DISCUSSION PAPER AND POLICY PAPER SYNOPSIS

RESEARCH PURPOSE: TO IDENTIFY AN IMPORTANT MATTER OF PUBLIC INTEREST OR SOCIAL PROBLEM AND ITS RELATION TO PUBLIC POLICY.

DISCUSSION PAPERS: DISSEMINATE RESEARCH QUICKLY IN ORDER TO GENERATE COMMENT AND SUGGESTIONS FOR REVISION OR IMPROVEMENT. THEY MAY HAVE BEEN PRESENTED AT CONFERENCES OR WORKSHOPS ALREADY, BUT WILL NOT YET HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED IN JOURNALS.

[SO WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?] == POLICY PAPERS OFTEN BEGIN WITH DISCUSSION PAPERS AND BACKGROUND PAPERS AS RESOURCES, BUT ARE MUCH MORE COMPREHENSIVE IN GOAL AND SCOPE.

***POLICY PAPERS: ARE CRITICAL ANALYSES OF AN IMPORTANT SOCIAL ISSUE OR PROBLEM THAT INVOLVES THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOP OF A DEFENSIBLE PLAN (POLICY PROPOSAL) FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEM AND FORMULATE WORKABLE STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PLAN.

THREE KEY FOCI:

[1] AIMS TO IDENTIFY KEY POLICY ISSUES;

[2] APPLY THE BEST AND MOST UP-TO-DATE RESEARCH TO HELP UNDERSTAND THESE ISSUES; AND

[3] EXPLORES THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS RESEARCH FOR THE DESIGN AND CONDUCT OF POLICY.

THE PROSPECTIVE OUTCOME:

POLICY PAPERS ARE GENERALLY EXPECTED TO INCREASE THE INVOLVEMENT OF ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS IN AND IMPORTANT EFFORT AT SOME LEVEL,

[1] WHETHER IT BE SUPPORTING AND/OR ENDORSING THE POLICY PAPER,

[2] ADOPTING THE USE OF THE SET OF CRITERIA,

[3] JOINING A WORKING GROUP, COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP, ETC., AND/OR

[4] EDUCATING OTHERS ON THIS TOPIC.

****POLICY PAPERS NEED TO BE FORMAL, CONCISE, STRAIGHTFORWARD, ORGANIZED, LOGICAL, THOUGHTFUL, WELL RESEARCHED, WELL SUPPORTED, WELL WRITTEN, AND WELL ARGUED.