Policy-based evidence making

"Policy-based evidence making" is a pejorative term which refers to the commissioning of research in order to support a policy which has already been decided upon. It is the converse of evidence-based policy making.

As the name suggests, policy-based evidence making means working back from a predefined policy to produce underpinning evidence. Working from a conclusion to provide only supporting evidence is an approach which contradicts most interpretations of the scientific method; however, it should be distinguished from research into the effects of a policy where such research may provide either supporting or opposing evidence.

In The Politics of Evidence: From evidence-based policy to the good governance of evidence, Justin Parkhurst quotes the following example from Professor Anne Glover, then Chief Scientific Officer to the European Commission:

Similar reasoning has been advanced in respect of public policy on alcohol and narcotics.

In July 2006, Rebecca Boden and Debbie Epstein published a paper in which they wrote:

The term "policy-based evidence making" was later referred to in a report of the United Kingdom House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology into Scientific Advice, Risk and Evidence Based Policy Making issued in October 2006. The committee stated:

The term has been applied to climate policy. Oliver Geden, writing in Nature in 2015, said (p28): 

The term has also been applied outside the strictly scientific arena, for example in a position paper for the Arts and Humanities Research Council.