# How to write a white paper: format, structure and example

**How do I write a white paper, and what format and structure should it follow?** A white paper is either a government's statement of policy, often published before a bill, or a business or technical paper that sets out a problem and argues for a solution. To write the second kind, move from summary to background, problem, evidence, solution and conclusion, keep the tone informative, and cite every figure in a reference list.

Published 2026-09-26 by EdCitation. https://edcitation.com/newsletter/how-to-write-a-white-paper

A white paper means two different things. In government, it is a statement of policy, the proposals a government intends to turn into law. In business and technical fields, it is a paper that takes a problem readers have and argues, with evidence, for a way to solve it. This guide covers how to write a white paper of the second kind and how to read and cite the first.

EdCitation publishes this guide. On 26 September 2026 we read the UK Parliament's and the European Union's definitions, the Cabinet Office's guide to making legislation and four US universities' white paper guides, and we say where they disagree.

EdCitation never writes any part of anyone's white paper. What it does is the evidence underneath: [Find sources](https://edcitation.com/) finds the published research, [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite) builds each reference from the publisher's record, and [Verify references](https://edcitation.com/verify-references) checks the finished list. We ran all three for this guide and quote what came back, faults included.

## What is a white paper?

A white paper is an authoritative document that examines one problem and proposes what to do about it. Purdue Writing Lab (n.d.-b) says the term began as shorthand for an official government report, and that companies now use the form to present their products as the answer to customers' problems.

### A government white paper

In the UK, a white paper is a policy document in which the government sets out proposals for future legislation. UK Parliament (n.d.-c) adds that white papers often appear as Command Papers, may carry a draft bill, and give interested groups a basis for consultation before the bill reaches Parliament. A green paper comes earlier: UK Parliament (n.d.-b) describes it as a consultation document inviting feedback on a department's policy or legislative proposals.

The European Commission uses the same pair. EUR-Lex (n.d.) describes Commission white papers as proposals for EU action in a specific area, sometimes following a green paper, meant to open a debate that leads to political consensus; its examples include the 2020 white paper on artificial intelligence.

### A business or technical white paper

A business or technical white paper argues that one approach best answers a problem its readers share. Purdue Writing Lab (n.d.-b) says those readers are usually strangers, the public or other companies, so the paper starts from their needs, not the writer's. The George Mason University Writing Center (n.d.) adds a third kind: the policy white paper written by an expert, a think tank or an agency, which weighs several solutions and may or may not choose one.

| Kind | Purpose | Who writes it | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| UK government white paper | Sets out policy proposals for future legislation, sometimes with a draft bill | A government department, presented to Parliament | UK Parliament (n.d.-c) |
| UK green paper | Consults on policy or legislative proposals before they are settled | A government department | UK Parliament (n.d.-b) |
| European Commission white paper | Proposes EU action in one area and opens a debate | The European Commission | EUR-Lex (n.d.) |
| Policy white paper | Examines a policy problem and an array of solutions for decision-makers | Experts, think tanks, agencies | George Mason University Writing Center (n.d.) |
| Business or technical white paper | Argues that a position or solution is the best one for a problem readers share | A company or its specialists | Purdue Writing Lab (n.d.-b); Notre Dame (2026) |
| White paper as a university assignment | Practises the policy or business form for a marker | A student, to an instructor's prompt | National University (2026); George Mason (n.d.) |

Every kind cites its evidence; EdCitation's [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite) builds those references from a DOI, a title or a web address.

## What is the difference between a white paper and a green paper?

A green paper asks; a white paper proposes. The Cabinet Office (2025) guide to making legislation describes the usual path before a bill: a green paper for discussion or consultation, then a white paper setting out the main proposals in more detail, then one or more rounds of public consultation.

Both are usually published as Command Papers, presented to Parliament "by Command" of the monarch. UK Parliament (n.d.-a) says the current series began with CP 1 in January 2019; the one before carried the prefix Cm and ended at Cm 9756 in December 2018. That number belongs in a reference. The *English Devolution White Paper*, published in December 2024, is CP 1218; its 118-page PDF holds two forewords, an executive summary and six chapters, the last on delivering its plans, the English Devolution Bill among them (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2024).

