Research Guides: Locating Qualitative Research: Grey Literature

What is Grey Literature?

Grey literature (GL) is defined as:

materials not published commercially or indexed by major databases
"Fugitive," "ephemeral," "invisible" literature that may be unpublished, unevaluated, not peer-reviewed
"Information produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishing i.e. where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body." (Luxembourg, 1997 - Expanded in New York, 2004, http://www.greynet.org/)

Grey Literature may exist in any number of formats:

reports
preprints
conference abstracts and proceedings
white papers
theses, bibliographies
pamphlets
official documents
newsletters
trial registrations
patents
informal communication (that may include interviews, blog postings, podcasts, personal communication such as email)
website information
web repositories
and more!

Sources for Locating Grey Literature:

The following collections of resources offer suggested search engines or databases that can be used to look for different types of grey literature:

For additional sources, visit:

CADTH Grey Matters
CADTH (Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health) Grey Matters is a free online tool for finding sources of health-related grey literature.

Clinical Trial Registries

ClinicalTrials.gov
The U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) database of privately and publicly funded clinical studies conducted around the world.
ISRCTN Registry
A clinical trial registry recognized by the WHO and ICMJE that accepts planned, ongoing or completed studies of any design. Originally, ISRCTN stood for 'International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number'; however, the scope of the registry has now widened beyond randomised controlled trials to include any study designed to assess the efficacy of health interventions in a human population. This includes both observational and interventional trials.
World Health Organization ICTRP (International Clinical Trials Registry Platform) Search Portal
A search portal that allows for searching across multiple international trial registries.
CenterWatch iConnect
Includes data from ClinicalTrials.gov, NIH, and the FDA

Research In Progress

RePORTER Search
RePORTER is an electronic tool that allows users to search a repository of NIH-funded research projects and access publications and patents resulting from NIH funding
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)
Search the portfolio of PCORI-funded research. PCORI commissions research focused on patient-centered outcomes
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) - Office of Research & Development
Search the registry of VA-funded projects
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Search the registry of research funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Grants Explorer
Search the registry of health research funded by RWJF
The Commonwealth Fund Grants
Search the registry of health care research funded by the Commonwealth Fund

Reports, Open Archives & Repositories

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Publications
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)'s publications offer practical information to help a variety of health care organizations, providers, and others make care safer in all health care settings.
CDC Stacks
Free, digital archive of scientific research and literature produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
OAIster Database
OAIster is a union catalog of millions of records that represent open access resources, including theses, technical reports and research papers
Sigma Repository
Formerly the Virginia Henderson Global Nursing e-Repository, the Sigma Repository is dedicated to sharing works created by nurses around the world. It is an open digital academic and clinical focused service that freely collects, preserves, and disseminates full-text nursing research, educational, and evidence-based practice materials in a variety of formats and item types.
Registry of Open Access Repositories (ROAR)
ROAR allows users to locate open access repositories by country and repository type.
OpenDOAR
OpenDOAR is the quality-assured, global Directory of Open Access Repositories. You can search and browse through thousands of registered repositories based on a range of features, such as location, software or type of material held.
F1000 Research
F1000Research is an open research publishing platform, offering rapid publication of articles and other research outputs across physical and life sciences, engineering, medicine, social sciences and humanities.
MedlinePlus: Organizations A-Z
Links to health-related professional, governmental and non-governmental organizations, which may publish a variety of reports, white papers, pamphlets, data, presentations, posters, etc.

PAIS International This link opens in a new window
PAIS International contains journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference reports, publications of international agencies for public affairs, public and social policies, and international relations.

NASEM - Health and Medicine Division Publications
The Health and Medicine Division (HMD) of the National Academies (formerly Institute of Medicine, IOM) publish reports that provide objective and straightforward advice to decision makers and the public.
Mednar
Mednar is a free, medically-focused deep web search engine that searches authoritative public and deep web resources
Think Tank Search
Think Tank Search searches the websites of institutions that generate public policy research, analysis, and activity. These sites are affiliated with universities, governments, advocacy groups, foundations, and non-governmental organizations.
SIREN Evidence Library
Social Interventions Research & Evaluation Network (SIREN) provides a searchable evidence library that contains peer reviewed research, as well as issue briefs, reports and more.

Pre-Prints

medRxiv
Free online archive and distribution server for complete but unpublished manuscripts (preprints) in the medical, clinical, and related health sciences
arXiv.org
Scholar pre-print/e-print repository for articles in Quantitative Biology, Statistics, and other physical sciences. Operated and maintained by Cornell University Library.
OSF Preprints
Powered by the Open Science Framework, this federated search engine includes over two million preprints
bioRxiv
The preprint server for biology allows you to search all preprints or browse by subject area.
PsyArXiv
Preprints for the psychological sciences including clinical psychology, neuroscience, and other subject areas. Created by the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science and the Center for Open Science.
ASAPbio: Preprint Server Directory
A directory of preprint servers relevant to life sciences, biomedical, and clinical research with searchable information about their policies and practices

Meetings & Conference Proceedings

BMC Proceedings
BMC Proceedings is a peer-reviewed open access online journal publishing proceedings from conferences, including both peer-reviewed full articles and collections of meeting abstracts

Web of Science (formerly Web of Science Plus) This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Web of Science: All Databases (formerly Web of Science Plus; Web of Knowledge) allows you to cross-search databases in a variety of subjects, including: Web of Science Core Collection, Biological Abstracts, BIOSIS Previews, Food Science and Technology Abstracts, Medline, and Journal Citation Reports.
Scopus This link opens in a new window
Scopus is a multidisciplinary index of peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings.

Theses & Dissertations

Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
An international organization dedicated to promoting the adoption, creation, use, dissemination and preservation of electronic analogues to the traditional paper-based theses and dissertations.

Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new window
Dissertations and Theses Global contains indexes, dissertations and some theses. Full-text is available for many dissertations and theses, including those from NYU.

NYU Databases A-Z: Dissertation Collections
A list of dissertation collections available via NYU Libraries' subscriptions.
Open Access Theses and Dissertations
An index of over 2.4 million electronic theses and dissertations.

Locating Qualitative Research

Using Google to Locate Grey Literature

Exact Phrase

Site Search

File Type Search

Search Operators

What is Grey Literature?

Grey literature (GL) is defined as:

Grey Literature may exist in any number of formats:

Read more about grey literature:

Sources for Locating Grey Literature:

Clinical Trial Registries

Research In Progress

Reports, Open Archives & Repositories

Pre-Prints

Meetings & Conference Proceedings

Theses & Dissertations