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What is Grey Literature?

Quick Summary: What is Grey Literature?

Grey literature is information produced outside of traditional publishing and distribution channels. decorative

Examples

  • Reports, (research or annual reports)

  • working papers,

  • newsletters,

  • government documents,

  • speeches,

  • white papers,

  • urban plans, and so on.

Google is the easiest way to find Grey Literature like company reports.

 

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Find Grey Literature

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Find Grey Literature

Finding Grey Literature:

Organizations such as businesses and charities along with Governments, regularly publish reports, white papers, statistics and other documents. Their intended audience could be the general public or stakeholders. These reports can be a key source for emerging research and alternative perspectives. However, these sources are not reviewed by peers and some are intended to promote the agenda /ideas of the organization.

Examples:

  • Reports & publications from governmental and nongovernmental organizations

  • Technical reports and standards

  • White papers

  • Annual reports

  • Conference proceedings and abstracts

  • Newsletters

  • Thesis and dissertations

Why Use them:

  • Can be well researched,

  • Current coverage of emerging issues

  • Local and Canadian content

  • Data and statistics

  • Different viewpoints from standard academic articles

Find Grey Literature:

The best place to start is with Google.  Use Google's site search to limit to a government or institution's site or top-level domain;

  • Use site:un.org to limit your search to the United Nations site
  • Use site:gov.on.ca to limit your search to Ontario government sites
  • Use site:gc.ca to limit your search to federal Canadian government sites.

This technique paired with keywords in Google is a quick way to locate grey literature, you can use it with any URL. Sample search: site:gov.on.ca rental housing