Grey Literature

Grey Literature is defined as materials and research produced outside the traditional commercial or academic publishing and distribution channels.

There are obviously overlaps between grey literature and primary sources. For the purposes of this guide, we will separate out primary sources (those that were created by eye witnesses or during the time of the events being studied) from secondary source type grey literature.

Why is Grey Literature valuable?

This information is valuable as it can contain recent data (traditional journal articles or books generally have a long lead time before publication) or information that will not be available any other way. 

Examples of grey literature include but are not limited to:

•     Conference proceedings
•     Government documents
•     Newsletters
•     Statistics
•     Technical reports
•     Theses and dissertations
•     Blog posts
•     Course materials

Searching for grey literature can be more difficult than searching within databases - and it's possible that the information that you want is not available in a format or in a location that is accessible to you.

General search tips

•     Be aware that searching will take time - there is no one perfect search string or strategy which will work in all sites or databases.
•     You can generally use the usual Search Tips to assist in your searching (brainstorm for synonyms & alternative terms, quotation marks, truncation symbol, etc)
•     Document your search terms and keep track where you have searched (and the results).
•     Consider the context of the document or data that you are looking for as this will guide where and how to search. For example:
  • Who is most likely to have created the content?
  • For what purpose?
  • Is there likely to be regular versions and if so, how will you identify the most recent?
  • Who is the most likely audience?
  • Is it likely that discipline specific terminology or acronyms will be used?
•     The Google Advanced search will allow you to limit your search to specific domains - this can be helpful if you are searching for materials from Government agencies (ie .gov.au) or Educational institutions (ie .edu.au). 

Evaluating Grey Literature:

Grey literature can be a very important source in History, but as with all sources, you need to evaluate what you find to ensure that it not only provides the information that you need, but that it is up to date and high quality.

Use the guidance in the Evaluating information section of Achieve@Uni to think through some of the potential issues with the resources that you find. Another very useful tool is the University of Newcastle's Resource Evaluation page.

Referencing Grey Literature:

Use the Academic Referencing Tool (ART) for your style to find the template for the resource type that most closely matches the resource that you wish to reference. If you encounter difficulties, contact the library.