• Kari Lancaster and Tim Rhodes.
• Centre for Social Research in Health, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Sydney, Australia.
• Br. Med. Bull. 2020 Oct 14; 135 (1): 38-49.

BackgroundEvidence-based policy decision-making is a dominant paradigm in health but realizing this ideal has proven challenging.Sources Of DataThis paper conceptually maps health policy, policy studies and social science literature critically engaged with evidence and decision-making. No new data were generated or analysed in support of this review.Areas Of AgreementBarriers to evidence-based policy have been documented, with efforts made to increase the uptake of evidence.Areas Of ControversyEvident complexities have been regarded as a problem of translation. However, this assumes that policy-making is a process of authoritative choice, and that 'evidence' is inherently valuable policy knowledge, which has been critiqued.Growing PointsAlternative accounts urge consideration of how evidence comes to bear on decisions made within complex systems, and what counts as evidence.Areas Timely For Developing ResearchAn 'evidence-making intervention' approach offers a framework for conceptualizing how evidence and interventions are made relationally in practices, thus working with the politics and contingencies of implementation and policy-making.© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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