Evidence Syntheses & Systematic Reviews: Grey Literature
What is grey literature?
Grey literature includes unpublished studies, unpublished clinical trials, conference proceedings, government and other reports, dissertations/theses and more.
Grey literature is often included in systematic reviews and other types of evidence synthesis to reduce risk of publication bias.
This 2013 article reports on some of the challenges and benefits of searching out and including grey literature:
Mahood, Q., Van Eerd, D., & Irvin, E. (2014). Searching for grey literature for systematic reviews: Challenges and benefits. Research Synthesis Methods, 5(3), 221–234. https://doi.org/10.1002/jrsm.1106
General
- Grey Literature ReportNot updated after 1/2017
Government and International Databases
- OECD iLibraryPolicies on social and economic well-being
Jewell, S. T., Fowler, S., & Foster, M. J. (2017). Identifying the studies (Part 2). In M. Foster & S. Jewell (Eds.).Assesmbling the Pieces of a Systematic Review. Medical Library Assocation Books.
Conference Proceedings & Dissertations
- National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD)International theses and dissertations
Awarded Grants
- NIH RePORTERSearch NIH for awarded grants
- NSF Award DatabaseSearch NSF for awarded grants
PrePrints and Open Archives
Miami University Scholarly Commons
- Miami University Scholarly CommonsMultidisciplinary Collection by members of Miami University
Multidisciplinary Repositories
- Open Science Framework: (OSF)Preprints in Multiple disciplines
- FigSharePreprints in Multiple disciplines
- ResearchGateProfessional network to share, discover, and discuss research in Multiple disciplines
- Preprints.orgPreprints in Multiple disciplines
- Wellcome Open ResearchPreprints in Multiple disciplines
- Semantic ScholarMultiple disciplines including Data. Artificial Intelligence research tool
Medical and Health Sciences Preprints
- F1000 ResearchMedicine and Biology Preprints
- medRxivMedical and Health Sciences Preprints
- Authorea: Open Research Collaboration and PublishingHealth and Sciences Preprints
- Research SquareAuthor Services Company in Medical and Allied Health Sciences
Note: Also see STEM and Social Sciences Repositories
STEM Repositories
- arXivSTEM Preprints
- bioRxivBiology Preprints
- EngrXivEngineering preprints
- GitHubSoftware and Computer Science Collaborative Repository
- ChemRxivChemistry Preprints
- CERNNuclear Physics Preprints
- Mathematical Physics Preprint ArchiveMath and Physics Preprints
- PeerJ PreprintsSTEM Preprints
No longer accepting preprints
Social Sciences Repositories
- SSRN: Social Science Research NetworkResearch Networks in Multiple Disciplines
- SocArXiv (OSF)Social Sciences Preprints. Includes Arts and Humanities, Education, Law and Social and Behavioral Sciences
- PsyArXiv (OSF)Psychology Preprints
- American Political Science Association (APSAPro)Political Science Conference Proceedings
- EconStor PreprintsEconomics Preprints
- National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)Economics Preprints
- RePEc BiblioEconomics Preprints
Data Repositories
- Zenodo by OpenAIREOpen Science and Open Data
- YODA ProjectYale University Open Data Access (YODA) Project
- Core Trust SealData quality indicator. Includes list of repositories with seal
Foreign Preprint Repositories
- CPS: Chinese Preprint ServerChinese National Multidisciplinary Preprint Server
- CSPO: Chinese Science Paper OnlineChinese STEM preprints
- S-WoPEcNordic Working Papers in Economics
- SciELOLatin America and Spain Scientific Journals in Multiple Disciplines
- RedalycLatin America Open Archive by UNAM in Mexico. Network of Scientific journals