Business

Finding reports, grey literature, theses and case studies

Grey literature includes materials and research that do not appear in traditional academic publications. This may include working papers, reports, theses and conference proceedings.

Finding the grey literature you need, requires a mixed approach. It involves using library databases and search engines such as Google or Google Search, as well as employing techniques such as browsing websites of organisations relevant to the research area.

It's important to approach your search systematically as grey literature can sometimes be difficult to find. Before you start searching, ask yourself:

• What exactly am I looking for? Be as specific as possible.

  • What do you hope to find out from the grey literature?

  • Are there limits on what you're interested in? e.g. must be about Australia, not other countries

• Who might produce or collect that kind of information?

Theses

Student theses and research publications & outputs created by UniSQ staff and researchers are stored in different university repositories. A repository is a storehouse of content, including any associated metadata about that content. Repositories provide the opportunity to share research being conducted at the university with the world.

UniSQ RISE Research Repository

The RISE Research Repository provides research publications and outputs of the University, including Research Masters and Doctoral theses.

UniSQ SEAR - Student Exemplar Repository

SEAR is a searchable repository of examples of student work including Honours and Coursework Masters theses.

Searching for grey literature in databases

Library databases can be used to search for grey literature. Databases often allow a search to be limited to materials such as reports, conferences or theses.

Case Studies

Case studies can be important and detailed sources of detailed information about a particular topic.