Gray literature is a different sort of information. It is not scholarly or published, but provides valuable information to the sciences. Gray literature is written by researchers and experts in the field, but is not peer reviewed, which makes gray literature different than the journal articles found in subscription databases and indexes. Because of this lack of review, gray literature is often more detailed and made accessible quicker than published material, but lacks the validation provided by peer review and publication.
Gray literature is produced by govertment agencies, associations, professional organizations, research centers and universities. The following list of documents can be considered gray literature:
In addition to these resources, professional organizations and associations may also have information about current research and new findings.
Information about doctoral dissertations and some master's theses with coverage: 1861 to the present
Citations to dissertations and theses (coverage: 1861 to the present), as well as over a million full-text dissertations available for download (coverage: many *but not all* dissertations added since 1997)
OAIster is a union catalog of millions of records representing open access resources from collections worldwide. OAIster includes more than 50 million records representing digital resources from more than 2,000 contributors.
OCLC index of papers presented at conferences worldwide. Covers every published congress, symposium, conference, exposition, workshop and meeting received by The British Library Document Supply Centre.
OCLC index of worldwide conference proceedings. Covers every published congress, symposium, conference, exposition, workshop and meeting received by The British Library Document Supply Centre.
WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of over 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories that participate in the OCLC global cooperative.
