RAND Documents Series
RAND utilizes a variety of documents to communicate and disseminate the results of its research. Since RAND's first report was published in 1946, the range of documents has varied, from books and monographs to briefings and reports. The RAND document series was revised in 2003 in order to better meet the needs of our clients, policymakers and decisionmakers, researchers, and the general public.
The RAND document series has been designed to support corporate standards for high-quality analysis and clearly convey to all audiences the extent of the RAND quality assurance review process to which each work has been subjected.
Series Descriptions
To identify what series a RAND document is part of, look at its document number:
| Document Number | Abbreviation | Series |
| CF-189-xxxx | CF | Conference proceedings |
Commercial Book (CB)
Included in the commercial book series are books and publications that were originally published by a commercial press, have at some point gone out of print, and with the rights reverting to RAND, have been brought back into print for the digital age. Many of these works have new introductions or forewords to place the work in historical context.Conference Proceedings (CF)
RAND conference proceedings (CFs) are intended to document material presented at a conference or workshop. Typically, they comprise a collection of papers delivered at a conference with an optional summary of the conference or workshop.Documented Briefing (DB)
Documented briefings are based on research briefed to a client, sponsor, or targeted audience and provide additional information on a specific topic. Although documented briefings have been peer reviewed, they are not expected to be comprehensive and may present preliminary findings.Library Reprint (LRP)
Many RAND studies are published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, as chapters in commercial books, or as documents published by other organizations. RAND tracks such documents as Library Reprints (LRP) by registering them in its corporate bibliographic database and directing users to the original publisher or by providing a link to the document. All items in the LRP series have been formally reviewed in accordance with the publisher's editorial policy.Monograph (MG)
Monographs present major research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world. They strive to be comprehensive or analyze a problem from a variety of perspectives. All RAND monographs undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.Occasional Paper (OP)
Occasional papers may include an informed perspective on a timely policy issue, a discussion of research methodologies, essays, a paper presented at a conference, a conference summary, or a summary of work in progress. All occasional papers undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.Pardee RAND Graduate School Dissertation (RGSD)
Pardee RAND Graduate School dissertations are produced by graduate fellows of the Pardee RAND Graduate School, the world’s leading producer of Ph.D.’s in policy analysis. Dissertations are supervised, reviewed, and approved by a faculty committee.Research Brief (RB)
Research briefs present policy-oriented summaries of either individual, published, peer-reviewed documents (usually RAND monographs, journal articles, reports, or technical reports) or of a body of published work. Policy briefs, research highlights, and fact sheets are part of the research brief series.
Example document
Browse all research briefs
Subject Area Bibliography (SB)
Available for a diverse collection of subjects, each subject area bibliography is used to easily identify RAND research documents grouped by topic in one place, complete with abstracts. RAND maintains bibliographies on over 50 topics, from Africa to Water Resources. Updated regularly, subject area bibliography contain most publicly available research documents released by RAND.Example document PDF (0.2 MB)
Browse all subject area bibliographies
Selected RAND Abstracts (SRA)
Selected RAND abstracts provide a comprehensive annual guide to RAND’s unclassified publications, with abstracts for every publicly available RAND document in a given year.Example document PDF (2.6 MB)
Browse all selected RAND abstracts
Technical Report (TR)
Technical reports may include research findings on a specific topic that is limited in scope or intended for a narrow audience; present discussions of the methodology employed in research; provide literature reviews, survey instruments, modeling exercises, guidelines for practitioners and research professionals, and supporting documentation; or deliver preliminary findings. All technical reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure that they meet high standards for research quality and objectivity. Documents in this series may also simply be called reports.Testimony (CT)
Testimonies record testimony presented by RAND associates to federal, state, or local legislative committees; government-appointed commissions and panels; and private review and oversight bodies.Working Paper (WR)
Working papers are intended to share the authors’ latest research findings and solicit informal peer review. They have been reviewed by the management but typically have not been edited or undergone RAND’s formal technical review process.
Note: Working papers are not made available in a search by series within RAND’s Reports & Bookstore section, but they can be found by title search. Working papers are also sometimes available through the publication listings of the RAND divisions that sponsor the authors’ work.
More Information
For more information on the RAND publications series, please contact Jane Ryan [ryan@rand.org]; +1-310-393-0411, ext. 7260.
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