Grey literature refers to any literature that is not a book or content within a journal or magazine and not published by commercial publishers. Usually these sources are not indexed or cataloged, and may be part of the "Deep Web" meaning they cannot be found easily with a web browser. These publications might be conference proceedings, government documents, internally published studies, and other similar forms of documents created by government, academic, organizational and business entities.
Assessing Grey Literature is as important as evaluating any other source from published literature or from the Web. Use these tools to help you determine the credibility of sources:
CRAAP Test:
- Currency
- Reliability
- Authority
- Accuracy
- Purpose/Point of View
AACODS Framework (click on Checklist: Grey Literature)
- Authority
- Accuracy
- Coverage
- Objectivity
- Date
- Significance
Most of the sources in this guide are from:
Bonato, S. (May 17, 2015). Unleashing the value of grey literature in research practice. Paper presented at OVID Sunrise Seminar at the Medical Library Association Annual Meeting, 2015, Austin, Texas.