What is grey literature and how do I find it?
Answer
Grey literature is information produced outside of traditional publishing and distribution channels (book and journal publishing). It commonly includes documents such as:
- reports
- policy literature
- working papers
- newsletters
- government documents
- speeches
- white papers
- urban plans
Organizations that create grey literature include:
- departments and agencies of government organizations
- non-governmental organizations
- universities
- think tanks
- corporations
Grey literature can help supplement your research, but may be more difficult to discover, access, and evaluate. Try using a public search engine like Google or DuckDuckGo to find this type of information.
For grey literature in the health sciences, visit the Acquiring Evidence guide. If you would like a more detailed overview, try the Introduction to Grey Literature tutorial by the University of Waterloo Library.
Examples of grey literature: