Repod – Access to scientific expertise. Guidelines for the support of scientific policy advice.

Global social crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic have recently highlighted the importance of scientific knowledge and evidence for political decisions. In this context, the question arises as to how an effective process of knowledge exchange between science and political and social actors can be practically and systematically organized and supported. Repod is a digital infrastructure to support knowledge transfer - a central repository for scientific expertise, prepared for political decision-makers. It provides important/critical technical resources, as well as offering a framework for quality assurance of expertise at the interface between science and political and social actors. This guide contains specific instructions for uploading and using the available documents and pursues three objectives: Firstly, we want to demonstrate the added value of a digital infrastructure at the interface between science, political and social stakeholders. Secondly, to provide guidance for the quality assurance of advisory documents, listing specific criteria that researchers can use to ensure maximum reliability and transparency in the provision of advice. Thirdly, to create a standardized terminology with definitions for the classification and categorization of advisory documents. The guidelines comprise eight specific steps that researchers can follow when uploading their expertise and preparing consultation documents. We recommend placing particular emphasis on presenting uncertainties as transparently as possible and describing types of evidence and the methodological approach in detail in the metadata of the uploaded documents. In addition, Repod offers political and social actors the opportunity to distinguish opinions from a descriptive presentation of research results. We would also like to emphasise that quality assurance cannot be completely taken over by the technical infrastructure; personal responsibility always plays an important role in the sharing and use of expertise. For societal and political actors, this tool opens up the possibility of gaining a deeper and more comprehensive insight into the scientific process of building knowledge. The thesis paper is the result of research accompanying the development of the Repository for Policy Documents “REPOD”, which has been online since May 2024. The joint project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) from February 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024. The Leibniz Information Center for Economics (ZBW) was responsible for project management and the development of the repository. The Leibniz Institute for Spatial Social Research (IRS), the Leibniz Institute for Media Research (HBI), the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) and the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research (RWI) were involved in the accompanying research. These guidelines are the result of cooperation between the HIIG and the RWI.