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IAD 200N: International Development

Grey Literature

Grey literature includes information outputs produced by individuals or organizations outside of the traditional publishing and distribution channels. Examples of grey literature include:

  • Technical reports
  • Government documents
  • White papers*
  • Conference proceedings
  • Theses and dissertations
  • Unpublished and ongoing studies

There is no one place to look for grey literature; it is best to consult a variety of resources to identify grey literature on your topic.

*The purpose of a white paper is to advocate a certain policy solution as the best approach for tackling a particular problem. Organizations that seek to publish on specialized, highly relevant, and sometimes very urgent topics will hire experts, practitioners, and/or scholars to conduct research and publish reports outside of traditional academic publishing.

Searching for Grey Literature Online

Google Advanced Search Techniques

Google Search of Limited Domains:

This search technique lets you limit where Google searches to find more robust results.

Limiter What is Searched Example Search
site:gov    government websites site:gov debt relief
site:edu    university and college websites site:edu debt relief
site:org    domains ending in .org (NGO, nonprofit, charities, etc.) site:org debt relief


These are likely to be the most common limiters for your purposes, but see other limiters here: Generic Top-level Domains