Universities as central actors in evidence-based policymaking in the US

• An analysis of 1.2 million U.S. policy documents revealed more than 150,000 citations to university-affiliated research. • Universities emerge as the leading contributors to evidence-based policymaking. • Policy citations are most heavily concentrated in the health sciences, economics, and education. • Policy-cited research is predominantly produced by elite universities and research-intensive states. • Policy visibility closely tracks federal R&D investment, research output, and institutional prestige. Understanding how universities contribute to policymaking is crucial for assessing the societal impact of research. This study analyzes 80,650 U.S. policy documents (2017–2022) that cite 295,428 US-affiliated academic publications, linking Overton policy data with Scopus affiliation records and federal research funding from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. Universities account for over 70 % of all policy-cited research, confirming their central role in evidence-informed governance. Yet this influence is uneven: a small number of research-intensive institutions dominate, while most universities contribute modestly. Health sciences account for the largest share of university-cited research, with additional contributions in economics, education, and social sciences. Federal agencies cite university research more heavily than local governments or think tanks, and policy visibility is geographically concentrated in states with strong research ecosystems. Correlation analyses indicate that productivity, federal funding, and institutional prestige strongly predict policy influence, whereas government involvement is not consistently associated.