Grey Literature

Grey Literature: Types of Gray Literature

by Muhammad Yousuf Ali

Grey Literature is an important source of literature. Grey literature is not a normal format of publication like research articles, book chapters and conference paper. This article try to explore the following questions about Gray Literature.

1. What is Grey Literature?

2. What are the types of Grey Literature?

3. What are the Sources of Grey Literature?

What is Grey Literature?

Grey literature is information produced outside of traditional publishing and distribution channels, and can include reports, policy literature, working papers, newsletters, government documents, speeches, white papers, urban plans, and so on. Third International Conference on Grey Literature in 1997 (ICGL Luxembourg definition, 1997  – Expanded in New York, 2004).

“Information produced on all levels of government, academia, business and industry in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishing” i.e. where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body.” (Farace, 2007) Grey Literature is also referred a informal source of publication.

Third International Conference on Grey Literature in 1997 (ICGL Luxembourg definition, 1997  – Expanded in New York, 2004).

2. What are the types of Grey Literature?

There are following Types of the Grey literature.

  1. News : News published print or Electronic media
  2. Official Publication: Official publication of Organization
  3. Dissertation and Theses: Dissertation and Theses submitted in a university
  4. Clinical Trials: Clinical Trial run in the Hospital and Health care organization
  5. Health Reports and Policy : Health reports published by the UNESO, WHO and other organizations
  6. Census Data : Census Data published by the Government organization
  7. Dataset: Dataset extract from research
  8. Company Reports/Information: Stock Exchange company Annual Reports and Board of directors meetings.
  9. Market Research: Market Research survey conduct before or after launching of any Project
  10. Patent: A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention or making any specific product.
  11. Standards and Guidelines: Standard and guidelines to run any specific business.
  12. Social Media Posts : Social Media post like tweet, Post of Facebook, LinkedIn and etc.

These are the main types of Grey Literature.

What are the Sources of Grey Literature?

Databases:

News, official publications, market research, annual reports, research reports, patents and standards, conference proceedings, statistics

Library catalogues:

Theses, dissertations, official publications, research reports

Online repositories: 

Theses, dissertations, research reports, pre prints, trials

Organisational websites:

Annual reports, market reports, speeches, working papers, discussion papers, policy statements, government reports, newsletters, statistical reports

Internet search engines: 

This is the broadest category and will lead you to all forms of grey literature but can be particularly useful for things like blogs, twitter, wikis, presentations, email lists etc. that you may not find via other routes.

References :

Farace, D. J. (2007). Introduction: harnessing the power of grey. Publishing Research Quarterly, 23(1), 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-007-9008-0

How to Cite this Article

M.Y. Ali (2024). Grey Literature: Types of Gray Literature. https://profileusuf.wordpress.com/grey-literature/