Think tanks are institutions often affiliated with universities, foundations, advocacy groups, and non-governmental organizations that generate policy research and analysis. Many are ideological; others strive to be independent and non-partisan.
The Brookings Institution. Conduct research on ideas for solving problems facing society at the local, national and global levels.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Network of research centers dedicated to peace through analysis & development of policy with government, business, & civil society.
Center for American Progress. Progressive research and advocacy organization "dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action."
Center for Strategic and International Studies. International policy institute focused on defense, security; and many other transnational challenges.
Chatham House. The Royal Institute of International Affairs. Independent policy institute based in London dedicated to help build a sustainably secure, prosperous and just world.
Council on Foreign Relations. Important US Foreign Policy Institute and publisher of Foreign Affairs.
Harvard Center for International Development. Conducts research at international development at all academic levels. See their working papers.
The Heritage Foundation. Think tank with a mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies.
Hoover Institution. Think tank at Stanford specializing in economic policy and international affairs.
International Peace Research Institute Oslo. Conducts research on peaceful relations between states, groups and people
National Bureau of Economic Research. Private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research.
Pew Research Center. Nonpartisan institute conducting public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research.
Peterson Institute for International Economics. Nonpartisan research institution devoted to study of international economic policy.
Public Policy Institute of California. Seeks to inform and improve public policy in California through independent nonpartisan research.
RAND Corporation. Addresses security, health, education, sustainability, growth, and development. Much research conducted on behalf of public & private grantors and clients.
Resources for the Future. Independent nonpartisan organization conducting economic policy research concerning natural resources and the environment.
Russell Sage Foundation. Works on improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). International institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament.
Think Tank Search Engine. From Harvard Kennedy School Library.
CGS Policy Archive. Comprehensive digital library of public policy research containing over 30,000 documents
China Economy, Public Policy, and Security Database 皮书数据库. High-value analytical reports intended to guide policymaking in the People's Republic of China (known as "Pishu" which literally means "cover-books").
Think Tanks and NGOs. List of non-profit research institutes and NGOs around the world.
Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources. Directory of sources on international affairs, international relations, international studies, global studies, and global education.
Global Go To Think Tank Index Reports. Comprehensive think tank overview publication from the University of Pennsylvania, up[dated annually.
From NCSU Libraries. Video is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States license.
While research done at Think Tanks can be significant. some are funded by groups with ideological perspectives. Consult neutral resources which indicate whether an organization is conservative, progressive, bipartisan, or affiliated with an advocacy group. It can be very illuminating to look up a group on Source Watch, which does a great job of tracking corporate front campaigns and think tanks funded by lobby groups, etc.
Evaluating Information Found on the Internet. From Johns Hopkins University.
Evaluating Web Pages - Techniques to Apply and Questions to Ask. Exhaustive and informative guide on the subject, from the UC Berkeley Teaching Library.
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Or, Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources. From New Mexico State University, includes links to examples of "good" and "bad" websites.
How to Critically Analyze Information Sources. A quick guide to help you determine the relevance and authority of a resource from Cornell University.