Purpose

The study aims to showcase the developmental perspective of “grey literature” and its importance to different sectors of the society. Furthermore, issues, challenges and possibilities concerned with the existence of “grey literature” have also been discoursed.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on the existing literature published in the field of “grey literature” which was identified with the aid of three leading indexing and abstracting services, Web of Science, SciVerse Scopus, and Google Scholar. Keywords like grey literature, black literature, The Grey Journal, The International Journal on Grey Literature, International Conference on Grey Literature, non-conventional literature, semi-published literature, System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe (SIGLE), European Association for the Exploitation of Grey Literature (EAGLE), white literature, white papers, theses and dissertations, GreyNet, grey literature-electronic media, Grey market, open access, OpenNet, open access repositories, institutional repositories, open archives, electronic theses and dissertations, institutional libraries, scholarly communication, access to knowledge, metadata standards for grey literature, metadata heterogeneity, disciplinary grey literature, etc. were searched in the select databases. Simple as well as advanced search feature of the databases were made use of. Moreover, for more recent and updated information on the topic, the “citing articles” feature of the databases was also used. The “citing articles” were consulted on the basis of their relevance with the subject content.

Findings

The study helps to understand the definitive framework and developmental perspective of “grey literature”. “Grey Literature” has emerged as a promising content for enhancing the visibility of the ideas that were earlier unexplored and least made use of “Grey literature” has also overcome the problems and issues with its existence and adoption. Technology has played a catalytic role in eradicating the issues and problems pertinent to the “grey literature” to a greater extent.

Research limitations/implications

The study is based on the published literature that is indexed by only three databases, i.e. Web of Science, SciVerse Scopus and Google Scholar. Furthermore, some limited aspects of “grey literature” have been covered.

Practical implications

The study will be of great help to various stakeholders and policymakers to showcase the value and importance of “grey literature” for better access and exploitation. It will also be of importance to those interested to know how the literature tagged as grey changed with the passing time and how it through its unseen characteristics has evolved as an important source of information at par with the “white literature”.

Originality/value

The study tries to provide a demarcated and segregated outlook of the “grey literature”. It also focuses on various issues, problems and possibilities pertinent to the adoption and existence of “grey literature”.

中文翻译：

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灰色文学是真的灰色还是隐藏的荣耀来展现沉睡的美丽

目的

该研究旨在展示“灰色文学”的发展前景及其对社会各阶层的重要性。此外，还讨论了与“灰色文学”的存在有关的问题，挑战和可能性。

设计/方法/方法

该研究基于在“灰色文学”领域中发表的现有文献，这些文献是在三个领先的索引和抽象服务，Web of Science，SciVerse Scopus和Google Scholar的帮助下确定的。关键词像灰色文献，黑人文学，灰色杂志，国际杂志灰色文献上，灰色文献的国际会议，非常规文献，半公开文献，欧洲灰色文献信息系统（SIGLE），欧洲灰色文献利用协会（EAGLE），白色文献，白皮书，论文和学位论文，GreyNet，灰色文献电子媒体，灰色市场，开放访问，OpenNet，开放访问存储库，机构存储库，开放档案，电子论文和论文，机构图书馆，学术交流，获取知识，灰色文献的元数据标准，元数据异质性，学科灰色文献等在选定的数据库中进行搜索。利用了数据库的简单和高级搜索功能。此外，对于有关该主题的最新信息，还使用了数据库的“引用文章”功能。

发现

这项研究有助于理解“灰色文学”的最终框架和发展前景。“灰色文学”已成为一种有希望的内容，它可以增强人们对以前未曾探索过的思想的了解，并且很少使用“灰色文学”，它也克服了其存在和采用方面的问题。技术在很大程度上消除了与“灰色文献”有关的问题方面起了催化作用。

研究局限/意义

该研究基于已发表的文献，该文献仅由三个数据库检索，即Web of Science，SciVerse Scopus和Google Scholar。此外，还涵盖了“灰色文学”的某些有限方面。

实际影响

该研究将为各种利益相关者和决策者提供极大的帮助，以展示“灰色文献”对更好地获取和利用的价值和重要性。对于那些有兴趣了解标记为灰色的文献如何随时间而变化以及它如何通过其看不见的特征演变为与“白色文献”同等重要的信息来源，也将具有重要意义。

创意/价值

该研究试图对“灰色文学”进行分界和隔离。它还关注与采用和存在“灰色文学”有关的各种问题，问题和可能性。