Official publications encompass a wide variety of materials. They include parliamentary publications and publications from government departments and other public bodies and agencies. Official publications may include statistics, records, reports, legislation and even maps.
Official publications may originate from many different sources. These include the legislatures and governments of individual countries, as well as international organisations such as the European Union or the United Nations, the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO, the Council of Europe, etc.
Official publications may cover social, economic, scientific and many other topics. Therefore, they may be of relevance to any academic discipline.
The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) is a forum and knowledge hub for data, analysis and best practices in public policy. OECD Publications provides access to the Organisation's reports, research papers, policy papers and briefs. Content includes case studies and working papers. The OECD site also provides access to statistical data and country information.
Public Information Online is a searchable database providing access to official publications from UK legislative bodies and governments. It includes full-text documents from the UK Parliament, Scottish Parliament, Scottish Government, Northern Ireland Assembly, Welsh Senedd, and selected non-parliamentary sources.
UK Parliament documents, include:
• House of Commons and House of Lords Papers (from 2006/07 and 1901 respectively).
• Public Bills, Explanatory Notes, Command Papers, Acts, and Statutory Instruments.
• Hansard (from 1803 for Commons and 1909 for Lords).
• Committee reports, financial statements, and other parliamentary proceedings.
Scottish Parliament coverage starts from Session 3 (May 2007) onwards and includes legislative and procedural documents such as:
• Bills (public and private), Explanatory Notes, Policy Memorandums, and Financial Memorandums.
• Official Reports (debates), Minutes of Proceedings, Written Answers, and Committee Reports.
• Business Bulletins and Marshalled Lists of amendments.
• Full texts of Acts and accompanying explanatory materials.
Scottish Government publications, available from 2009 onwards include:
• Annual reports, consultations, and research findings.
• Documents spanning diverse policy areas such as education, health, environment, justice, and economics.
Useful for: All disciplines - especially Education, Government & Public Policy, Law, Politics, Social Work & Social Policy.
Full text of Scottish Government publications from 1997 onwards.
U.K. Parliamentary Papers (formerly House of Commons Parliamentary Papers) contains Sessional Papers (e.g. House of Commons Papers, Command Papers and Public Bills) from 1715 to the 2009/10 parliamentary session. UKPP also provides access to supplementary parliamentary material back to 1688 including material from the House of Lords. Full-text of papers from session 2010-11 onwards is available via the Public Information Online service.
Scottish Law Commission Reports may now be published as SG Papers (formerly SE Papers) or House of Commons Papers, prior to the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 they may have been published as Command Papers.
Many reports of the Law Commission of England and Wales are published as Command Papers or House of Commons Papers.
In addition to a ‘Cm’ or ‘SG Paper’ number reports are assigned a ‘Law Com’ or ‘Scot Law Com’ report number. They may be cited by this number:
Scottish Law Commission, Report on Succession (Scot Law Com No 215, 2009) [SG/2009/45]
Law Commission, Intoxication and Criminal Liability (Law Com No 314, 2009) [Cm 7526, 2009]
Public Information Online and UK Parliamentary Papers both allow you to search for papers by title or by paper number.
The Commissions’ websites list all reports with Law Com / Scot Law Com with links to reports available online. (The England and Wales Commission site also gives HC / Command paper numbers).
As part of the process of law reform, the Commissions issue Discussion Papers or Consultation Papers
Discussion / consultation papers may be cited as:
Scottish Law Commission, Discussion Paper on Succession (Scot Law Com DP No 136, 2007)
Law Commission, Consultation Paper on Intoxication and Criminal Liability (Law Com CP No 127, 1993)
The Law Commissions’ Reports are available in collections of Command Papers, HC Papers and SG papers on UK Parliamentary Papers, Public Information Online, and in the Library. In addition, they are also available from the Law Commissions' websites.
The Commissions’ websites list discussion/consultation papers with links to those available online.
The Library holds collections of Law Commission Consultation Papers and Scottish Law Commission Discussion Papers in the serials section on level 1 (arranged by paper number).
Public Information Online is a searchable database providing access to official publications from UK legislative bodies and governments. It includes full-text documents from the UK Parliament, Scottish Parliament, Scottish Government, Northern Ireland Assembly, Welsh Senedd, and selected non-parliamentary sources.
UK Parliament documents, include:
• House of Commons and House of Lords Papers (from 2006/07 and 1901 respectively).
• Public Bills, Explanatory Notes, Command Papers, Acts, and Statutory Instruments.
• Hansard (from 1803 for Commons and 1909 for Lords).
• Committee reports, financial statements, and other parliamentary proceedings.
Scottish Parliament coverage starts from Session 3 (May 2007) onwards and includes legislative and procedural documents such as:
• Bills (public and private), Explanatory Notes, Policy Memorandums, and Financial Memorandums.
• Official Reports (debates), Minutes of Proceedings, Written Answers, and Committee Reports.
• Business Bulletins and Marshalled Lists of amendments.
• Full texts of Acts and accompanying explanatory materials.
Scottish Government publications, available from 2009 onwards include:
• Annual reports, consultations, and research findings.
• Documents spanning diverse policy areas such as education, health, environment, justice, and economics.
Useful for: All disciplines - especially Education, Government & Public Policy, Law, Politics, Social Work & Social Policy.
U.K. Parliamentary Papers (formerly House of Commons Parliamentary Papers) contains Sessional Papers (e.g. House of Commons Papers, Command Papers and Public Bills) from 1715 to the 2009/10 parliamentary session. UKPP also provides access to supplementary parliamentary material back to 1688 including material from the House of Lords. Full-text of papers from session 2010-11 onwards is available via the Public Information Online service.
House of Commons Papers
For more information about finding and using official publications, take a look at our official publications guide:
