Overton
The policy-document database — see where research shows up in government.
At a Glance
- Publisher
- Overton
- Coverage
Millions of policy documents from governments, think tanks, and IGOs worldwide, linked to the research and people they cite (verify current counts).
- Access
Paid subscription; some public-facing summaries.
- Free alternative
- Dimensions (policy layer, free app), Google, agency websites.
- Regional
Global government and policy coverage.
Our Take
Overton is the specialist database for research-to-policy impact — it indexes policy documents from governments and IGOs worldwide and links them to the academic work and experts they cite, which is exactly what you need to show that research influenced practice. For impact case studies, funder reporting, and understanding a field’s real-world reach, it’s the deepest source. The trade-offs are cost and that policy-citation data is inherently messy. Use it to trace research into policy and build impact narratives; Dimensions’ free policy layer is a lighter alternative.
Power Tips
- Use it to find where a paper or author is cited in actual government policy for impact cases.
- Track a topic’s policy footprint across countries and institutions.
- Corroborate a key policy citation by opening the source document — linkage can be noisy.
Alternatives & Complements
Dimensions, Google, PolicyCommons, Altmetric
Figures last verified: June 15, 2026