Introduction
In general, grey literature publications are non-conventional, fugitive, and sometimes ephemeral publications. They may include, but are not limited to the following types of materials: reports (pre-prints, preliminary progress and advanced reports, technical reports, statistical reports, memoranda, state-of-the art reports, market research reports, etc.), theses, conference proceedings, technical specifications and standards, non-commercial translations, bibliographies, technical and commercial documentation, and official documents not published commercially (primarily government reports and documents) (Alberani, 1990).
Just as we evaluate web resources, it's important to evaluate grey literature material found on the web and consider the source publishing the material.
Grey Literature
Grey literature is self-published and typically comes from: Government agencies, research institutes, organizations/companies, associations. (What is the Value of Grey Literature?)
Some "new" sources of grey literature: pre-prints, blogs (Padagogy Wheel), “front matter” preliminary research results, institutional repositories (IRs) (Value of Grey Literature to Scholarly Research in the Digital Age)
Databases
Try Start Your Research first! Search results can be limited to citations from Peer Reviewed journals.
- Education SourceScholarly research in education & education-related social issues. All levels of education from early childhood to higher education, and all educational specialties, such as multilingual education, health education, & testing. 1900-present.
- ERICEducation journals & documents (research reports, evaluation studies, curriculum guides & lesson plans collected by the U.S. Dept. of Education). 1966-present.
- Dissertations & Theses GlobalMulti-subject. World's largest collection of full text theses and dissertations. Contains 1.7 million full-text graduate works and 3.8 million abstracted or indexed records.*
- PsycINFOPeer reviewed journal articles and books in psychology, counseling and related fields, such as sociology, linguistics, medicine, law, physiology, business, psychiatry, and anthropology. Includes international material selected from more than 2,500 periodicals in more than 27 languages. 1887-present.
- Social Sciences Full TextCovers anthropology, community health and medicine, economics, environmental sciences, geography, international relations, law and criminology, police science, planning and public administration, psychology, psychiatry, political science, sociology, and social work. 1983-present
- Sociological AbstractsSociology, anthropology, economics, education, medicine, community development, philosophy, political science, demography, and social psycholog. 1952-present. *
- Sociology Source UltimateSociology, anthropology, criminology, criminal justice, demography, economic development, ethnic & racial studies, gender studies, marriage & family, politics, religion, rural sociology, social psychology, social structure, social work, sociological theory, sociology of education, substance abuse, urban studies, violence, and welfare. 1895-present
* Not searched in Start Your Research
Related Databases/Resources
ERIC — ERIC documents include research reports, conference papers, publications of educational associations, and other research and instructional materials.
Web of Science — Includes Conference Proceedings Citation Index
Google Scholar — After you run a search, a pull down button will display in the top right corner, displaying the Advanced Search option.
Directory of Published Papers (DOPP)