169 Resources on Influencing Policy | Writing a Policy Brief

Many academic researchers are familiar with presenting research to their peers through conference presentations and articles in scholarly journals. However, these formats may not reach policy makers. After all, would a policy-maker have a subscription to the appropriate journals, or attend the relevant conferences?

One key way to reach and influence many policy makers is to write a formal policy brief, the format of which is different from an academic paper. In the video you watched in part I of this module, you learned about the basic structure of the policy brief. You may wish to review this section of the video now, which begins as 20:14 of the video.

You can become more familiar with how to write a policy brief by working through the International Development Research Centre’s (IRDC)  “How to Write a Policy Brief.”  Engage with these materials with care as you will be drafting your own policy brief in the final assessment for this module.