Document is the fifth studio album by R.E.M. and their sixth overall. It was released in 1987.

Document was R.E.M.'s first album co-produced by Scott Litt and the band, a collaboration that continued through Green, Out of Time, Automatic for the People, Monster, and New Adventures in Hi-Fi, and may account for their success with this album as well as the following five. This album was significant not only in launching R.E.M.'s first US Top 10 hit in "The One I Love" (which reached #9), but also giving them their first platinum album.

After Document, their I.R.S. contract expired. With the band poised to become a major rock group—perhaps to the dismay of their college rock fans—R.E.M. signed a five-album deal the following year with major label Warner Bros. and saw their commercial fortunes grow exponentially.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 470 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2006, it ranked 49th in a Q readers' poll of the "Best Albums Ever".