In the Trenches Around the Ivory Tower: Introduction to Black-and-White Issues About the Grey Literature

Abstract

________________________________________________________________The ''grey literature problem'' is a common phrase because technical reports produced by the majority of practitioners are perceived to be inaccessible, not peer-reviewed, and of low quality. These issues, however, are as much cultural as they are about indexing and databases, review procedures, and content. Unconventional, non-university-based publication venues and alternative forms of literature constitute an opportunity for bringing fresh ideas and new perspectives to the discipline, for reporting state-of-the-art research, and engaging a wider pool of participants. Nontraditional publication venues have a range of benefits including speedy distribution, presentation of abundant amounts of data, inclusion of in-depth analyses, consideration of a range of methodological and theoretical issues using sizable datasets, often rigorous multi-tiered peer review, and avoidance of many of the stifling political hurdles and time delays of traditional publishing. Honest pursuit of knowledge and effective communication begin with citation of this alternative form of publication, objective assessment of its content absent a double standard, and acknowledgement of the scholars who produce it.

The Types, Frequencies, and Findability of Disciplinary Grey Literature within Prominent Subject Databases and Academic Institutional Repositories

“…Seymour (2010) argues that grey literature's nontraditional publication process includes many benefits: "speedy distribution, presentation of abundant amounts of data, in-depth analyses, consideration of a range of methodological and theoretical issues using sizable datasets, and avoidance of many of the stifling political hurdles and time delays of traditional publishing" (p.228). In their paper on grey literature in institutional repositories, La Fleur and Rupp (2004) draw attention to the importance of grey literature in the scientific process when they say that the "quest for scientific knowledge is an evolutionary process in which every increment of new knowledge adds to, modifies, refines, or refutes earlier findings" (2004, para.…”

Grey literature – grey sources? Nuancing the view on professional documentation

“…Grey literature is sometimes framed as a potential problem due to limited accessibility, poor structure, content, and language (e.g. Hardman, 2010;Seymour, 2010a). Library and information science (LIS) scholars Dominic J. Farace and Joachim Schöpfel point out a need for a new definition of grey literature in general, based on the changed modes for access and distribution (Farace and Schöpfel, 2009).…”

“…Within archaeology, the definition of grey literature needs revision to reflect todays' modes of literary production and distribution, but it also needs to be nuanced with respect to the factors conditioning content (cf. Seymour, 2010a). Because of the value-laden character of the term "grey literature", the term "professional literature" is used here.…”

“…Awareness of variations between frames of reference among report writers can contribute to alter the perception of reports as "grey literature", in the sense being not academic (cf. Seymour, 2010a).…”

“…Since the introduction and growth of development-led archaeology from the mid-twentieth century and on the portion of professional literature relative to the academic literature has increased (Ambrosiani, 2012). However, this professional (in the sense extra-academic) literature is sometimes criticized for not being sufficiently accessible and for not meeting academic standards for structure and content (Seymour, 2010a;Bahn, 2012). The term "grey literature" widely used for unpublished or semi-published reports has in archaeology been coloured by these critical The practical, technical aspects of accessibility to professional archaeology literature are gradually being solved.…”