In the initial planning phases of NIDS, SALDRU commissioned a series of Planning Papers highlighting important socio-economic issues in South Africa. Whilst standing in their own right, as a set they made the case for a longitudinal study such as NIDS to drive quality research in these areas.

With each subsequent Wave, SALDRU commissioned a set of Discussion Papers; these analytical papers continue to focus on some of the important socio-economic issues in South Africa, including the labour market, education and poverty and inequality. From Wave 2 they have made use of the advantages of longitudinal data to generate new research on these important topics in South Africa.  See Wave 1, Wave 2, Wave 3, Wave 4 and Wave 5.