Clinical Guides: Literature Searching: Grey Literature

Literature Searching Guide

The Literature Searching guide shows you how to complete an effective literature search from beginning to end. Use the tabs at the top of the page to navigate through the guide.

Remember: the Library team provides a range of research support services to Monash Health employees and students. Attend a live webinar, book a research consultation, or request a literature search and get in touch with the Library team if you have any questions.

Grey Literature

What is grey literature?

Grey literature is produced by non-traditional publishers and is published largely online. Examples of grey literature are:

government reports and policies
conference presentations and papers
issues papers and white papers
research and industry reports
theses and dissertations
trial data, statistics and surveys

When to include a search for grey literature

Grey literature is an essential consideration in systematic and thorough searching for a range of reasons, including:

"... the inclusion of grey literature in meta-analyses has been shown to change the results
of whether interventions are considered effective or not" (McAuley, et al. 2000)

Grey literature reduces publication bias -- where studies with significant results are overrepresented in scholarly publications -- by providing a broader perspective. For this reason, it is particularly important to consider grey literature when:

Developing or updating a clinical procedure or guideline
Conducting a systematic review and/or meta-analysis

Other instances in which we would undertake a grey literature search include:

Planning service improvements
Investigating new technologies or therapies
Research questions which require a more holistic perspective, incorporating government policy, publications by consumer groups etc.
Emerging research topics, as grey literature tends to be more current than traditional research
As a source of raw data to expand the primary information available for your research

How to search for grey literature

By its nature, grey literature is beyond the reach of citation databases such Medline and PubMed. Visit our Grey Literature Guide for more information on how to conduct a grey literature search. The Library also runs a regular webinar on grey literature.

Grey Literature Guide

Webinar Calendar