What is grey literature?
Grey literature can be challenging to locate, but there are many different kinds of grey literature which can supplement your review.
Depending on the kind of research topic you are looking into, conference papers, research and committee reports, guidelines, theses and dissertations, clinical trial registries, government policies and documents or think tank reports can provide you with valuable information that otherwise wouldn’t be available in published articles. They are also an important source of data, and their inclusion in your review can help prevent bias.
Think about your topic and consider if searching for grey literature would be appropriate for your review. It may be helpful to discuss this with your supervisor and talk over what kinds you will need to identify.
Although it does not go through the same peer-review process as journal articles it can still be a reliable resource for you to use; just make sure that you evaluate grey literature before using it.
Evaluating grey literature sources
Not all information that you come across will be of sufficient quality to meet your needs.
To help you judge for quality, a simple test to apply is the CRAAP test which prompts you to think through some key elements.
Currency
- Is the source up to date or are there newer sources that supersede it?
Relevance
- Does the source meet your information needs or is there something else that may be more suitable?
Authority
- Has the source been written by an organisation with sufficient credentials to speak on this topic?
Accuracy
- How does the source come by the conclusions?
- Are the methods sound?
- Has any evidence been cited so you can fact check yourself?
Purpose
- Be aware of any potential biases.
- Have any biases been declared?
Where to find grey literature
Grey literature is not usually found on the library website or in databases, so Google is a good place to begin. With Google Advanced Search you can narrow your search to only literature published on government, corporate or academic websites.
To find reports published on Australian federal, state or local government websites:
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Enter gov.au in the Site or domain line of the search form. Use nsw.gov.au for NSW departments and local governments.
To find reports published by Australian universities:
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Enter edu.au in the Site or domain line of the search form.
To find reports published by a particular organisation:
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Enter the domain name into the Site or domain line of the search form., e.g.: pwc.com.au, ox.ac.uk
You also have the option to specify file types using Advanced Search. Most company reports and government documents are published as PDFs, so select PDF under the File Type dropdown menu.
Databases containing health-related grey literature:
In the UTS Library Catalogue you can narrow your search results to grey literature sources (such as dissertations, patents, etc.) by using the refining tool on the left under Resource Type.
The Library subscribes to many databases which contain different types of grey literature. In the UTS Library Collection, and most databases, you can limit your search to grey literature by refining your search by ‘publication’, ‘source type’, or ‘document type’.
Suggested grey literature databases:
- Overton A policy citation database with data collected from182 countries.
- Scopusindexes conference papers, technical and other reports
- Web of Scienceindexes conference papers, technical and other reports
- ProQuestindexes dissertations, theses, conference papers and proceedings
- Informitindexes conference papers and many government documents.
- PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service)Journal articles and reports about policy. TIP: filter by Australia
- DimensionsGlobal research data, policy documents and metrics
Specialised sources, such as Open Grey, BASE, or PANDORA: Australian Web Archive, list grey literature in a number of subject areas.
- APO (Analysis & Policy Observatory) A digital repository with a unique collection of grey literature on any public policy issue – covering Australia, New Zealand, and beyond. Holds resources sourced from a wide range of organisations involved in policy such as government, agencies, regulators, research institutes, non-for-profits, and think tanks.
Trove is an overarching search interface to search the content of most Australian libraries as well as archives and repositories.
Institutional repositories, such as OPUS at UTS, hold digital theses written by PhD, Masters and Honours students at UTS. You can find links to all the other Australian University repositories via the Australasian Open Access Repositories.
Websites containing health-related grey literature:
Australian sources
- National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) The primary agency of the Australian government responsible for health and medical research
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) Valuable health data which is widely used by government researchers, policymakers, educators and the community
- Australian Dept of Health and Aged Care publications TIP: check the boxes to limit your search to Guideline, Strategy or Framework, etc.
- National Medicines Policy Regulation around use, quality and access to medicines in Australia
- Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care Fact sheets, consensus statements and comprehensive reports
- Medical Services Advisory Committee Appraises new medical services and advises the government whether they should receive public funding
- Therapeutic Goods Administration Decisions and reports about medicines, medical devices and biologicals
- NSW Health policies Policy directives, guidelines and information bulletins
WHO reports and data
- World Health Organization Browse by topic, country or data resources
- WHO Global Health Observatory data repository Health statistics for WHO's 194 member states.
Search engines for grey literature
- Grey Matters Tool for searching health-related grey literature, from CADTH
- Mednar Medically-focused deep web search engine that simultaneously searches government websites
Health Technology Assessments
- The International HTA Database Contains Health Technology Assessments, which are evidence-based assessments of the safety and efficacy of health interventions and services. TIP: Select Australia as the country in Advanced Search
Clinical trials
- WHO Register of Clinical Trials Central database containing clinical trial registration data provided by Australia, China, the EU, USA, Netherlands, Brazil, India, Germany, Iran, Japan, pan-Africa, Korea, Thailand, Sri Lanka and other countries.
- Clinical trials.gov Clinical trials and their findings from over 200 countries
International sources
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US) Research reports and health data from the USA Dept of Health and Human Services