Starting your Search
It can be difficult to know where to begin - and when to end - a grey literature search. Some considerations when developing a grey literature search strategy include:
Who would likely have written about your topic?
- Government agencies?
- Non-governmental organizations?
- Academic institutions?
- Industry?
What kinds of literature would help answer your research question?
- Clinical trials?
- Theses and dissertations?
- Conference proceedings?
- Reports?
- Statistics?
Which time periods or geographic areas are relevant to your research?
Reports
- Canada Commons This link opens in a new windowSearchable access to current public documents issued by Canadian public policy and health research agencies and think tanks, as well as books from over 70 Canadian publishers.
Conference Proceedings
- EMBASE (Ovid) This link opens in a new windowInternational (but European-focused) biomedical database with strengths in drug-related and rehabilitation sciences subjects.
- CABI Digital Library This link opens in a new windowArticles, ebooks, and data sheets on agriculture, animal health, crop protection, forestry, global health, human nutrition, horticulture, and natural resources management. Includes Cab Abstracts & Global Health databases.
- Web of Science Core Collection This link opens in a new windowMultidisciplinary database of journal articles and conference proceedings, used for citation analysis of research. Includes access to EndNote Basic, a web-based version of EndNote.
- PAIS Index This link opens in a new windowPAIS is an index to the literature of public policy, social policy, and the social sciences in general.
Preprints
Preprints are manuscripts which may have been submitted to a journal, but not yet published. They have not yet gone through a formal peer review process, but some preprint servers do allow other researchers to post comments.
Preprint Repository Table
- Preprints in Europe PMCEurope PMC includes preprints from several sources, including arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv, PeerJ, ResearchSquare, SSRN and more. Searching via Europe PMC allows easy export of references in RIS or other formats.
- OSF PreprintsRepository of preprints in a wide variety of subjects.
- Research Preprints: Server ListDirectory of preprint repositories.
Clinical Trials
Cochrane's CENTRAL database includes many results from clinical trials registries, but for a complete search, you may need to search registries directly.
- Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) This link opens in a new windowCitations to controlled trials identified by the contributors of the Cochrane Collaboration.
- ClinicalTrials.govA registry and results database of clinical trials around the world. Each record details its design and purpose, participation criteria, location, and contact information. Search by condition, drug intervention, sponsor, or location.
- World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry PlatformPlatform for searching across multiple trials registries.
- ScanMedicine(In beta) Searches 11 clinical trial databases.
Clinical Study Reports
Clinical study reports are extensive documents produced by pharmaceutical companies for regulatory agencies such as Health Canada, the FDA or EMA. Sometimes summaries of clinical study reports are available online, but obtaining the full report may not be possible.
Some pharmaceutical companies are now allowing researchers more access to the data included in CSRs and ongoing clinical trials. For more information see:
- Clinical Information - Health CanadaPortal launched in 2019 to host clinical study reports for drugs and devices.
- Drugs@FDA databaseCheck the "Approval History" section of a drug's record to look for details on study data.
- Restoring Invisible and Abandoned Trials: Data AccessDirectory of pharmaceutical company data sharing policies and contacts.
- How to use FDA drug approval documents for evidence synthesesLadanie Aviv et al, BMJ 2018; 362 :k2815
- VivliIncludes data from over 4000 clinical trials, from 8 companies.
Clinical Practice Guidelines
- TRIP DatabaseTRIP is a a meta-search database for finding guidelines from around the world. Not all content is freely available.
- BC Guidelines and ProtocolsBC Guidelines and Protocols is a small but local resource developed by the Guidelines & Protocols Advisory Committee.
- ClinicalKey This link opens in a new windowChange drop-down menu next to search box from "All Types" to "Guidelines."
Theses
- NDLTD: Networked Digital Library of Theses and DissertationsA collaborative effort of the NDLTD, OCLC, VTLS, and Scirus, the NDLTD Union Catalog contains more than one million records of electronic theses and dissertations.
- ProQuest Dissertations and Theses GlobalIncludes nearly 3 million citations to dissertations and theses from 1861 to the present and over 1 million full-text dissertations available for downloading. International coverage but with North American emphasis.
- UBC Library Guide: Theses and DissertationsA research guide for locating theses and dissertations from UBC, British Columbia, Canada, and International databases and repositories.
- UBC Theses and DissertationsUBC graduate theses and dissertations are available through the Open Collections portal dating back to 1919.
