LibGuides: Grey Literature: Associations and organizations

What are they?

Organizations and associations involved in research, advocacy, policy, and professional practice—such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international organizations, think tanks, research institutes, industry associations, and policy centres—are major producers of grey literature. Unlike academic institutions, these entities often publish practical, applied, or policy-focused research. These outputs are often not published in traditional scholarly journals and may be disseminated only as a by-product of the organization's work and on their website, making them key sources of grey literature.

Why include them in your search?

Organizations often publish reports more quickly than peer-reviewed journals, especially on emerging issues or urgent topics.
Work is often aimed at practitioners, decision-makers, or the public, offering practical insights into real-world application, current debates, or political contexts.
Sources may represent unique perspectives from community-led organizations and viewpoints that differ from academic or government sources.
Often generate original data through surveys, fieldwork, or stakeholder consultations that may not be published elsewhere.
In under-researched areas or marginalized communities, grey literature from organizations may be the most comprehensive or only available information.

Search strategies

1. If you know relevant organizations, stakeholders, and communities in your field, go directly to their websites.

Browse their "Publications," "Reports," "Library, "or "Resources" sections

Try Advanced Google searching the site or domain.

2. Use Google or Google Advanced Search with targeted strategies

Include keywords like “report,” “white paper,” or “brief”

Try file type: pdf

3. Some Library databases will include reports

Examples:

Business Source Complete
Includes market and industry reports from trade associations

4. Use directories or membership lists to discover new organizations

Wikipedia can help to identify associations, especially in unfamiliar fields.

Examples:

Sources for searching policy & reports

Policy Commons
Policy Commons is a community platform for objective, fact-based research from the world’s leading policy experts, nonpartisan think tanks, IGOs, and NGOs.
Policy Citation Index - Web of Science
Discover published policy reports from leading government, think tanks, and other non-government organizations. View cited references and navigate to research publications used to formulate public policy recommendations.

JSTOR Open Research Reports
JSTOR hosts a growing curated collection of more than 50,000 open research reports from 187 think tanks and research institutes from around the world. Updated monthly.

Conference Board of Canada
Research reports on business, economy, and forecasts of industry trends.
NBER Working Papers
The National Bureau of Economic Research is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community.

Find Policy
Search think tank sites grouped by topic and location.

Sources for searching international organizations publications

World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
OECD iLibrary The online library of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) features its books, papers and statistics, and is the gateway to OECD’s analysis and data. The OECD iLibrary contains content published by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), the OECD Development Centre, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), and the International Transport Forum (ITF). Excellent for comparative social and economic data.
IMF E-Library Information on International Monetary Fund's (IMF) activities and policies, as well as on its 185 member countries. Statistics, books, periodicals, working papers and country reports. World Economic Outlook, Global Financial Stability Reports, Regional Economic Outlook, Statistics: International Financial Statistics (IFS), Balance of Payments Statistics (BOPS), Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS), Government Finance Statistics (GFS).
United Nations Digital Library (UNDI)
United Nations Treaty Collection Contains full-text of the United Nations Treaty Series, the current status of the Multilateral Treaties deposited with the Secretary-General, and texts of recently deposited multilateral treaties. 1945 to the present, updated weekly.

References

Harvard Kennedy School Library & Research Services. (2025, March 25). Think Tank Search.
MacOdrum Library (2025, May 13). Grey Literature.