Types of Grey Literature
This diagram provides a visual representation of the various sources and types of grey literature commonly searched when conducting a systematic review:
Image obtained from: Rose Relevo Slide Presentation from the AHRQ 2011 Annual Conference 9/20/11
http://www.ahrq.gov/news/events/conference/2011/relevo/index.html
Searching Techniques
Every database works differently. These resources provide guidance on searching different databases.
- Basic Database Searching Techniques Quick GuideA quick guide of techniques to searching online journal article databases developed and published by Indiana University Bloomington Libraries.
Guides to Searching for Grey Literature
The resources below provide detailed guidance on how to approach searching grey literature.
- Cochrane Handbook - Grey LiteratureCochrane handbook guidelines to searching grey literature.
- Grey Matters Light: Top 14 Resources for Evidence-based Medicine SearchingTop 14 Resources for Evidence-Based Medical Grey Literature Searching from CADTH’s Grey Matters Document: https://www.cadth.ca/resources/finding-evidence/grey-matters-practical-search-tool-evidence-based-medicine
- SRC Grey Literature - Tips and ChecklistPaynter provides a checklist of resources searched by librarians when conducting a systematic review. Three specific categories are covered: regulatory information, trial registries, and abstracts & conferences.
- Searching the Grey Literature: Where To Look and What To Expect (Text Version)Slide Presentation from the AHRQ 2011 Annual Conference that provides guidance on where to look and what to look for.
- Finding Grey Literature Evidence and Assessing for Outcome and Analysis Reporting Biases When Comparing Medical Interventions: AHRQ and the Effective Health Care ProgramDownload the AHRQ Methods Guide for Finding Grey Literature Evidence. Provides guidance as to which resources to search and how often.
- Grey Literature SearchingDean Giustini's manual includes links to resources and a systematic approach to searching grey literature.
Resources
- AHRQ- Research Summaries, Reviews and ReportsFind AHRQ research results: research reports, statistical briefs, horizon scans, EHC contracts and projects.
- DocuTickerDocuTicker collected abstracts from 'grey literature': PDF reports published by government agencies, think tanks, NGOs, research institutes and other public interest groups. Updated ceased in 2016, but this is useful for its extensive list of grey literature sources.
- Google Advanced Power SearchingUnder the Advanced Search Tools column, select "Gaining an International Perspective" to learn how to search Google indexes for individual countries, to search content crawled from local materials.
- Google custome search for Intergovernmental OrganizationsSearch for research on intergovernmental organization topics.
- Google custom serach for Non-governmental OrganizationsSearch of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) websites
- Google Tables (Beta)Web Tables Allows you to search for data presented in visual graphics such as maps and tables. Select Fusion Tables to re-use and merge data others have made public.
- Google Think Tank SearchThink Tank Search is a custom Google search of more than 600 think tank websites. For the purposes of this search, think tanks are defined as institutions affiliated with universities, governments, advocacy groups, foundations, non-governmental organizations, and businesses that generate public policy research, analysis, and activity.
- Grey Literature - Ontario Public Health Libraries AssociationPublic health grey literature sources - includes links to Canadian, American, and international academic centers and public health organizations.
- HSRProj - Health Services Research Projects in Progressdecide if this should be a Gateway page, what to highlight, and if it should be one of the specific resoures to grey lit
- iMedisearchiMedisearch is a customized Google engine specifically built to search medical-related resources. Limit search by: General Public, Physician, Pharmacist, Nurse, or Allied Health.
- Open GreyOpen Grey is a venue for discovering grey literature that is produced in Europe. The types of documents discoverable in Open Grey include conference papers, dissertations, preprints, technical reports, etc. It’s multidisciplinary, and as of March 2018, there were more than 1 million citations encompassing the sciences and technology, social sciences, and humanities. Access:
- OpenTrialsOpenTrials aims to locate, match, and share all publicly accessible data and documents, on all trials conducted, on all medicines and other treatments, globally.
- OSF PreprintsOSF Preprints is a discovery platform hosted by the Open Science Framework. OSF Preprints uses open source infrastructure and a public API. When grey literature is desired for a systematic review, OSF Preprints could be searched to discover preprints and other document types. OSF Preprints is able to cross-search OSF partner repositories, as well as several other repositories, including arXiv, bioRxiv, Cogprints, PeerJ, Preprints.org, and others. As of March 2018, the partner repositories hosted by OSF Preprints include AgriXiv, arabixiv, BITSS, Earth ArXiv, engrXiv, FocUS Archive, Frenxiv, INA-Rxiv, LawArXiv, LIS Scholarship Archive, MarXiv, MindRxiv, NutriXiv, Paleorxiv, PsyArXiv, SocArxiv, SportRxiv, and Thesis Commons. OSF Preprints demands no fees for deposits or access. Access:
- Partners in Information Access for the Public Health WorkforceLinks to upcoming conferences or meetings with a public health focus.
- PubMed Comparative Effectiveness Research QueriesThis page provides specialized searches of published research - PubMed - and research still in progress - HSRProj, and ClinicalTrials.gov - to help inform investigations of comparative effectiveness. See the description below the search boxes for more information about this project.