What is grey literature?
Grey literature refers to published or unpublished information not commercially available. It is not produced or distributed via traditional publication methods. Grey literature can include:
- Government documents
- Working papers
- Reports
- White papers
- Policy statements
- Speeches
- Fact sheets
- Theses and Dissertations
- Conference Proceedings
- Newsletters and bulletins
It is typically produced by government agencies, non-governmental organizations, or industry to be used internally or for wider distribution.
Grey literature can be a great source for current research because its distribution is not impacted by the delays characteristic of traditional commercial publishing. However, as such, grey literature does not typically undergo the rigour of peer review. Because of this, the quality can vary, and thus, it demands critical evaluation.
Databases
Search an Adler subscribed database
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Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal This link opens in a new windowClimate Change & Human Health Literature Portal is an open access database, so the searching is free, but not all the citations are open access. Use Adler Library’s catalog and/or ILLiad to obtain full text if the database does not provide it. This database from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is a rich database containing more than 13,000 unique, global, peer-reviewed research resources on climate change and human health. The Portal brings together biomedical, earth science literature to help users across different disciplines, sectors, and knowledge levels quickly access relevant literature and answer their questions about climate change and its health impacts. The comprehensive database includes peer-reviewed articles, assessments, and scientific papers published between 2007 and 2020.
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SocINDEX with Full Text This link opens in a new windowFull-text access to over 700 journals in sociology and its sub-disciplines. Subjects covered include criminology & criminal justice, ethnic & racial studies, gender studies, marriage & family, political sociology, religion, social development, social psychology, social structure, social work, socio-cultural anthropology, substance abuse & other addictions, and violence. Also includes full-text access to nearly 800 books and over 9,000 conference papers.
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Dissertations & Theses Full Text: The Sciences and Engineering Collection This link opens in a new windowMore than 70,000 new full text dissertations and theses are added to the database each year through dissertations publishing partnerships with 700 leading academic institutions worldwide and collaborative retrospective digitization of dissertations through UMI's Digital Archiving and Access Program. Full Text dissertations are archived as submitted by the degree-granting institution.
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Dissertations & Theses @ Adler University This link opens in a new windowFull-text of dissertations and theses of Adler University students.
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GenderWatch This link opens in a new windowA full text database of unique and diverse publications that focus on how gender impacts a broad spectrum of subject areas. With its archival material, dating back to 1970 in some cases, GenderWatch is a repository of important historical perspectives on the evolution of the women's movement, men's studies, the transgender community, and the changes in gender roles over the years. Publications include scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books, and NGO, government and special reports.
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Human Resource Management Online This link opens in a new windowMaps 4,000 learning items to the modern human resource management syllabus. We include textbooks, book chapters, cases from well-known case providers, corporate training video, sample business documents and executive-oriented research reports. The Society of Human Resource Management and Thompson Information Services are our key society partners. Human Resource Management Online is designed to make top-quality learning material effectively and easily discoverable to enhance in-class, hybrid and online learning.
ProQuest Criminal Justice Periodical and ProQuest Psychology Journals
Governmental organizations, non-governmental organization, and international governmental organization search tools
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Carleton University's Find Canadian Government Publications on the WebA Google Custom Search that searches across Canadian government websites with the option to limit to federal, provincial, or municipal information.
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).
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United National Global IssuesAs the world’s only truly universal global organization, the United Nations has become the foremost forum to address issues that transcend national boundaries and cannot be resolved by any one country acting alone. To its initial goals of safeguarding peace, protecting human rights, establishing the framework for international justice and promoting economic and social progress, in the seven decades since its creation the United Nations has added on new challenges, such as AIDS, big data and climate change.While conflict resolution and peacekeeping continue to be among its most visible efforts, the UN, along with its specialized agencies, is also engaged in a wide array of activities to improve people’s lives around the world – from disaster relief, through education and advancement of women, to peaceful uses of atomic energy. This website offers an overview of some of these issues, and links to other resources, where you can get additional information.
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United National Digital LibraryUN's new digital repository for documents, speeches, resolutions and voting records.
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UN - iLibraryProvides access to UN publications
Full text of the publications can be read online but download is limited to subscription only. -
EuropaThe official website of the European Union
Advanced Google
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Google Advanced SearchNarrow your search by specifying language, region, domain, etc.
Advanced Google Search allows you to limit your searches to the site or domain. This means you can search only for .edu or .org or .gov sites.
Climate change and human health literature portal
Other Sources
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OpenGreyOpenGrey is a site for searching Grey Literature in Europe. It provides open access to 700.000 bibliographical references of grey literature (paper) produced in Europe and allows you to export records. OpenGrey covers Science, Technology, Biomedical Science, Economics, Social Science and Humanities literature.
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Centre for International Governance InnovationThe Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) is an independent, non-partisan think tank whose peer-reviewed research and trusted analysis influence policy makers to innovate. Our global network of multidisciplinary researchers and strategic partnerships provide policy solutions for the digital era with one goal: to improve people’s lives everywhere.
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Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, CADTHGrey Matters: a practical tool for searching health-related grey literature
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National Technical Information Service (NTIS)The National Technical Information Service serves as the largest central resource for government-funded scientific, technical, engineering, and business related information available today.
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PsyArXiv PreprintsA free preprint service for the psychological sciences. Maintained by The Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science
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Open Think Tank DirectoryThe Open Think Tank Directory captures information about more than 2600 think tanks and related organisations from around the globe. We have not just captured names and websites – our directory includes a wide range of information about the think tanks, including the topics they focus on, how to contact them, and more. This allows for a range of comparisons, which you’ll see throughout the site and as part of our data visualisations of the data set.
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Find Policy"This search page focuses on 14 prominent Canadian research organizations, covering a range of domestic and international issues."
Institutional Repositories
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Adoptive RepositoriesIntended for those whose home institution does not currently maintain an institutional repository
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Directory of Open Access RepositoriesOpenDOAR is a global directory of Open Access repositories and their policies