Sharing University Papers on the World Bank

Are you now, or have you been, a university student (undergraduate, graduate, or post-graduate)? Have you written a research paper for your university about the World Bank?

The World Bank is interested in seeing what you have written–and sharing it with other interested parties. And in case you were wondering: their page states that the World Bank “will not reject papers simply because they are critical of the World Bank. At the World Bank, we encourage a free exchange of ideas around all key topics related to development.”

For more details on how you can participate, see http://www.worldbank.org/sup. This could be an opportunity for you to share your analysis and conclusions with a wider audience. You can also consult the database for papers written by other university students. At present, they only accept papers written in English, Spanish, or French. They may expand to other languages in the future.

Unfortunately, the search engine only allows for search by title, author, university, or country–not, apparently, by the full body of the paper itself. I tried looking for papers focusing on disability issues and found nothing. It is not clear, however, if there truly is nothing or if this is a limitation of the current search engine.

If you are looking to write a paper on World Bank activities with disabled people, then one starting point for finding information would be at http://www.worldbank.org/disability. Also try plugging in the word “disability” (or Deaf, blind, etc.) in the search engine from the main page for the World Bank. You can also look up information about some of the projects done by the World Bank around the world: look at the navigation bar at the top of the World Bank web site and click on “Projects & Operations.” Also look around http://www.worldbank.org/sup for more advice to student researchers on the World Bank in general. (If you have a visual impairment and have trouble navigating the World Bank site: I’m limited in what I could do to help, but I’d be interested in hearing from you.)

Have you written a paper that’s about international development but not primarily focused on the World Bank? The World Bank Student University Paper page recommends that you investigate other on-line communities such as the Development Gateway.

Full Disclosure Alert: I am employed at the World Bank, though not in the disability unit. However, I do not represent or speak for the World Bank in any way. I maintain the We Can Do blog (and my other blog) entirely in my own free time in my personal capacity as a private citizen. Any opinions expressed in this post, or in anything else written by me in either of my blogs, are wholly my own. My opinions cannot be taken as a reflection on World Bank positions or policies, whether related to people with disabilities or otherwise. This includes positions or policies from the disability unit of the World Bank.

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