Evaluate Information

Definition

The 12th International Conference on Grey Literature, held in Prague in 2010, adopted the following definition of Grey Literature: 

Grey literature stands for manifold document types produced on all levels of government, academics, business, and industry in print and electronic formats that are protected by intellectual property rights, of sufficient quality to be collected and preserved by library holdings or institutional repositories, but not controlled by commercial publishers, i.e., where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body. 

See GreyNet International for a more complete listing of different types of grey literature.

Advantages:

• Provides unique insights, data or perspectives to a research topic
• Covers niche topics
• Includes negative results which commercial publishers might not address
• Allows a diverse body of authors and institutions to interact and share research

Disadvantages:

• Editing may be less stringent
• May not be subject to the peer review process
• Publication platforms are not stable
• Data may not readily be reproducible
• Non-standard publication formats
• Data not formally indexed which can make it harder to find

As grey literature does not always go through a rigorous review process, it is a good idea to evaluate it with caution and assess its quality, reliability, and possible bias.