Grey literature is research that has not been published commercially and is therefore not necessarily searchable via the standard databases and search engines. Much grey literature is of high quality and can be an excellent source of up to date research in certain subject areas.

Examples of grey literature:

• government reports
• conference proceedings
• theses / dissertations
• research reports
• maps
• policy statements
• clinical trials
• technical standards
• interviews
• newsletters

It should be noted that most grey literature is not subject to peer review and should be evaluated accordingly.

To find grey literature the following resources are a useful starting point:

Grey literature guide
Includes a list of search tools to find grey literature by topic.

Google Advanced Search
To find grey literature that is available on the internet in the form of pdf documents enter the relevant keywords then refine by:

• site or domain field: .gov.au or .gov
• file type: pdf

Pandora
National Library of Australia archive of Australian websites and publications.

Australian Government Web Archive (AGWA)
Archive of Australian government publications.

UNSWorks
UNSW’s institutional repository.