As quoted by the Grey Literature International Steering Committee (GLISC) (see page 1), grey literature has been defined as:
Information produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishing i.e. where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body.
In other words, the work is not tied to or controlled by commercial publishers (like the companies that publish your textbooks), who seek profit on the research or information produced. Grey literature is self-published and typically comes from:
Finding grey literature can be difficult. Since grey literature is not always indexed in research databases, it requires different search techniques in order to find information relevant to your topic of interest. The tabbed sections on this guide offer quick introductions to a variety of material types, but we would also recommend reaching out to your subject librarian for more tailored assistance.
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