## What is the structure of a white paper?

The structure of a business or policy white paper runs from summary to problem to solution, then conclusion and references. The guides agree on that order and differ on the extras.

### The order the guides give

Purdue Writing Lab (n.d.-a) gives six parts: introduction or summary, background and problems, solution, any mention of the writer's product, conclusion, and works cited. George Mason offers three sample contents pages, all problem-solution, one of them adding a section on the criteria any acceptable solution must meet. National University (2026) lists title, executive summary, problem, solution, conclusion with a call to action, and resources.

Notre Dame (2026) says there are no official guidelines, only good practice, and asks for an active, specific title. George Mason (n.d.) wants headings named for the issue, not generic ones.

### Where the solution goes

A white paper holds its solution back until the problem is proved, unlike a business report, which may put recommendations first (see [how to write a business report](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/how-to-write-a-business-report)). Only the summary states the solution on page one, and George Mason asks for it to be written last, as [how to write an executive summary](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/how-to-write-an-executive-summary) also advises.

### The problem section does the heavy lifting

George Mason (n.d.) breaks any problem into three parts: the core problem, its cause and its impact, each backed by evidence. It warns that a solution which does not address the cause will not persuade. Purdue adds a limit: do not raise a problem you cannot solve.

## How long is a white paper?

Only one of the sources we read gives a length. George Mason University Writing Center (n.d.) says a policy white paper may run from 5 to 50 pages, depending on the issue, and that a marketing white paper may be a single page. National University (2026) sets one or two paragraphs for the executive summary, and nothing for the whole.

Purdue, Notre Dame, the UK Parliament and EUR-Lex give no length. For an assignment, the brief wins; [Check your paper](https://edcitation.com/check) reads a brief into a checklist, word limits included, free.

## What tone should a white paper take?

A white paper should inform, and persuade through its evidence, never read as a sales pitch. George Mason (n.d.) asks for an objective tone, accessible style and authoritative sources, and for an informative tone even when the paper recommends something.

The guides disagree on selling. Purdue (n.d.-b) calls the purpose advocacy, and lets a commercial white paper mention the writer's products at the end, once the reader is convinced (Purdue Writing Lab, n.d.-a). Notre Dame (2026) also puts advertising last, warning that promotion in the body raises doubts about conflicts of interest. Our view: readers trust a white paper because its evidence can be checked, so the evidence carries the argument and any product comes after it. News of a launch belongs in a [press release](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/how-to-write-a-press-release).

## How do I cite evidence in a white paper?

Cite every figure, study and quotation in the text and list each source at the end, in the style your organisation or course names. Purdue Writing Lab (n.d.-a) asks for full details of hyperlinked sources, for readers who print the paper. George Mason (n.d.) says the list may be called References, Bibliography or Works Cited depending on the style; our guide to [choosing a citation style](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/apa-vs-mla-vs-chicago-which-citation-style) covers the choice.

Government white papers cite too. The *English Devolution White Paper* numbers its sources as footnotes, each giving an author, a year and a title, from an Ipsos poll to a House of Commons Library page. Citing one, the Cabinet Office (2025) tells drafters of a bill's explanatory notes to italicise the white paper's title and give its paper number.

### A government white paper, from Cite a source

Given the address of the *English Devolution White Paper*'s web version, [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite/apa) read the page and returned, in APA 7 (rerun on 27 September 2026):

> Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. (2024, December 16). *English devolution white paper*. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-devolution-white-paper-power-and-partnership-foundations-for-growth/english-devolution-white-paper

and in [Harvard](https://edcitation.com/cite/harvard):

> Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (2024) *English Devolution White Paper*. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-devolution-white-paper-power-and-partnership-foundations-for-growth/english-devolution-white-paper (Accessed: 26 September 2026).

