Grey literature are materials and research produced by organisations outside of traditional commercial or academic publishing and distribution channels. Grey literature publication types include reports, working papers, government documents, white papers and evaluations.
Finding Grey Literature
- The internet: if you need to use the internet to find grey literature, then we would advise you use Google advanced search rather than the standard Google search box or Google Scholar. A search strategy needs to be robust, so that it has credibility and can be replicated by others. As a result, Google advanced is the best option out of the Google services as although we don't know how the Google results are generated, at least with Google advanced search there is a framework / structure within the search that doesn't appear in Google Scholar for instance.
- Public Health England Grey Literature: index and alternative sources and resourcesThis list has been compiled to help librarians and researchers, particularly in Public Health, to find resources that fall into this category and flag up alternative sources for queries not easily resolved by the clinical / medical database model.
Health Organisations
- Joseph Rowntree FoundationA charitable organisation which commissions research into social issues. They are of particular interest to the Medical Sciences in thier work around aging and the effects of social agendas on health.
- The King's FundAn independent charity working to improve health and care in England.
- Public Health EnglandAn executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care, and a distinct organisation with operational autonomy. They provide government, local government, the NHS, Parliament, industry and the public with evidence-based professional, scientific expertise and support.
- Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)An independent charity which aims to improve the lives of people of all ages by co-producing, sharing, and supporting the use of the best available knowledge and evidence about what works in practice.
- WHO Library and Information Networks for KnowledgeA searchable database of all the projects, reports and papers publisheed by the WHO. Many give access to the full text.
- Public Health England Grey Literature index and sourcesThis list has been compiled to help librarians and researchers, particularly in Public Health, to find resources that fall into this category and flag up alternative sources for queries not easily resolved by the clinical / medical database model.