School of Nursing Resources
Grey Literature
What is grey literature?
Grey literature is any informational resource that exists outside of commercial publishing.
Grey literature may include sources such as ongoing clinical trials, governmental research, conference abstracts and proceedings, dissertations, theses, and more.
Where should I search for grey literature?
The answer depends on your research question and the type of evidence that could help answer it.
In addition to our resources below, the NIH (National Institutes of Health) guide to gray literature provides links to many other suggested sources for gray literature.
Grey Literature Sources
- Dissertations & Theses This link opens in a new windowFull text (PDF) of most US dissertations from 1997 on, many earlier works and some from outside the US plus some master's theses.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowFind articles from most online scholarly journals plus some books and Web sites.
- OvertonThis searchable index of policy documents, guidelines, and think tank publications is a rich source of grey literature.
