Library Guides: Population and Global Health: Statistics & grey literature

Grey literature overview

Grey literature refers to resources not available via mainstream publishing channels.

Sources of grey literature don't have publishing as their core business, but rather produce research and other documents as part of their work.

Examples

all levels of government, e.g. ABS.
hospitals
private companies
consultants
organisations, including charities and patient advocacy groups, e.g. Heart Foundation
think tanks

Grey literature can be tricky to find. Here are a few approaches.

Google Advanced

Watch this video (1 minute) for instructions on grey literature searching using google advanced
Investigate!
Try to think of relevant government bodies, professional organisations or organisations relevant to your topic and check their website for publications.

Australian Institute for Health and Welfare
Feature key reports on Australia's Health & Australia's Welfare. Includes:
• Population groups
• Health conditions, disability & deaths
• Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health
• National Drug & Alcohol Survey
• Health workforce
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) - Health
Collection of health statistics from ABS, includes health conditions and risks, causes of death, disability, health services and mental health.

Overton
A searchable index of policy documents, guidelines, think tank publications and working papers from around the world.
Key resource for grey literature searching
WHO Global Health Observatory Data Repository
Data repository on global health

OECD iLibrary
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) books, papers and statistics, analysis and data.

Each module includes instruction and an interactive exercise to explore an issue where grey literature plays a relevant role.

Learn how to effectively find
Government reports - Clinical Trials - Statistics - Theses