Standards and Processes

At WRI India, we are committed to providing high-quality publications and our research is guided by our “Standards of Excellence”: 

• Credible: Unbiased, transparent and well-supported analysis.
• Adds value: Enhances existing knowledge.
• Audience-aligned: User-tested, actionable and timely.
• Well written: Clear narrative, logical flow and grammatically correct.
• Institutionally coherent: Aligned with WRI India’s vision and mission.

To uphold our “Standards of Excellence,” we invest in systems, talent and processes through the Research, Data and Impact (RDI) team, which guides researchers across all stages — from idea development to publication.

The RDI team also manages our non-blind peer-review process involving internal and external experts. All WRI India-branded knowledge products are subject to this peer-review process. For research or data collection activities that involve people — such as surveys or interviews — the RDI team oversees a human subjects protection review in line with established guidelines.

For more information and/or feedback, please email RDI@wri.org. We take all concerns related to our research seriously. Please contact us if you would like more information about WRI India’s review procedures or if you notice an error in one of our publications. 

WRI India's research publications fall into one of seven categories: reports, issue briefs, guidebooks, working papers, technical notes, expert notes and practice notes. A brief description of each of these categories is described below.

Reports share the results of in-depth research, typically based on extensive evidence. They draw robust conclusions and usually make recommendations that are underpinned by research by the team. 

Issue briefs are short and inform policymakers in governments or international organizations. Issue briefs focus on policy issues and clearly draw out the implications of existing evidence for decision makers.  

Guidebooks are designed to help users apply a clearly defined standard, practice or process. The information in Guidebooks may be based on experience implementing a practice or on a researched methodology. 

Working papers contain research, analysis or thinking that is still under development. They are not intended to be lower-quality products, but rather a mechanism for sharing preliminary findings with target audiences.  

Technical notes are publications documenting a research or analytical methodology that underpins a published WRI India-branded knowledge product, often a dataset, or interactive application.  

Practice notes are case studies used to share experiences and insights gleaned from the implementation of a specific activity in a single location.

Expert notes provide timely, focused and concise information to policymakers and stakeholders confronting urgent, immediate challenges. They address a timebound need for input, for example, legislation with a limited window for discussion.