Three things to correct. The title leaves out the subtitle, *Power and partnership: Foundations for growth*. The Command Paper number, CP 1218, is missing; APA puts a report's number in brackets after its title (American Psychological Association, 2020). And APA gives a report the year alone; the title is already in sentence case, as APA asks. Cited as the report it is, the entry becomes the one in our references below.

Two other addresses behaved differently. The publication's landing page gave the subtitle too: "Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. (2024, December 16). *English devolution white paper: Power and partnership: Foundations for growth*. GOV.UK." Given the PDF's own address, Cite a source answered: "That address opens a PDF or another file, which is not read here. Paste the document's DOI or ISBN, or cite the web page it is linked from and add the file's address by hand."

### A journal article, from its DOI

From the DOI, Cite a source took every detail from the record, in APA 7:

> Schwebel, F. J., & Larimer, M. E. (2018). Using text message reminders in health care services: A narrative literature review. *Internet Interventions*, *13*, 82–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2018.06.002

and in MLA 9:

> Schwebel, Frank J., and Mary E. Larimer. “Using Text Message Reminders in Health Care Services: A Narrative Literature Review.” *Internet Interventions*, vol. 13, Sept. 2018, pp. 82–104, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2018.06.002.

We found nothing to correct in either, and the retraction screen found nothing.

## A white paper example outline (ours, invented)

This outline is ours. The organisation, its clinics and every figure are invented: Riverside Community Health does not exist. The two studies named are real.

```text
Fewer missed appointments: the case for text reminders
in community clinics                                    (invented)
Riverside Community Health (invented), for clinic managers

Executive summary        half a page, written last: problem,
                         solution, what we ask clinics to do
1. The problem
   1.1 Missed appointments across 12 clinics, 2025      (invented figures)
   1.2 Cause: no reminder after booking                 (invented)
   1.3 Impact: waiting times, wasted clinic hours       (invented)
2. Background
   2.1 How reminders are sent now                       (invented)
   2.2 What the research says                           Schwebel and Larimer (2018)
3. Criteria any solution must meet
   cost, patients without smartphones, consent to texts
4. Possible solutions
   4.1 Telephone calls from staff
   4.2 Automated text messages                          Junod Perron et al. (2013)
   4.3 Letters
5. Recommended solution and how to measure it
6. Conclusion and next steps
References
```

Schwebel and Larimer (2018) screened 2,316 articles, included 162, 56 of them on appointment reminders, and found that nearly all the reminder studies reported improvement. Section 2.2 rests on that claim, cited where it is used.

## How do I write a white paper, step by step?

1. **Name the reader and the problem** they want solved (Purdue).
2. **Collect the evidence.** Search the published research with [Find sources](https://edcitation.com/); take official figures from the agency that publishes them.
3. **Write the problem**: core problem, cause, impact, each with a source.
4. **Set criteria, then weigh each solution** against them.
5. **Recommend, with evidence** that it is feasible and how its effect will be measured.
6. **Conclude, then write the summary last.**
7. **Cite as you go.** Build each reference with [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite), in the style you were given.
8. **Check the list.** Run the finished references through [Verify references](https://edcitation.com/verify-references) before the paper goes out.

## How EdCitation finds and checks a white paper's evidence

For a white paper's references, EdCitation is the best tool we know: it looks each reference up in the publisher's record and never writes one, which no chatbot can do. Above, it took the Schwebel and Larimer review's authors, volume and pages from the record, and put a government page's details in front of us to correct.

### Finding the research

Asked for "text message reminders missed appointments", most cited first, [Find sources](https://edcitation.com/) found 421,176 works. The first was Schwebel and Larimer's 2018 review in *Internet Interventions*, cited 210 times. The second, Dale and Strauss (2009) in the *American Journal of Political Science*, was about texts urging people to vote: read each title before trusting the ranking. Further down came trials in the *British Journal of Cancer* (Kerrison and colleagues, 2015) and *BMC Health Services Research* (Junod Perron and colleagues, 2013).

