why is it called a white paper 
white papers may have developed from the use of blue papers in 19th century britain where a parliament report cover was blue when a topic for the government was less serious the blue cover was discarded and published with white covers these reports were called white papers in the united states the use of government white papers often means a background report or guidance on a specific issue the bottom linea white paper is an informational document issued by a company government agency or not for profit organization to promote the features of a solution product or service that it offers or plans to offer the facts presented in white papers are often backed by research and statistics from reliable sources and commonly written in one of three formats backgrounders numbered lists and problem solution papers 