What is grey literature?
Grey literature refers to material that is not formally published in journals, such as:
- conference papers,
- research and committee reports,
- guidelines,
- theses and dissertations,
- clinical trial registries,
- government policies and documents
- think tank reports
Grey literature provides valuable information that otherwise wouldn’t be available in published articles. Their inclusion in your review prevents publication bias.
Grey literature may or may not be appropriate for your review. Discuss this with your supervisor or review members and select only specific types that answer the research question.
Grey literature requires thorough evaluation as it has not been peer-reviewed.
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
Chapter Summary
🔵 From the manual
- Item 9. Describe all intended information sources, PRISMA Explanation and Elaboration
✅ Learnings
- Grey literature refers to material that is not formally published in journals,
- Grey literature can be found in many places; design your search strategy based on the types of content that would enhance your review.
⚠️ I'm stuck!
Where can I find theses?
This library webpage provides detailed instructions.
Should I include grey literature?
Only if it enhances your review. It might not be appropriate for all reviews. Consider your inclusion/exclusion criteria.
Which grey literature should I include?
It depends on the review; does it help answer the research question?. Browse the different types on this page, and only select grey literature that can be synthesised into your review.
🛑 Stop and Review
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