Policy brief: provides guidance to policy makers. It must have policy makers (in government, institutions, companies, universities…) as its main target audience. It can make specific recommendations, or outline options for them to consider.
Research brief: summarises research findings (from your research and/or that of others) for non-specialist audiences. It can have different target audiences (politicians, scientists, lay people, patient groups, advocacy groups, farmers, non-governmental organisations…)
However, don’t worry too much about the difference between the 2, they are often used interchangeably.
Suggested format for your brief
Title: make it short, clear and relevant.
You can have a relevant image too, though this is not compulsory.
What the document is and who wrote it: ie. write: A policy/research brief by Nicola Marks
2-5 sentence summary of what the brief is about. Make it clear whether you are making specific recommendations/arguing for a particular perspective, or providing a body of evidence for the reader to make up their mind.
The summary might be in a box, in bold font, bigger letters, or in a side bar.
Key findings or recommendations. These need to be at the beginning of the brief too. They can be with the summary, or in a separate box. 3-6 bullet points.
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[In theory, if the reader only gets to what’s above, that should be enough for them to know all the main things you wanted to say. You might want all the above to fit on 1 page (if you’re submitting a 2-3 page brief), or in the top of the page (if you’re submitting a 1 page brief)]
[There should be ~100-200 words so far]
[You don’t have to have any references so far; Background and body are where you would have most of your references.]
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Background/the problem/the gap in knowledge [~150-250 words]
Explain what is at stake and why it’s important to consider it now.
You might want 1 paragraph overviewing the case study/technology/area of science, and 1 paragraph introducing, in a way that makes sense to non-experts, the literature you will be drawing on.
