SW 450-550 Research & Evaluation: Grey Literature
Gray Literature in Social Work
A portion of the literature that you will find in Social Work is made up of reports, white papers, and more. These materials are referred to as grey literature because they are not commercially published. Rather, this literature is published by non-profits, research agencies, governments, etc. It can be helpful to supplement your searches by looking at institutional and agency web sites, and by searching databases containing citations to working papers.
Gray Literature Resources
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Think Tank SearchThink Tank Search is a custom Google search of over 690 think tank websites.
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SocArXiv This link opens in a new windowProvides access to preprint articles in the social sciences.
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OpenGrey This link opens in a new windowContains information on grey literature produced in Europe. Covers science, technology, biomedical science, economics, social science and the humanities.
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IssueLab This link opens in a new windowContains free access to case studies, evaluations, white papers, annual reports, issue briefs, and numerous other materials addressing the world's social problems that include aging, crime and safety, government reports, nonprofit and philanthropy, race and ethnicity, and transportation.
What is Grey Literature?
Watch this two-minute video for a brief introduction to grey literature from Western University.