Finding Grey Literature

A thorough grey literature search should involve a general sweep of the internet. Some tips for web searching are:

• restrict content to .org or .gov sites
  • enter your topic and then either "site:.org" OR "site:.gov" 
• restrict content to file type 
  • type in your topic and then "filetype:pdf" or "filetype:doc"
• use a selection of several search engines in addition to Google, such as:
  • Google Australia
  • Google UK
  • Bing
  • Duck Duck Go (does not record location or user searches)

Before starting your online search, consider:

• What kinds of information are you looking for?
  • theses and dissertations?
  • conference posters, papers, or proceedings?

  • government reports?

  • clinical trials?
• Who would publish this type of information?
  • government?
  • advocacy groups?
  • academia?
  • industry?
• Do you have limits in your criteria for inclusion?
  • preferred publication date(s)?
  • preferred geographic region(s)?
  • preferred language(s)?