Study space analysis for policy development

Transforming research findings into policy recommendations requires evaluative criteria beyond traditional academic review. Policy development involves entire literatures, and criteria for examining adequacy of the underlying research as a policy base are needed. At the level of the studies many are obvious: high quality studies, well reported and replicable, consensus on their validity, and ecological validity for application. At the research literature level the distribution of important variables in the literature is important. We discuss policy adequacy criteria and present the Study Space concept for evaluating breadth of coverage and gaps in our knowledge in policy research domains. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.