Literature searching

What is grey literature?

Watch this short video for an overview of grey literature.

Why grey literature?

• Considered a core component of a comprehensive search and supported by guidance from:

  • Cochrane

  • Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI)

  • Campbell Collaboration

• To counterbalance the bias of positive results represented in published literature (known as the file drawer effect)

• Necessary for emerging, changing and interdisciplinary research areas.

Where to start

Grey literature can be challenging to find for a number of reasons:

• there are many producers and types of grey literature
• it tends not to be indexed or managed in a way that makes discovery easy

We've curated a selection of resources, search engines and repositories for you to explore. This is not intended as a comprehensive list.

Be mindful that grey literature is not usually peer reviewed and needs to be critically appraised just like any other form of evidence. Refer to the critical appraisal page in this guide to for AACODS checklist. It's also important to document your grey literature searches as this will need to be described in your search methods.