The grey literature is research material, whether published or not, which is not commercially distributed. Some examples are:
- Master theses
- Doctoral dissertations
- Deliverables of funded projects
- Technical reports
- Minutes/presentations of conferences and other scientific events
- Research
- Statistical data
- Government documents
The identification of grey literature is more difficult and is often the best source of information on current developments in some areas. In the ‘Theses’ tabs and ‘Other sources’ you will find useful web addresses to search for Grey Literature sources.
AUTh Doctoral Dissertations
AUTh Library Catalog - Edit this search that uses as subject “Dissertations, Academic - In Greek”, and add your subject in the search, e.g., Architecture AND Dissertations, Academic.
Doctoral dissertations awarded in other Greek Universities
- Greece: National Archive of PhD Theses.
- Cyprus: Cypriot Doctoral Dissertations Archive
Doctoral dissertations awarded worldwide
- Proquest Dissertations & Theses (AUTh subscription)
- DART-Europe E-theses Portal
- Network Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD)
- More websites for searching doctoral dissertations
Search standards by using the following websites / tools:
- Library Catalog. Search publications by the following publishers "ELOT" or "ISO"
- Hellenic Body for Standardization - ELOT
- International Organization for Standardization - ISO
- Other standardization bodies
Please note that standards are specialized sources that are often sold by their organizations. Yet, sometimes versions of the standards are published during the public consultation process. These versions are similar to the final text.
In the following websites, you can find grey literature materials. In the majority of cases, open access to the full text is granted.
General resources
- Institutional repositories
- AUTh Institutional repository of Scientific Publications (IKEE)
- Openarchives: search Greek institutional repositories and digital libraries
- OAIster: search institutional repositories from around the world
- openAIRE: arrticles, preprints, technical reports, deliverables, datasets from European research institutes
- openDOAR: Directory of Open Access Repositories
- Websites
- Open Grey (mostly Europe)
- Grey Literature Network Service
Clinical trials (Medicine)
- CenterWatch
- Clinicaltrials.gov (USA)
- EU Clinical Trials Register (European Union)
- Grey literature report in Public Health
- Grey Matters, a practical search tool for evidence-based medicine
- ISRCTN Register (BioMed Central)
- PubMed Clinical Queries
- TRIP database, clinical search engine
- UK Clinical Research Network Study Portfolio - Central Portfolio Management System You must register to search the database - More info
Patents
- USA: United States Patent and Trademark Office
- Europe: ESpacenet
Statistical data
- Greece: Hellenic Statistical Authority
- European Union: Eurostat
- USA: USA.gov - Data and Statistics
- United Nations: United Nations Statistical Commission
- World Bank: World Bank - Data
Technical reports
- Defense Technical Information Center
- FAO Document Repository
- National Technical Reports Library
- NASA Technical Reports Server
- Science.gov
- U.S. Department of Energy - Office of Scientific and Technical Information
- TRAIL, Technical Report Archive and Image Library
- Energy
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory - NREL (1977–today)
- SKB - Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management: includes Technical Reports (TR) Series, R Reports Series, P Reports Series, etc.
- Computer Science
The evaluation of Grey Literature resources is necessary, because in grey literature - contrary to the publication of scientific articles through official publishing channels (e.g. scientific journals, conferences with reviewers, and proceedings), no peer review is required for their publication.
A simple method you may use is known as AACODS, and it includes the following checkpoints:
Authority - Does the author or the organization reputable? Does the item have a detailed reference list or bibliography?
Accuracy – Does the item have a clearly stated aim or brief? Does it have a stated methodology?
Coverage – Have any restrictions on research, such as time period, geographical area, population group, etc. been clearly stated?
Objectivity – Is the source objective?
Date – When was it published? Does it have current literature?
Significance – Is this an important resource for your research/paper?
References list
Tyndall, J. 2008. How low can you go? Towards a hierarchy of grey literature. Presented at Dreaming08: Australian Library and Information Association Biennial Conference, 2-5 September 2008, Alice Springs.
Monash University, 2016. Evaluating the Reliability of Sources Tutorial.
Contact:
Library training service
