Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Project Course I and II (NGC 798 & NGC 799)Pro: Grey Literature
What is Grey Literature
The Fourth International Conference on Grey Literature (GL '99) in Washington, DC, in October 1999 defined grey literature as follows: "That which is produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in print and electronic formats, but which is not controlled by commercial publishers."
In general, grey literature publications are non-conventional, fugitive, and sometimes ephemeral publications. They may include, but are not limited to the following types of materials: reports (pre-prints, preliminary progress and advanced reports, technical reports, statistical reports, memoranda, state-of-the art reports, market research reports, etc.), theses, conference proceedings, technical specifications and standards, non-commercial translations, bibliographies, technical and commercial documentation, and official documents not published commercially (primarily government reports and documents) (Alberani, 1990).
References:
Grey Literature Report, New York Academy of Medicine, 1999-2016,
Alberani V, Pietrangeli PDC, Mazza AMR (1990). The use of grey literature in health sciences: a preliminary survey. Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 78(4): 358-363.
Gray, Bradford H. (1998). Sources used in health policy research and implications for information retrieval systems. Journal of Urban Health 75(4): 842-85
Resources
GreyNet
The Grey Literature Network Service was founded in 1992. The goal of GreyNet is to facilitate dialog, research, and communication between persons and organisations in the field of grey literature. Its main activities include the International Conference Series on Grey Literature, the creation and maintenance of web-based resources, a moderated Listserv, a combined Distribution List, The Grey Journal (TGJ), as well as curriculum development in the field of grey literature
New York Academy of Medicine grey literature publications in health services research and selected urban health topics, 1999-2016. Grey Literature resources are cataloged and indexed using MeSH. The database allows full text keyword searching as well as subject searching and serves as an archive for the Reports.
Mednar - does a "deep web" search, can refine topic using the Advanced Search All Categories
Nursing Times - Searching for and using grey literature,12 December, 2006,VOL: 102, ISSUE: 50, PAGE NO: 35-36. This article aims to provide nurses with a practical guide to searching for and making use of grey literature in their research and reports.
Finding Grey Literature - Medical Library Association's Nursing and Allied Health Section - aid to identifying sources of grey literature.
Checklist for Appraisal of Grey Literature
The AACODS checklist is designed to enable evaluation and critical appraisal of grey literature. The Fourth International Conference on Grey Literature held in Washington, DC, in October 1999 defined grey literature as: "that which is produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in print and electronic formats, but which is not controlled by commercial publishers." Grey literature includes theses or dissertations (reviewed by examiners who are subject specialists); conference papers (often peer-reviewed or presented by those with specialist knowledge) and various types of reports from those working in the field. All of these fall into the “expert opinion” Critical appraisal is “the process of carefully and systematically examining research to judge its trustworthiness, and its relevance and value in a particular context” (Burls 2009) Grey (unpublished) studies and RCTs should be appraised using the same tools as their black (published) counterparts.