North–South Asymmetries in Research Cited in Global South Policy Documents

This article examines whose research is cited in economy‐related policy documents produced by organizations in countries of the Global South. Using Overton's Economy topic, we link 243 675 policy documents from 155 Global South countries to 68 550 Web of Science articles cited in those documents. We classify cited articles by country group, language, organizations and funders and use network measures to track changes in North–South collaboration over time. Approximately two‐thirds of the cited articles originate from institutions in the Global North. At the same time, the share of South‐only and North–South co‐authored articles rises after 2005, and several Global South countries move closer to the core of collaboration networks. The results also show a broad set of policy‐producing sources across Global South countries, but a much narrower set of research institutions and funders behind the cited literature. The study provides large‐scale evidence on persistent asymmetries in research visibility in policy citations, alongside a gradual increase in the presence of Global South research in written policy outputs.