Overview
Policy literature reviews fail when they present academic research findings to policy audiences without translating statistical language into policy-relevant terms. "A statistically significant effect of d=0.23 (p<0.001)" communicates nothing to a policy maker. "Programs of this type produce an 8% reduction in recidivism rates at a cost of $4,200 per participant" communicates the same evidence in a decision-relevant format. Policy reviews must translate academic evidence into the language of outcomes, costs, and feasibility that policy decisions require.
The Policy-Oriented Literature Review Framework translates research evidence into policy-relevant terms, synthesizes implementation evidence alongside effectiveness evidence, and explicitly separates what research can inform from what requires political value judgments.