Community Health & Epidemiology: Grey Literature

Grey literature are resources "Produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in print and electronic formats, but which is not controlled by commercial publishers." (Source). Since grey literature is not published in traditional places, it can often be hard to track down.  However, grey literature is an extremely important resource in public health, and can include needs assessments, evidence reviews, policy reports, statistical analysis, and more. Grey literature does not undergo a peer-review process so all material should be appraised carefully.

Best Bets

Customized Search Engines

1. Canadian Public Health Custom Google Search

A custom Google search engine which searches many Canadian public health sites.

2. see box on right side for Canadian Public Policy Custom Search

Search here for information from Canadian public policy organizations (for example, Fraser Institute, Pembina Institute, Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, Frontier Institute and over 200 more). This Google Custom Search Engine, created by a University of Saskatchewan librarian, searches only these 200+ sites

Clinical Practice Guidelines

1. CPG Infobase (Clinical Practice Guidelines from the Canadian Medical Association)

Search Engines

• Google - Advanced Search 

  Try adding a website of interest in the Site or domain field (e.g. who.int, cdc.gov, gc.ca, etc.)

• Google Scholar 

  Searching in different locations than Google, Google Scholar locates scholarly literature (articles, conference presentations, pre-prints, government reports, etc) in all subject areas.

Government Documents

1. Government of Canada Publication Search

Search for Government of Canada documents here.

Theses

• ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global 

  Search here for unpublished theses and dissertations from across North America. Many public health topics are covered.

Other Suggestions:

NIH RePORTER

An electronic tool that allows users to search a database of NIH-funded research projects and access publications and patents resulting from NIH funding

Public Health Grey Literature Sources (via OPHLA) 

A comprehensive directory of locations to search for grey literature. Includes repositories, public health organizations, health services research centres, academic centres, and US and international resources.

Centre for Review and Dissemination (UK) 

Abstracts of systematic reviews, assessment reviews, Cochrane reviews, international health technology assessments, and abstracts of works-in progress

For a more comprehensive list of grey literature sources, please see the excellent What is Grey Literature? website by the Gerstein Science Information Centre.