Research & Country Analysis — Glossary

A resource document providing comprehensive information on topics, countries, and issues for delegates.

A concise document providing essential context and facts about a committee’s topic for delegates’ reference.

An award recognizing the delegate who submits the most thorough and well-written position paper.

A coordinated plan among a group of countries with similar interests to influence debate and voting outcomes.

A compilation of organized evidence and arguments used by policy debaters to prepare and quickly access information during rounds.

A piece of evidence consisting of a quotation, citation, and explanation used to support an argument in debate rounds.

A concise reference to the source of evidence read aloud during a debate, including author, publication, and date.

The structured format of a piece of evidence including the tag, citation, and body in debate speeches.

Credibility evaluates the trustworthiness and reliability of a source or piece of evidence.

A cutting card is a quoted excerpt from a source used as evidence to support a debater's argument.

Selecting and extracting concise, relevant excerpts from evidence sources to use effectively during speeches or cross-examination.

A country's strategy in managing its relationships and interactions with other states and international organizations.

Collecting publicly available information to inform negotiation strategies and decision-making.

A document summarizing a country's official stance and proposed solutions on committee topics.

A concise document outlining a country's official stance and policies on agenda topics to guide debate and negotiation.

Guidelines on how to structure and present a position paper, including sections like country stance, policy proposals, and citations.

A standardized scoring guide used by judges to evaluate the quality, clarity, and content of delegates’ position papers.

Recency refers to how current or up-to-date a piece of evidence or source is.

The clarity and openness about the origin and context of evidence used in a debate round to establish reliability.

Using multiple independent sources to verify the accuracy and reliability of information.