Study Guides: Health Science: Finding Grey Literature

What is grey literature?

The term grey literature refers to published and unpublished research, such as reports, government documents, and presentations which you can find simply through Google!

Grey literature is often the best source of up-to-date research as you don’t have to wait for it to go through the publication process. Grey literature usually is not found on the library website or in databases.

Grey literature does not go through the same peer-review process as journal articles. However, it can still be a reliable resource for you to use. Just make sure that you evaluate grey literature before using it.

Health

Grey Literature is a valuable resource for all health students, from government and non-government organisation (NGO) reports to guidelines and statistics. They often contain an overview of an issue as it applies to a specific region, state, country or even worldwide.

Statistics

Australian Bureau of Statistics The ABS is Australia’s national statistical agency, providing trusted official statistics on a wide range of economic, social, population and environmental matters of importance to Australia.
Global Health Observatory (WHO) The Global Health Observatory, WHO's gateway to health-related statistics for more than 1000 indicators for its 194 Member States.

Government reports

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) The AIHW holds valuable data on many health and welfare issues and topics, widely used by government, researchers, policymakers and the community.
NHMRC The National Health and Medical Research Council is a statutory authority and the primary agency of the Australian Government responsible for medical and public health research.
Australian Institute of Family Studies The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) is the Australian Government's key research body in the area of family wellbeing.
Department of Health The Commonwealth Department of Health develops and delivers policies and programs and advise the Australian Government on health, aged care and sport.

NGO reports

World Health Organisation (WHO) The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health.

You can also try searching other NGOs or Organisations that are specific to diseases and conditions you are researching, such as DiabetesAustralia.

Searching Google

Grey literature can be hard to find, sometimes the best thing to do is try a Google search, You may not find exactly what you are looking for, but it can help you get a little bit closer.

Try searching for your keywords along with site:org.au OR site:gov.au

Evaluating grey literature

Most grey literature is not peer-reviewed and should be evaluated for quality.

To evaluate a piece of grey literature – you can use the C.R.A.P. Test.

C.R.A.P Test Worksheet

Health Science: Finding Grey Literature