Reports and Grey Literature

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Reports often fall into a category known as "grey literature". This usually refers to material that has not been formally published, and is therefore harder to trace than other forms of literature.

Reports are often internal documents from a particular organisation. Many are now published on the internet, and can be accessed by searching the web site of the organisation.

General:

Locally held reports and grey literature can be identified using the Library Catalogue.

The British Library is the biggest repository of grey and report literature in the country. You may identify material by searching the British Library Catalogue. Material may be requested via document delivery according to departmental restrictions.

Many reports are now freely available via the internet home pages of the authoring institution. Find the institutional hompage, and look at their available publications. Searching an internet directory or subject gateway may assist you here.

Government reports:

Many UK government reports are available online in electronic format. See the Official Publications pages for a list of tools to help you find publication details, and useful departmental websites.

Health & care related reports:

International development - World Bank & United Nations Reports:

Research Reports:

Look at the output from social science research funding bodies in order to identify relevant research projects. You may be able to obtain copies of final reports by searching the catalogue resources above, or contacting the research team direct.

  • Links to these resources are available from the Research Councils & other R&D Resources page
  • The ESRC Society Today database is a searchable interface of ESRC funded research information. This replaces the REGARD database, and allows you to search for details of ESRC funded research projects
  • The NIHR CRN's (National Institute for Health Research, Clinical Research Network) Portfolio Database is a database of NHS funded research projects

Other Resources:

  • Social Policy Pamphlets - digitised archive of social policy pamphlets from the LSE Library - of historical interest
  • Social Science Research Network - a network for disseminating research (mainly in economics, law and business/marketing), by encouraging authors to submit details of articles and working papers. An abstract database is available, and many documents are downloadable in full-text
To report errors or make suggestions for this page:

Please e-mail Jason Harper