Research Data Fuels and Sustains Grey Literature

The definition of research data is as encompassing as the field of grey literature. What should be included and what should be excluded is and remains an issue of concern. Research data can be defined as factual materials collected by diverse communities of practice required to validate findings. While the majority of research data is created in digital format, research data in other formats cannot be excluded. The formats in which research data appear are multiple and the types of research data are diverse. This also holds for the numerous document types in which grey literature appear published.

…

Over the past quarter century, grey literature communities have worked diligently to demonstrate how their documents are produced, published, reviewed, indexed, accessed, and further used, applied, and preserved. Today, these communities are now challenged to demonstrate how research data fuels and sustains their grey literature. These communities of dedicated researchers and authors maintain a strong conviction in the uses and applications of grey literature for science and society. Through the years, they have proved willing to share the results of scholarly work well beyond their own institutions. Hence, one can assume they are aware that innovation forfeits with the loss of data as with the loss of information. This 20th International Conference in the GL-Series seeks to address key issues and topics related to grey literature and its underlying research data.