A state paper is a document or file kept by a government to record discussions, options and decisions by government officials, departments and civil servants. Some states follow a thirty year rule whereby state papers on an issue may be released to academic scrutiny thirty years after an original discussion or decision. State papers are often kept in a country's

National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

, State Paper Office or

Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...

. All files are numbered using an alphanumeric code which academics may use as a reference in footnotes of books. Some state papers are

embargo Economic sanctions or embargoes are commercial and financial penalties applied by states or institutions against states, groups, or individuals. Economic sanctions are a form of coercion that attempts to get an actor to change its behavior throu ...

ed for reasons of national security or other sensitive reasons.

References

Government documents {{Gov-stub

See also

References