The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) is a research and knowledge exchange service based in the UK Parliament. It works to ensure that the best available research evidence and information is brought to bear on the legislative process and scrutiny of Government. It primarily supports the select committees of both Houses.
POST:
- publishes impartial, non-partisan, timely and peer-reviewed research
- helps Parliament to access experts and evidence
- identifies emerging areas of interest to Parliament through horizon scanning
- supports the exchange of information and expertise between researchers and the UK Parliament through fellowships and other knowledge exchange activities
We strive for accuracy and impartiality.
Our publications are informed by evidence, our knowledge of the topics we cover and relevant sources.
We often include a variety of views and sources to help Parliament understand the range of opinions. These do not reflect the views of the authors or POST.
Our authors often conduct interviews or solicit information from a range of stakeholders in academia, industry, government, the third sector and other relevant sectors to inform our briefings. These processes help us to map the evidence base and balance the interests of different stakeholders. Experts may also be invited to review our work before publication.
However, POST is editorially independent. Our briefings may not reflect the views of the contributors or reviewers of a briefing.
POST authors and the Head of POST decide what to include, or omit, from POST briefings. They are also responsible for deciding what topics to produce briefings on, sometimes in consultation with parliamentary colleagues and the POST Board.
Decisions on what to publish are informed by the amount of time available to our authors, as well as the following factors:
- parliamentary business
- questions from parliamentarians
- new and topical issues
- research advances and developments
- developments in policy areas
We do not normally update or amend our publications to take account of new information or updated source material, although we may consider doing so when resources permit.
While our work is primarily for Parliament, anyone can read the research published on this website and sign up to be alerted to new content. Anyone is free to use the information available in our publications as part of the Open Parliament Licence.
We are not always able to engage in discussions with members of the public who express opinions about the content of our research, although we will carefully consider and correct any factual errors.