Policy reports directly reflect the different roles that the policy analyst commonly plays, i.e. from researcher to advocate. The type of report that you are writing is one from the more action-oriented, advocacy end of the continuum (but that is nevertheless based purely on evidence and not your opinion). Although there is much variation even at this end of the scale, the most common elements of the policy brief are as follows:

• Title of the Policy Report
• Executive Summary
• Context and Importance of the Problem (also called the ‘Introduction’)
• Pre-Existing Policies, Policy Options, and Research
• Conclusion
• Policy Recommendations
• Reference Page

The following is a description of each of the elements required in your policy report (and note that these should be subheadings in your policy report):

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• Title of the Policy Report—The title aims to catch the attention of the reader and compel him/her to read on and so needs to be descriptive, punchy, and relevant.
• Executive Summary—The executive summary aims to convince the reader further that the brief is worth in-depth investigation. It is especially important for an audience that is short of time to clearly see the relevance and importance of the report in reading the summary. As such, a 1 to 2 paragraph executive summary commonly includes: A description of the problem addressed; a statement on why the current approach/policy option needs to be changed; and your recommendations for action.
• Context and importance of the problem (i.e. Introduction)—The purpose of this element of the report is to convince the target audience that a current and urgent problem exists which requires them to take action. The context and importance of the problem is both the introductory and first building block of the brief. As such, it usually includes the following: A clear statement of the problem or issue in focus; a short overview of the root causes of the problem; and a clear statement of the policy implications of the problem which clearly establishes the current importance and policy relevance of the issue. It is worth noting that the length of the problem description may vary considerably from report to report depending on the stage on the policy process in focus, e.g. there may be a need to have a much more extensive problem description for policy at the evaluation stage than for one at the option choosing stage.

• Pre-Existing Policies, Policy Options, and Research—The aim of this element is to detail shortcomings of the current approach or options being implemented and therefore, illustrate both the need for change and focus of where change needs to occur. It also should detail the evidence about what will likely work better (or not suffer from the shortcomings). In doing so, the critique of policy options usually includes the following: A short overview of the policy option(s) in focus and the evidence illustrating why and how the current approach is failing and why and how another option is not failing (and is hopefully ‘working’). It is also important for the sake of credibility to recognize all opinions in the debate of the issue.
• Conclusion—you need to summarize briefly what the readers should take away from your research review.
• Policy recommendations—The aim of the policy recommendations element is to provide a detailed and convincing proposal of how the failings of the current policy approach need to change. As such this is achieved by including: A breakdown of the specific practical steps or measures that need to be implemented. You may also include a closing paragraph reemphasizing the importance of action. The recommendations should follow the conclusion.
• Reference Page—Since your policy report is research-driven and evidence-based, you should include a reference page that includes all the journal articles, book chapters, books, and reputable reports that you used to inform your policy report. You should have at least 8, but likely more. Also, you must have in-text cites throughout your policy brief report. Remember, this is not original research by you, thus you should have a copious amount of in-text cites. By way of example, here is a decent illustration of in-text citing:

The swelling of the US system over the last 40 years is due, almost entirely, to an increased rate of incarceration for people of color, mainly for drug-related offenses (Alexander, 2010; Currie,

2013; Sentencing Project, 2010; Tonry, 2011). For young men of color with little education, the prison has become a normal social experience, statistically speaking (Western, 2006). Mass incarceration appears to be with us for years to come as well: while the US prison population recently experienced a slight downtick, estimates suggest that the US carceral system will be larger in 2018 than today (The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2014). This means that, for the foreseeable future, a prison term will serve as a common rite of passage for poor young men of color (Comfort, 2012), an experience that forever dims their life prospects and curtails those of their neighbors, partners, brothers, sisters and children, perhaps for generations to come (Clear, 2007; Wakefield and Wildeman, 2011).

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