Grey literature is scholarly communication published and distributed outside the mainstream academic publishing channels. Materials such as pre-print articles, government documents, and clinical trial registries can all provide value for scholars looking to supplement traditional paths of research.
By depositing research in open access and grey literature databases like medRxiv or ResearchGate, publishers and authors opt to skip time-intensive steps to share their work more quickly and openly with their peers. Prioritizing immediate access over quality control contains risks, however; researchers should be wary of the potential for bias, incomplete or incorrect information, or information that has become out of date.
This guide shares search tips and strategies for locating grey literature resources on COVID-19. A bibliography of selected works retrieved from the Henry Ford Health Scholarly Commons network can be found in this subject guide under the tab titled, "Henry Ford Health Publications on COVID-19."
This Custom Google Search will perform a search across more than a dozen databases containing grey literature (Google Datasets, Cochrane Library, International Internet Preservation Consortium, TRIP Medical Database, OCLC OAIster, Virtual Health Library, Agency for Health Research and Quality, and RSNA Journals) and preprint journal articles (aRxiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv, ResearchGate, ResearchSquare, The Lancet Preprints, Semantic Scholar, Outbreak Science Rapid PREreview, Open Science Framework, PeerJ, and CogPrints).
To search the entire network of repositories, visit scholarlycommons.henryford.com and go to the search bar on the right side of the page. Set the drop-down to “across all repositories” and enter your search terms.
Results from across the network will display, and options to filter by discipline, keyword, year, etc., display on the left.
Results will be displayed in chronological order, though some minor issues occur in ordering results across all repositories. Filtering by keywords is not recommended, as terms and uses differ across authors and platforms. For better results on COVID-19, combine keywords with Boolean logic and filter by discipline (Medicine and Health Sciences) and publication year (2020).
Among the results, an option to Download or access Full Text will be displayed beneath each entry. To access more information on the work's authors, institution, metadata, etc., click the hyperlinked title.