Policy research aims to examine various factors that influence policy making. It also intends to understand the converse how policies, regulations, and practices affect different malleable or actionable social factors. Policy research can be qualitative or quantitative, or it may investigate causal processes with explanations. Usually, it is categorized into two types – policy analysis and policy evaluation. The former compares various policies, programs, or procedures and chooses the most suitable one. It also defines the implementation processes and strategies of the selected policy. Whereas the latter examines the impact of a particular policy and assesses the implemented policy to evaluate its success.

Bangladesh Institute of Governance and Management (BIGM) holds a two-and-a-half month-long policy analysis course for government or private sector officials of Bangladesh who come from diverse backgrounds and are involved in policy making at different levels. Each participant must submit a policy research paper to complete the course successfully. The following is the list of the best policy papers in each batch of the policy analysis course.