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What is Grey Literature?
Grey literature is a valuable source of information, and includes any literature or document that has not been published via traditional or commercial publishers.
- Grey literature includes government reports, NGO publications, dissertations, conference proceedings, technical reports, publications of health organizations, blogs, wikis, pamphlets, patient handouts, presentation slides, correspondance with subject experts and more!
Don't Forget!
Don't forget to check the following for grey literature:
- Reference lists/bibliographies of research articles
- Contact experts or authors (some data can be left out of studies)
- Newspapers and Magazines Guide
Plan and Document Your Search!
Always document your search methodology when searching grey literature. Details to keep track of include:
- Resources searched
- Date you searched
- Actual search strategies
- Number of results
- Justification for any limits, or filters applied to search (publication date, language, etc.)
- Justification for how you reviewed results (did you review all, or some?)
Well documenting your search methodology means that you will be able to explain how your results were retrieved. Doing this also allows you to accurately integrate your search approach into a larger piece of writing such as an essay, a poster, your thesis, etc.
Prepare a search plan before you begin to collect and screen documents. Use the template below (Word doc called "Grey Literature Search Plan") to organize and document your search results.
- Grey Matters: A Practical Tool for Evidence-Based SearchingThe Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) has created this grey literature checklist which includes national and international HTA web sites, drug and device regulatory agencies, clinical trial registries, health economics resources, Canadian health prevalence or incidence databases, and drug formulary web sites.
General Sources of Grey Literature
Often, Google can be the best tool to search for documents and reports published on the web. When recording your search methods, it is important to document the search terms used and the date the searches were performed.
- Google ScholarWill retrieve documents from academic and professional sources. Note: You will have to browse through a lot of journal articles to find the grey literature reports. There is no limit for "grey literature only."
- DuckDuckGoAnother search engine like Google. DuckDuckGo does not collect user information, which means your results will not be filtered based on your geographic location.
- Canadian Government Information GuideA guide exploring how to search for Canadian Government Information.
- Canadian Research IndexProQuest database for searching Canadian government and research publications. Some results are full text and others are on microfiche.
Customized Government Search
Canadian, US and International Government Documents Search - code courtesy of MADGIC, Carleton University
Non-governmental Organizations (NGO) and Intergovernmental Organizations (IGO) Searches - code courtesy of GODORT
- Theses and Dissertations GuideResources for finding international theses and dissertations
Many universities have institutional repositories, which are online databases of publications by their members. Repositories can include publications by faculty and student dissertations and theses.
- OpenDOAR (Directory of Open Access Repositories)A list of repositories (academic and otherwise) that are open access and freely available.
- UWSpaceUWaterloo's institutional repository of research papers, theses, dissertations, conference presentations.
Health and Pharmacy Grey Literature Sources
- Health Canada's Clinical Trials DatabaseProvides a listing of specific information relating to phase I, II and III clinical trials in patients. The database is managed by Health Canada and provides a source of information about Canadian clinical trials involving human pharmaceutical and biological drugs.
- ClinicalTrials.govClinicalTrials.gov is a database of privately and publicly funded clinical studies conducted around the world.
- European Union Clinical Trials RegisterSearch for protocol and results information on interventional clinical trials conducted in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA), as well as clinical trials conducted outside the EU / EEA that are linked to European pediatric-medicine development.
- CenterWatchTrials are searchable by medical condition, therapeutic area, and geographical location.
- Statistics & Data GuideA guide overviewing Canadian, U.S., and international sources for statistics and data.
- Statistics CanadaDiseases and conditions, health care services, etc.
- Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)CIHI is an independent, non-profit organization that provides essential data and analysis on Canada’s health system and the health of Canadians.
- National Center for Health Statistics (US)The NCHS is the primary U.S. Federal Government organization responsible for the collection, analyses, and dissemination of health statistics.
- WHO Statistical Information System (WHOSIS)Guide to health and health-related epidemiological and statistical information available from the World Health Organization (WHO).
- OECD Health StatisticsProvides a central data collections of health statistics for OECD member states from the early 1960s to the present.
- WHO Global InfoBaseThe WHO Global InfoBase is a data warehouse that collects, stores and displays information on chronic diseases and their risk factors for all WHO member states.
- More associations & societiesLinks to pharmacy-related associations and societies in other provinces/territories, as well as in the U.S.
- Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)CIHI is an independent, non-profit organization that provides essential data and analysis on Canada’s health system and the health of Canadians.