The goal of a position paper is to convince the audience that the opinion presented is valid and worth listening to.
[1] Position papers are also used by large organizations to make public the official beliefs and recommendations of the group.
Commonly, such a document will substantiate the opinions or positions put forward with evidences from an extensive objective discussion of the topic.
Position papers can lead to a deep understanding of the views of another person or organization which is why they are commonly used by political campaigns,[3] government organizations,[4] in the diplomatic world,[5] and in efforts to change values (e.g. through public service announcements) and organisational branding.
[7] In international law, the term for a position paper is an aide-mémoire, a memorandum setting forth the minor points of a proposed discussion or disagreement, used especially in undiplomatic communications.