Sometimes you may need to use resources other than academic articles or textbooks. This is referred to as "grey literature." Grey literature includes blogs, conference materials, datasets, discussion forums, dissertations and theses, government and local government papers, interviews, market reports, newsletters, pamphlets, policy statements, pre-print articles, research reports, survey results, social media... basically anything! Below are some examples of grey literature and where to find it.
This includes thesis and dissertations, but also "working papers" that have yet to be published. You can find these resources in online repositories like Explore Bristol Research or subject repositories like EdArXiv, try this list of subject specific repositories to find one covering your area of study.
Newspapers can be helpful in assisting in the discovery of grey literature. For example, news items may flag the latest research report or findings, record speeches, contain statistics and other data. Explore the wide range of current and historic newspapers the library subscribes to.
An independent source of news and views, sourced from the academic and research community and delivered direct to the public.
Digital newsstand featuring 7000+ of the world's most popular newspapers & magazines. Please note: before accessing and using PressReader, please read this guide
Information on the structure or policies of UK Government can be found on the GOV.UK website. For older government publications, statistics and information search the UK Government Web Archive. For Parliamentary papers, see the databases below.
Access to UK parliamentary papers - House of Commons sessional papers from 1715 to 2010.
UK parliamentary papers from the Westminster Parliament, Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly, National Assembly for Wales and Scottish Government. Documents available on the day of publication.
If you need information from international governments, this list of government websites might be a useful starting point.
The Department of Health and Social Care is made up of 29 agencies and public bodies. The following produce publications, disseminate news and conduct research of interest:
The British Society of Criminology aims to further the interests and knowledge of those engaged in any aspect of work or education about crime, criminal behaviour and the criminal justice systems in the UK.
Resources that look at UK policing
When a child dies, or is seriously harmed, as a result of abuse or neglect, a case review is conducted to identify ways that safeguarding can be improved. The NSPCC run the National Case Review Repository, the most comprehensive collection of case reviews in the UK. The repository has over 1,500 serious case reviews from England, Scotland and Wales, and thematic analysis reports from all four nations dating back to 1945.
These databases index materials produced by those who create or seek to influence policy. This includes Governments, charities, think tanks and NGOs.
Eldis provides free access to relevant, up-to-date and diverse research on international development issues. Eldis is hosted by the Institute of Development Studies.
NB: This database can be browsed on campus without signing into the Overton site. Off campus, users need to register on the Overton registration page with their @bristol.ac.uk email address. Overton allows users to discover policy documents in 180 countries and explore their links to each other and to the academic research that has informed them. Overton indexes work from governments, universities, IGOs, NGOs, research funders, publishers and think tanks to understand their role in the policymaking landscape. Users can track the evolution of ideas all the way from academic and think tank research to government reports and legislation.
Use Policy Commons to discover and follow high-quality policy research from 210 countries and territories produced by world’s leading policy experts, charities, think tanks, IGOs and NGOs. Includes publications from inactive organisations that may not be available elsewhere. For help with searching see https://coherentdigital.net/resources2-1
The organisations below can be useful for finding global information. Click on the i symbol to find out more about them.
The online library of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) featuring its books, papers and statistics and is the gateway to OECD's analysis and data.
A charity is a charitable organisation set up to provide assistance to those in need. They are not-for profit organisations, usually with a specific theme such as health, education or another social, medical or economic basis. They are officially recognised (e.g. in the UK, they must be registered with and are regulated by the Charity Commission).
Some charities will commission and publish research in their area of expertise, for example:
Look up charities working in the area of your interest and see if any of them have published any research.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines a think tank as 'a group of experts who are brought together to develop ideas and give advice on a particular subject' (Cambridge Dictionary 2020).
Whilst some think tanks are independent, others have political leanings. As always, read critically and evaluate resources to assess their suitability for inclusion in your writing. This list may help you identify think tanks operating in your area of interest.
A business data statistics portal containing more than 1 million statistics from over 22,500 sources (including both national and international data); over 80,000 topics in 177 multidisciplinary categories, ranging from agriculture to media and marketing; market data, consumer behaviour, demographics and opinion polls; 4,500 Statista Dossiers and Industry Reports; 41,000 studies & reports from third parties.
The UK’s largest collection of social, economic and population data sources.Includes major UK government-sponsored surveys, cross-national surveys, longitudinal studies, UK census data, international aggregate, business data, and qualitative data. Intergovernmental organisations include International Monetary Fund (IMF), Office for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank. Research institutes include NatCen, Institute for Social and Economics Research (ISER) and the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) among many others.
Includes databases featuring resources from the early 21st Century.
Pamphlets from collections in 7 universities in the UK covering the key political, social, technological, and environmental issues of 19th-century Britain.
Archives Unbound provides access to rare primary source documents topically focused into digital collections covering US foreign policy, civil rights, global affairs, colonial studies, British history, Holocaust studies, LGBT studies, Latin America and Caribbean studies, Middle East studies, political science, religious studies, and women’s studies. Includes over 340 collections.
Access to UK parliamentary papers - House of Commons sessional papers from 1715 to 2010.
An archival research resource comprising the backfiles of leading women's interest consumer magazines. Coverage ranges from the late-19th century through to 2005 and these key primary sources permit the examination of the events, trends, and attitudes of this period.
Grey literature can be really useful because it is often more current - it bypasses the peer review/ publishing process which means that it can be useful when looking at new or emerging areas of research. However, as it's not peer reviewed it can be of variable quality. You will need to assess the quality of this information yourself and decide if it appropriate to include in your review. Below are some useful tools for evaluating the information your are looking at.
A self-help tutorial on evaluating the quality of readings.
Mike Caulfield. CC BY 4.0, via Hapgood.US
STOP – What is the source of the information? What is the reputation of the information and the source?
INVESTIGATE – What are you reading? Who produced the information? Knowing the expertise and agenda of the source is crucial to understanding the significance and trustworthiness of the information.
FIND BETTER COVERAGE – look for trusted sources to verify the information – “go out and find the best source you can on this topic, or, just as importantly, to scan multiple sources and see what the expert consensus seems to be”
TRACE – try and find the original context for the information you are looking at. Viewing it in it’s original context will help you get a sense of how accurately the information it being presented.
Developed by staff from Meriam Library at California State University, the CRAAP Test looks at five criteria and suggests questions to ask yourself about of the criteria to help you establish the value of the work. Follow the link to see the full details for each of the criteria.
Currency
Relevance
Authority
Accuracy
Purpose
Meriam Library. CC BY 4.0, via California State University
