Specialized Resources

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About the Specialized Resources Collection

Our collection of specialized resources includes a wide range of materials such as government and non-government reports, briefs, trade publications, fact sheets, presentations, videos, webinars, and more. Academics and librarians often refer to these types of resources as "grey literature". All resources in the Evidence Centre are curated by GREO to ensure their appropriateness and credibility. Using a systematic search process, we conduct an environmental scan of gambling harm resources and add new items every month.

What is "Grey Literature"?

Grey literature refers to documents that are published by an organization other than a commercial publisher, such as a government department or a think tank. The term "grey" may sound like grey literature is not credible, but it refers to what type of organization published it, and the fact that it can be more difficult to find. Some types of grey literature are peer-reviewed: Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre reports are a good example of this. A lot of grey literature is not peer-reviewed, but is still valuable as it is carefully produced by reputable organizations. GREO's Evidence Centre provides good context to the gambling grey literature by showing what type of organization published each document.

For more information, watch our two-minute video "What is Grey Literature?"

How Can Grey Literature Be Helpful?

Grey literature provides value because it:

Reflects current perspectives, priorities and public interest
Provides timely access to current research
Provides access to a wider variety of information in different formats
Communicates complex information in simple terms making it more accessible to a wider audience
Can be used to track progress and changes over time on a particular topic, and fills in the gaps of traditional publications by drawing on various resources that collectively provide a more holistic view on any given topic

What are the Challenges of Grey Literature?

Searching for grey literature is a time intensive process requiring advanced search strategies. The search is additionally challenging because of the large number of resources to examine
It is difficult to filter search results
It is difficult to find since grey literature is often hidden or not easily visible on the internet
Resources must be considered critically before use by assessing their quality and credibility since grey literature does not always go through formal editing or a peer-review process, and
It sometimes lacks standard citation information

Grey Literature Inclusion Criteria

GREO uses the criteria outlined below to determine if a grey literature resource should be included in the Evidence Centre.

It discusses problem gambling or reducing the harm from gambling
It is in English
It has not been commercially published
The title, author, and date of creation can clearly be identified
The publisher is an established organization, and the organization type can be determined
It is the complete and final version of the resource, and
Posting the resource will not violate copyright or intellectual property rights