Library Guides: ENVR 480: Gray Literature

Gray Literature is...

Typically research that is unpublished or published outside of traditional academic journal circuits.

Examples include:

Search tips for finding gray literature:

Search the websites of corporations, institutions, or agencies that produce the kinds of literature you're looking for
Try a site:gov search in Google
- For example, if you're looking for government reports about Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, type Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Report:gov, as this will instruct Google to search for only domain names ending in .gov

Evaluating Gray Literature

AACODS Checklist
Developed by Flinders University, this is a useful tool for appraising gray literature.

Databases for Gray Literature

Dissertations & Theses @ University of South Carolina This link opens in a new window
Citations, abstracts, and usually the full text of dissertations and theses written by USC graduate students back to 1948.
Dissertations and Theses Global This link opens in a new window
Citations, abstracts, and often full text for dissertations and theses, primarily from North American institutions.
EIS: Digests of Environmental Impact Statements This link opens in a new window
Extracts the key issues from government-released environmental impact statements.
Scholar Commons This link opens in a new window
Scholar Commons is an institutional repository to preserve, collect and disseminate the research and scholarship of the University of South Carolina. Contributions from authors include articles and books, documents, technical reports, presentations, conference proceedings, creative activities, master's theses, open-access dissertations and more.

Gray Literature Produced by Government Organizations and Agencies

Government and Legal Publications

Congressional Publications This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive access to U.S. legislative information.
Federal Register This link opens in a new window
Lists U.S. federal agency announcements and information, such as presidential documents, agency meetings, grant opportunities, and proposed and final federal regulations.
HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
An image-based collection of legal periodicals from various time periods.
PAIS Index [Public Affairs Information Service] This link opens in a new window
Index to political, economic, and social issues in international journals, books, government publications, and reports.