Records for preservation dating from 1817 to present day

Research at The National Archives

Research is key to delivering many activities throughout The National Archives. It underpins most of what we do: capturing the historical record of government, preserving digital and analogue records and providing efficient and effective services to our researchers.

The National Archives is recognised by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) as an Independent Research Organisation. In this role we will continue to assert the pre-eminence of The National Archives as an originator and supporter of research. We will do this through an innovative programme that will develop and test new ideas, using the interpretation of information and research findings for the benefit of government, information and preservation communities.

Research themes and strategy

Research themes are structured around the Vision of The National Archives. The Vision recognises the importance of leading information management in government; ensuring the survival of all records of enduring value - whatever their format; and making their content available to a wide range of users, both here at Kew and online.

The Research Strategy sets out the vision for positioning The National Archives as the leading pioneer practitioner in the UK through pro-active engagement with research and will help to ensure that all our research activities are explicitly articulated, developed and promoted.

Collaborating with us

The National Archives is committed to maintaining and improving services to academic community of users. We are interested in building new links within a wide range of academic disciplines. If you are interested in collaborating in research projects, we would like to hear from you, and have developed guidance for external partners to help you with this process.

We are currently engaged in a number of collaborative research projects, particularly in the fields of preservation, information management and resource enhancement.

Published research

Many of our staff are actively involved in research. Have a look at some of the research published by our staff.

Find out more

If you would like more information about The National Archives' research programme please email researchandcollect@nationalarchives.gov.uk.