible policy alternatives presented and evaluated? o Is the basis on which you evaluated each option – the framework of

analysis – clearly outlined?

o Do you demonstrate that your chosen alternative represents the best solution to the policy problem?

o Do you outline a course of action to solve the policy problem? o Are recommendations clearly written and practical in nature? Are they

easily identifiable in the text?

o Are all suggested sources and appendices relevant and appropriate in supporting the paper?

APPENDIX III: ‘HARVARD STYLE’ FORMAT FOR REFERENCES Please use ‘Harvard Style’, where the reference appears in the text in its short

form and the full bibliographic details are provided in an alphabetical reference

list at the end. This page shows the most common formats. Harvard Style guides

are available online.

The format for the text mention is as follows:

… as described in Smith and Jones (2007: 37-9) or

… as proposed in Smith et al. (2006)

Full bibliographic details are structured as follows:

1. Author/editor, with last name first, followed by comma, first initial and full stop;

2. Year of publication (in brackets); 3. Full title of the publication in italics; 4. Place of publication; 5. Publisher, e.g., The Developmental Leadership Program; 6. Pages cited, if relevant.

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Example: Smith, J. (2005) How Aid Works, London: The Developmental

Leadership Program, pp 31-32.

Smith, J. and Jones, M (eds) (2005) How Aid Works, London: The

Developmental Leadership Program, pp 31-32.

Citing from the internet

The format is exactly the same as for publications (last name of the

author/editor, followed by comma, first initial and full stop, year in brackets,

full title of the publication in italics, place of publication, publisher, pages

cited), with the addition of the URL on a new line and the date on which this

was visited

Example:

Smith, J. (2005) How Aid Works, London: The Developmental Leadership

Program

http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/opinions/94_aid_sept04.pdf (May 19,

2019).