About the Evidence Library

Why the library exists

A lot of the best research about young people is published by charities, youth organisations and think tanks, not in academic journals. It sits on organisations' websites, is hard to find, and often disappears when a site is redesigned or a project ends. The CYV Evidence Library brings this research together in one place, keeps a copy so it isn't lost, and makes it easy to search.

What's in the library

The library holds over 300 reports from over 150 different organisations, published between 2010 and 2026. Every report passes four tests: it is about young people aged 16 to 25, it presents real evidence with a clear method, it isn't already published in an academic journal or as official statistics, and it's free to read online. See the inclusion criteria.

Some honest notes on what the collection looks like today:

• It is strongest on mental health, employment and education, and thinnest on climate, faith, disability and digital life.
• It covers the UK as a whole, London, Scotland and Wales well, but has few reports from the English regions outside London.
• About half the reports include under-16s alongside older young people. We include these when the research reaches age 16 or above.
• Most reports studied young people rather than being led by them. Only a handful were youth-led. We'd like to change that.

How reports are chosen and described

Reports come from our own searches, from AI-assisted searches of youth-sector websites, and from submissions. An AI tool suggests a summary, themes and details for each report. A person then checks it against the criteria before it's published. Summaries are written with AI help, so always check the original report before quoting it.

Who we are

The Evidence Library is part of the Centre for Youth Voice, a programme hosted by the Network of Regional Youth Work Units and supported by The National Lottery Community Fund. It is run by Matt Walsham at Partnership for Young London.

How to contribute

Know a report that belongs here? Submit it for review. Every submission is checked against the same criteria.

Contact, corrections and removal requests

Email matthew.walsham@cityoflondon.gov.uk if a report's details are wrong, a link is broken, or you're a publisher who wants a report removed or kept out of the AI assistant. We fix corrections and broken links within 10 working days, and act on removal requests within a month. Full details for publishers and authors.