Grey Literature
White papers present authoritative guides, policy positions, or technical recommendations for practitioners and decision-makers.
White papers present authoritative guides, policy positions, or technical recommendations for practitioners and decision-makers.
When to select this type
Choose White Paper for structured recommendations without primary research reporting.
Typical audience
Policymakers, industry leaders, institutional administrators.
Recommended use cases
Purpose
Inform policy, standards, or practice with structured evidence-based recommendations.
Scope
Professional documents between academic articles and policy briefs.
Typical structure
Required sections
Recommended sections
Figures
0–5 diagrams or charts.
Tables
0–4 summary tables.
References
20–60 references.
Supplementary material
Supporting data, stakeholder feedback, appendices.
Required metadata
Required declarations
Funding requirements
Declare organizational or sponsor funding.
Conflict of interest
Disclose institutional and commercial relationships.
Ethics requirements
Required if primary human data included.
Consent requirements
Required for identifiable human data.
Data availability
Share supporting analyses when available.
AI disclosure
Disclose AI use in analysis or drafting.
Copyright
Authors retain copyright.
Licensing
Often CC BY for policy documents.
Export formats supported
Improve transparency of health economic analyses for decision-making.
Typical journal expectations
Executive summary, actionable recommendations, professional formatting.
Typical peer review process
Editorial and subject-matter review.
Journal compatibility notes
Policy and professional publication channels.
Submission readiness checklist
Select White Paper when your manuscript matches the scope, structure, and reporting expectations described on this page. If your work fits a different scholarly format, review similar publication types before submitting.
Contact the editorial team before payment if you need to change publication type. After editorial screening begins, type changes require editorial approval and may restart parts of the review process.
Reporting guidelines listed as recommended should be followed when applicable to your study design. Editorial reviewers assess completeness against the expectations for your selected publication type.
Platform standards for ethical research publication.
Transparent, ethical, and accountable AI use across research and publishing.
Transparency, independence, and responsible disclosure across research and publishing.