LibGuides: Systematic review guide: Grey Literature Sources

Grey literature

Grey literature is information that is produced outside of commercial publishing channels. They include print and electronic material produced by organisations such as governments, educational institutions, business and industry associations.

Examples of grey literature include:

Theses and dissertations, conference proceedings, newsletters, reports, government documents, informal communications, translations, census data, research reports, technical reports, standards, patents, videos, clinical trials and practice guidelines, e-prints, preprints, wiki articles, emails, blogs, listserv archives, repository content and more.

Although grey literature is not usually peer reviewed, it may still be a good and reliable source of information for the review topic. It is necessary to evaluate everything you find. Here are some reasons why you should consider including grey literature in your search.

It is often the most up-to-date information, as it does not need to go through commercial publication processes.
It is the best source to find information on policies, programs, reports, guidelines, statistics, patents, standards etc.
It may be the only source of information, depending on the topic.

The AACODS Checklist is a useful tool for evaluating the quality of grey literature.

ABS Historical Publications
Lists the national published output of the ABS published between 1907 and 1993. State publications are not included.

Adam Matthew Digital Collection This link opens in a new window
Provides digital archival content for the social sciences and humanities. The collection includes Medieval manuscripts, Victorian moving images, ephemera from the 1960s and confidential government documents.

Early Australian Census Records - State Library of Victoria
Illuminate Australian society and your family history using census records from 1788 to 1901.
Hunter Living Histories
The University of Newcastle Library’s Hunter Living Histories (previously known as Coal River Working Party) facilitates engagement and research around cultural heritage and history of the Hunter regions.
National Archives of Australia
Responsible for caring for the most significant records received, created or kept by government agencies.
NSW Government State Archives and Reports
The State Archives and Records Authority of New South Wales (NSW State Archives and Records) is one of Australia’s pre-eminent Archives and Records Authorities with a vast collection of historical records and archives dating back to the European settlement of Australia in 1788.
NSW State Archives and Records
The State Archives and Records Authority of New South Wales (NSW State Archives and Records) is one of Australia’s pre-eminent Archives and Records Authorities with a vast collection of historical records and archives dating back to the European settlement of Australia in 1788.

Australian Government Resources

APO: Analysis & Policy Observatory ( previously - Australian Policy Online)
Social, economic, cultural and political research on Australian public policy. A partnership of ANU's Australian National Institute for Public Policy and Swinburne's Institute for Social Research.
Attorney General's Department - Royal Commissions
The Attorney General has responsibility for the provision of administrative support to royal commissions.
australia.gov.au
Australian Government site linking over 900 information and service websites, as well as selected state and territory resources.
OpenGov NSW
A searchable online repository for NSW Government publications. It contains annual reports, strategic plans, guides, policy documents, and open access information released under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.
Royal Commissions and Commissions of Inquiry from 1902
This list includes all Royal Commissions and Commissions of Inquiry (the nomenclature varies) appointed by the Australian Government from 1902, under the provisions of the Royal Commissions Act 1902.

Parliamentary Resources

Parliament of Australia
Bills, Hansard, Committee Reports etc.
Parliament of New South Wales (Hansard)
Hansard is the written record of proceedings and debates in Parliament, similar to a transcript. It is not a strictly verbatim record, but rather a verified and accurate record.

Capital Monitor This link opens in a new window
Parliamentary, political, legislative, regulatory and judicial news and information. Includes press releases, transcripts, media interviews and additional related statements by government, opposition, and other parties, as well as industry reaction; Parliamentary papers, committee and inquiry reports, digests, and other official documents; Legislation, Hansard material, Gazettes and court decisions.
TimeBase LawOne This link opens in a new window
Full text of legislation, bills and key related material from all nine Australian Federal and State jurisdictions that is updated daily.

University of Newcastle Repository (NOVA)
The NOVA open access repository showcases the research outputs of the staff and postgraduate students of the University of Newcastle.
University of Newcastle Theses and dissertations guide
Provides details for how to find University of Newcastle higher degree theses, as well as other Australian and international electronic and print theses.

Australian Education Research Theses Database This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive source of research found in doctoral and masters research theses accepted by all Australian universities in the field of education.
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new window
Abstracts and indexes of doctoral dissertations and master's theses in all subjects completed at accredited Australian, North American and selected European colleges and universities from 1743 to the present day.

OpenDOAR
Directory of academic open access repositories. Search for the full-text of material held in open access repositories listed in the Directory using 'Search Repository Contents', or use OpenDOAR to find repositories or groups of repositories that fit particular needs using our 'Find' facility.
Pandora: Australia's web archive
PANDORA, Australia's Web Archive, is a growing collection of Australian online publications, established initially by the National Library of Australia in 1996, and now built in collaboration with nine other Australian libraries and cultural collecting organisations.
WorldCat
Searches the book and journal holdings of library catalogues around the world.

ABS: Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Government agency responsible for the collection of statistics in Australia.
Australian Data Archive
The Australian Data Archive (ADA) provides a national service for the collection and preservation of digital research data. ADA disseminates this data for secondary analysis by academic researchers and other users. The archive is based in the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods (CSRM) at the Australian National University (ANU).
Census Data (Australia)
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) conducts the Census of Population and Housing every five years. The Census aims to count the number of people in Australia and record their key characteristics.
data NSW
data NSW brings together a list of NSW Government datasets available in one searchable website.
DDI Australian Social Science Data Archive
This repository provides online access to approximately 2,000 datasets archived with the Australian Social Science Data Archive between 1975 and the present. Areas covered include economics, demography, politics, sociology, psychology, health, law and education. The facility allows browsing, download and online analysis of data.
HuNI (Humanities Networked Infrastructure)
A national Virtual Laboratory with data from a variety of Australian cultural websites.

OECD iLibrary This link opens in a new window
Publications and datasets released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), International Energy Agency (IEA), Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), OECD Development Centre, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), and International Transport Forum (ITF).

UN data
Popular statistical tables, country (area) and regional profiles.

The Library's Find Statistics guide provides further details on finding relevant statistics by geographic location or topic.

europa.eu - The official website of the European Union
The European Union is a unique economic and political union between 28 EU countries.
Europa World Plus
Europa Year Books and Regional Surveys 1926+ data for over 250 countries.
Google Scholar
Articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites.
ICJ Annual Reports
Annual Reports of the International Court of Justice
MedNar
One-stop search across medical societies, NIH resources, other U.S. government websites, and patents.
OAlster
Catalog of millions of records representing open access resources from open access collections worldwide. OAIster includes more than 25 million records representing digital resources from more than 1,100 contributors.
Science.gov
Gateway to over 50 million pages of authoritative selected science information provided by U.S. government agencies, including research and development results
UN : United Nations
Print and digital resources for the United Nations and its subsidiary bodies.
World Factbook - CIA
Information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities.
WorldWideScience.org
Global science gateway-accelerating scientific discovery and progress through a multilateral partnership to enable federated searching of national and international scientific databases.