Research report

{{Short description|Report describing the results of a research project}}

A research report is a publication that reports on the findings of a research project.{{Cite web |title=Research Reports |url=https://www.mit.edu/course/21/21.guide/rep-resc.htm |access-date=2023-09-16 |website=www.mit.edu}}

Research reports are produced by many sectors including industry, education, government and non-government organizations and may be disseminated internally, or made public (i.e. published) however they are not usually available from booksellers or through standard commercial publishing channels.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tib.eu/en/publishing-archiving/research-reports/|title=Research reports |publisher=Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB)|access-date=2020-02-07}}{{Cite journal|last=Lawrence|first=Amanda|date=2018-01-08|editor-last=Chan|editor-first=Leslie|editor2-last=Loizides|editor2-first=Fernando|title=Influence seekers: The production of grey literature for policy and practice|journal=Information Services & Use|volume=37|issue=4|pages=389–403|doi=10.3233/ISU-170857|doi-access=free}} Research reports are also issued by governmental and international organizations, such as UNESCO.

There are various distribution models for research reports with the main ones being: public distribution for free or open access; limited distribution to clients and customers; or commercial sale. For example market research reports are often produced for sale by specialist market research companies, investment companies may provide research reports to clients{{Cite web|url=https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/research-report.asp|title=Research Report|last=Chen|first=James|website=Investopedia|language=en|access-date=2020-02-07}} while government agencies and civil society organizations such as UNESCO, the World Health Organization and many others often provide free access to organization research reports in the public interest{{Cite web|url=https://en.unesco.org/open-access/access-thousands-free-publications|title=Access thousands of free publications|publisher=UNESCO|access-date=2020-02-07}} or for a range of organization requirements and objectives.