Reports and Grey Literature

Reports and grey literature

Reports often fall into a category known as grey literature, ie 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

Use LibrarySearch to find reports held at University of Kent libraries.

The British Library is the biggest repository of grey and report literature in the country – search the British Library Catalogue; you may be able to request material using the document delivery service.

Many reports are now freely available via the internet home pages of the authoring institution. Find the institutional homepage, 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 and care related reports:

World Bank and 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.