MicroMasters® at the University of Edinburgh

Grey literature is the term for literature not formally published in books or journals, or published in a non-commercial form.

This includes: technical or research reports from government agencies, reports and working papers from research groups, doctoral dissertations, conference proceedings, blogs, policy documents, newsletters, and market reports.

Understanding and being aware of the structures of commercial academic publishing, and how this affects what is published and how you access it, may be relevant to you in your studies.

As grey literature is not formally published, it is not subject to the same control as other literature, which has several implications:

• Incorporation of viewpoints less likely to be heard or to publish in academic journals, or topics less likely to be of interest to publishers
• Avoiding the lengthy formal publication process can mean that grey literature is produced quickly
• Inclusion of negative results, helping you to avoid 'positive bias': e.g. studies with a definite positive effect of a medical treatment are much more likely to be published commercially

Some places to consider when searching for grey literature:

• Web of Science (formerly Web of Knowledge), which includes conference proceedings, and includes results from across all disciplines.

• BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine), an open access repository. The results here must contain academic content but BASE searches the deep web so might find results that wouldn't be found in other search engines.

• The King's Fund: independent reports, findings and commentary on matters relating to healthcare.

• Open Access Theses and Dissertations: the British Library's EThOS database.
  More information on finding dissertations from the University of Edinburgh is available on the Library website.

• Office for National Statistics (ONS): statistics with a UK focus.

• Policy Commons: an online directory of publications from over 21,000 policy organisations, including inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations, think-tanks and other research centres.

For more in-depth guidance, have a look at our Grey Literature Subject Guide.

An excellent guide to grey literature, including a range of other sources, is also available from the University of Wolverhampton.

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