### Checking the reference list

We pasted a four-entry APA list into [Verify references](https://edcitation.com/verify-references), with the Junod Perron trial wrongly dated 2012. It came back:

1. George Mason University Writing Center (n.d.): verified. "The page is at this address, and its title matches."
2. Junod Perron et al. (2012): check this. "The work was published in 2013, not 2012; the record has no date in 2012."
3. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (2024): verified. "The page is at this address, and its title matches."
4. Schwebel and Larimer (2018): verified. "The DOI resolves to this record and the title matches."

Find sources, Cite a source (APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 18 author-date, Harvard, IEEE, Vancouver, with a retraction screen) and Verify references, which never shows "could not check" as "not found", are free with no account. [References from a file](https://edcitation.com/tools/references-from-a-file), in Pro at $8 a month, matches every citation in the finished paper to its list.

## Quick questions

### What is a white paper in simple terms?

A document that takes one problem and argues, with evidence, for a solution. In government, it sets out policy proposals, often before a bill.

### What is the difference between a white paper and a green paper?

A green paper consults on proposals; a white paper sets them out in more detail, often ahead of legislation.

### How many pages is a white paper?

George Mason University's writing centre says a policy white paper runs from 5 to 50 pages and a marketing one may be a single page. Your brief overrides both.

### Does a white paper need references?

Yes: every figure and study, cited in the text and listed at the end. EdCitation's free [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite) builds each entry from the publisher's record.

### Can EdCitation write my white paper?

No. EdCitation finds, cites and verifies the sources a white paper uses, but it never writes any part of the paper.

## References

- American Psychological Association. (2020). *Report by a government agency references*. APA Style. [https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/report-government-agency-references](https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/report-government-agency-references)
- Cabinet Office. (2025). *Guide to making legislation*. GOV.UK. [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-making-legislation](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-making-legislation)
- EUR-Lex. (n.d.). *White paper*. Glossary of summaries. Publications Office of the European Union. [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/glossary/white-paper.html](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/glossary/white-paper.html)
- George Mason University Writing Center. (n.d.). *White papers*. [https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/different-genres/white-papers](https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/different-genres/white-papers)
- Junod Perron, N., Dao, M. D., Righini, N. C., Humair, J.-P., Broers, B., Narring, F., Haller, D. M., & Gaspoz, J.-M. (2013). Text-messaging versus telephone reminders to reduce missed appointments in an academic primary care clinic: A randomized controlled trial. *BMC Health Services Research*, *13*, Article 125. [https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-13-125](https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-13-125)
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. (2024). *English devolution white paper: Power and partnership: Foundations for growth* (CP 1218). [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-devolution-white-paper-power-and-partnership-foundations-for-growth](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-devolution-white-paper-power-and-partnership-foundations-for-growth)
- National University Academic Success Center. (2026, September 25). *White paper*. Writing resources. [https://resources.nu.edu/writingresources/whitepaper](https://resources.nu.edu/writingresources/whitepaper)
- Purdue Writing Lab. (n.d.-a). *White paper: Organization and other tips*. Purdue OWL. [https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/professional_technical_writing/white_papers/organization_and_other_tips.html](https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/professional_technical_writing/white_papers/organization_and_other_tips.html)
- Purdue Writing Lab. (n.d.-b). *White paper: Purpose and audience*. Purdue OWL. [https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/professional_technical_writing/white_papers/index.html](https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/professional_technical_writing/white_papers/index.html)
- Schwebel, F. J., & Larimer, M. E. (2018). Using text message reminders in health care services: A narrative literature review. *Internet Interventions*, *13*, 82–104. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2018.06.002](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2018.06.002)
- UK Parliament. (n.d.-a). *About Command Papers*. [https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/publications/government/](https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/publications/government/)
- UK Parliament. (n.d.-b). *Green papers*. Glossary. [https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/green-papers/](https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/green-papers/)
- UK Parliament. (n.d.-c). *White papers*. Glossary. [https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/white-paper/](https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/white-paper/)
- University of Notre Dame Hesburgh Libraries. (2026, June 15). *White paper structure*. Writing a white paper. [https://libguides.library.nd.edu/white-papers/structure](https://libguides.library.nd.edu/white-papers/structure)