According to its web site, the IPR’s mission is to "marshal the best thought on governmental, economic and educational issues at the state and municipal level."

IPR was co-founded by its board chairman, Charles S. Quilhot, editor, T. Craig Ladwig, Stephen E. Williams and Byron S. Lamm, in 1989.

[3] U.S. Vice President and former Indiana governor Mike Pence was its president from 1991 to 1994,[4][5] In a speech to The Heritage Foundation in 2008, then Representative Mike Pence said, "I was part of what we called the seed corn Heritage Foundation was spreading around the country in the state think tank movement.

"[6] The institute supports policy positions rooted in individual liberty, personal responsibility, private property rights, free-market principles, and limited government.

The Indiana Policy Review Foundation publishes the Indiana Policy Review, a quarterly journal to promote IPR's mission "to marshal the best thought on governmental, economic and educational issues at the state and municipal levels.