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Grey literature refers to published or unpublished information not commercially available. It is not produced or distributed via traditional publication methods. It can include: government documents, working papers, reports, white papers, policy statements, speeches, fact sheets, dissertations, newsletters, etc. Check out this chart that compares types of literature:
| Scholarly Literature | Grey Literature | Popular Literature | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authors | Researchers and experts | Professionals and practitioners | Journalists, podcasters, bloggers, etc. |
| Language | Technical jargon for experts | Dependant on audience | Plain language for general audiences |
| Length | Longer (8+ pages) | Varies | Shorter (1-7 pages) |
| Publisher | Commercial scholarly publishers | None traditional publishing. Documents put out by governments, business, NGOs, etc. | Commercial publishers |
| References | Yes, always | Sometimes | Almost never |
| Peer Review | Sometimes | No | No (but potentially some other form of review) |
| Examples | Academic books, journal articles. | Reports from governments, organizations, NGOs, strategic plans, speeches, etc. | Newspaper articles, podcasts, nonfiction books, magazines, etc. |
| Where to Find | Bibliographic databases, Adler library catalogue, Google Scholar | Policy Commons, government websites, NGO websites, Google | Google, Adler library catalogue, public library |
Adapted from University of Saskatchewan, 2024
The following is a non-exhaustive list of places to consider looking for grey literature.
Covers wide range of disciplines, including sciences & humanities.
Non-fiction by U.S. black leaders across disciplines & 250 years of history (letters, speeches, essays, political leaflets, interviews, & trial transcripts)
Research on the growth and development of children through the age of 21.
The Educational Resource Information Center database provides access to education literature and resources.
Research, policy, and practice literature in the fields of Family Science, Human Ecology, Human Development, and Social Welfare.
Scholarly, government and general-interest titles covering all aspects of human impact to the environment.
Repository of grey literature, containing millions of reports from think tanks, agencies, and cities.
The NGO and IGO Search tools are Google Custom Search engines that search across hundreds of non-governmental organization (NGO) or International Government Organizations websites. The customized engines are a project of the International Documents Taskforce (IDTF) and Government Documents Roundtable (GODORT) of the American Library Association (ALA).