What is it?

Grey (or gray) literature is the published and unpublished research not typically available commercially, such as in journals.

Grey literature includes:

• Conference abstracts, papers and proceedings
• White papers
• Government documents and reports
• Theses
• Bibliographies
• Clinical trials
• Pamphlets, newsletters, bulletins, fact sheets
• Surveys, interviews
• Non-traditional communication and media (blogs, podcasts, email, social media)

GreyNet International has a comprehensive list of document types.

Where to find it?

There are many places, including:

• Grey Literature Report (no longer updating as of 2017, but resources are still accessible via New York Academy of Medicine)
• Open Grey
• GreyNet (Grey Literature Network Service)
• Google Scholar
• Institutional repositories: Minds@UW (UW's IR)

For theses and disserations, the following databases:

• ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• CINAHL

For conference proceedings:

• Web of Science
• CINAHL

For government documents:

• NIH Publications List
• GPO Access
• NTIS (National Technical Information Service)
• WorldCat
• SciTech Connect (U.S. Dept. of Energy)

For technical reports:

• NTIS (National Technical Information Service)

Individual organizations:

• New York Academy of Medicine (Grey Literature Report)
• Kaiser Family Foundation
• Hastings Center (Hastings Center Report)
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• The Commonwealth Fund
• The Urban Institute
• AARP Public Policy Institute
• Annie E. Casey Family Foundation
• National Academy for State Health Policy
• Mathmematica Policy Research