Most academic research databases focus on peer-reviewed journals. But the world is increasingly shaped by another body of knowledge: policy reports, working papers, white papers, and primary sources produced by think tanks, NGOs, governments, and intergovernmental organizations.
What gets missed
When students and researchers rely only on journal databases, they miss the documents that directly inform policy and practice. A 2024 study found that 67% of citations in active policy documents are to grey literature — not journals.
Why Coherent Digital exists
We built Policy Commons to surface and preserve this material at scale. Today we index millions of documents from tens of thousands of organizations worldwide — making the missing half of the research record discoverable and citable.