Grey literature has a long and rich history in the health sciences, with technical reports first identified as a grey literature document type in medical journal articles in 1990. Here are some sources for health-related grey literature, organized geographically.

Australia

The AACODS checklist, created by an Australian medical librarian and considered the definitive resource for evaluating and critically appraising grey literature was created less than a decade ago, however it has put Australia on the map as one of the leaders of provision of grey material.  Below you will find two Libguides (library research guides) from the University of Melbourne and Monash University, containing a one-stop information centre for understanding grey literature in the health sciences field.  These LibGuides are enhanced with a list of Patient Reported Outcome Measures from the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care

Canada

From coast to coast, Canada is well-represented when it comes to the production of local resources of grey literature in medical disciplines.  The University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria have created overarching LibGuides/subject guides for health sciences students utilizing grey literature resources to supplement their studies, while the University of Saskatchewan has created a LibGuide specific to the use of grey literature in their Community Health and Epidemiology program.  The Canadian resource section concludes with two sites from Ontario: a list of public health grey literature resources from the Ontario Public Health Libraries Association, as well as a bibliography of grey literature resources pertinent to the Registered Nurses’ Association.

Europe

Two resources from the European continent are featured next: A Grey Literature for Health Sciences topic guide from the VRIJE University in Amsterdam, providing a succinct definition of the grey literature, supplemented with embedded videos and a Venn diagram describing the various grey literature document types.  The Grey Literature Guide from Newcastle University in the U.K. focuses mainly on theses/dissertations, government publications, and conference proceedings as three key areas where much of grey literature can be found.

United States

Several institutions across the United States have devoted LIbGuides/Research Guides towards the pursuit of grey literature resources in the health sciences discipline.  Of the 8 guides listed in this section, four introduce and emphasize the importance of considering grey resources when conducting research in medical or public health fields.  The Grey Literature Gateways is particularly interesting, as it lists a series of information centres/pathways relevant to anyone seeking grey literature material in the medical, public health, and psychology fields.

Mednar is a search engine for medical grey literature that is provided free-of-charge by the American company Deep Web Technologies, and can be a useful resource for health grey literature searches.

The remaining United States sites discuss the use of grey literature in a course on Healthcare Policy & Reform (Tulane University), and the importance of utilizing grey resources in the nursing profession, from an undergraduate (University of Illinois: Nursing – Grey Literature), graduate (Grand Valley State University – Nursing: Grey Literature), and doctoral (Rutgers University: Doctor of Nursing Practice) level.