Is grey literature really grey or a hidden glory to showcase the sleeping beauty

Abstract

Purpose The study aims to showcase the developmental perspective of “grey literature” and its importance to different sectors of the society. Furthermore, issues, challenges and possibilities concerned with the existence of “grey literature” have also been discoursed. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on the existing literature published in the field of “grey literature” which was identified with the aid of three leading indexing and abstracting services, Web of Science, SciVerse Scopus, and Google Scholar. Keywords like grey literature, black literature, The Grey Journal, The International Journal on Grey Literature, International Conference on Grey Literature, non-conventional literature, semi-published literature, System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe (SIGLE), European Association for the Exploitation of Grey Literature (EAGLE), white literature, white papers, theses and dissertations, GreyNet, grey literature-electronic media, Grey market, open access, OpenNet, open access repositories, institutional repositories, open archives, electronic theses and dissertations, institutional libraries, scholarly communication, access to knowledge, metadata standards for grey literature, metadata heterogeneity, disciplinary grey literature, etc. were searched in the select databases. Simple as well as advanced search feature of the databases were made use of. Moreover, for more recent and updated information on the topic, the “citing articles” feature of the databases was also used. The “citing articles” were consulted on the basis of their relevance with the subject content. Findings The study helps to understand the definitive framework and developmental perspective of “grey literature”. “Grey Literature” has emerged as a promising content for enhancing the visibility of the ideas that were earlier unexplored and least made use of “Grey literature” has also overcome the problems and issues with its existence and adoption. Technology has played a catalytic role in eradicating the issues and problems pertinent to the “grey literature” to a greater extent. Research limitations/implications The study is based on the published literature that is indexed by only three databases, i.e. Web of Science, SciVerse Scopus and Google Scholar. Furthermore, some limited aspects of “grey literature” have been covered. Practical implications The study will be of great help to various stakeholders and policymakers to showcase the value and importance of “grey literature” for better access and exploitation. It will also be of importance to those interested to know how the literature tagged as grey changed with the passing time and how it through its unseen characteristics has evolved as an important source of information at par with the “white literature”. Originality/value The study tries to provide a demarcated and segregated outlook of the “grey literature”. It also focuses on various issues, problems and possibilities pertinent to the adoption and existence of “grey literature”.

On the Use of Grey Literature

“…In our investigation, our findings show that beyond the GL evidence supported some findings of TL sources, its use contributed with exclusive evidence that would not exist if GL were not investigated. It shows the importance of GL to address topics that are missing from TL sources [7].…”

Gray Literature in Evaluating Effectiveness in Digital Health and Health and Welfare Technology: A Source Worth Considering

“…Its strongest contribution may be in the conduct of scoping reviews, where it is a recommended source to search along with scientific bibliographic databases. The aim of a scoping review is to provide an overview of a field of research, quite often with a focus on providing a general picture on the available literature for a topic [ 22 , 23 ] or understanding the context for an intervention [ 9 ]. Gray literature suits both these purposes well.…”

“…Gray literature in many cases lacks time-saving functionality—for example, when exporting references to references management tools. It is also often less structured (eg, lacking abstracts), which makes any screening process less efficient [ 8 , 23 , 31 ].…”

“…Literature that in many cases has not been subjected to peer review and editorial examination is often viewed as lower quality and less credible. Some types of gray literature (eg, theses and governmental reports) do, however, receive a thorough quality check before being published [ 23 ]. In the previously mentioned study of Australian gray literature [ 21 ], two-thirds of the organizations stated that they had their work externally or internally reviewed prior to publication.…”

Grey Literature in Software Engineering: A Critical Review

“…Diversity of scientific areas, e.g., in medicine [25], in management [2], and nutrition [1], have investigated the GL. Some researchers observed that benefits of using GL included gaining significant knowledge from practitioners in addition to academic articles [2], reducing publication bias where studies only report the positive findings to be published [25], and in a way to address topics that are missing from conventional academic sources [14].…”