MedRxiv is an online repository of article preprints in the medical, clinical, and related health sciences.
Often times organizations such as professional organizations, advocacy organizations, and philanthropic organizations produce white papers, reports, newsletters, or other forms of publications that will not be found in databases. For many such topics, it can be beneficial to search the websites of such organizations directly.
For example, many students do research related to PA education or PA careers, and professional organizations such has AAPA and PAEA often produce literature on these kinds of topics.
The NGO search below is a custom google search that can help you find organizations that work in a particular area. A regular Google search can also be fruitful. For help identifying potential organizations, reach out to your liaison librarian.
Preprints are articles where the research has already been completed and the results have been shared before they have been peer-reviewed and formally published. Preprint servers can allow you to find cutting-edge research and get around the publication time-lag inherent in traditional journals.
Important preprint servers in the health sciences are listed below.
Trials registers
Clinical trial registries collect information on in-progress and completed clinical trials, often with the results of the trial. Clinical trial registries are the go-to grey literature source for clinical questions, particularly ones interested in specific interventions often tested via clinical trials. Clinical trials are particularly important if you believe there are recent trials that may not yet be reflected in the published literature.
The two key registers you should start with are ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP).
Government agencies produce a wide variety of publications such as white papers, reports, and more. If you are aware of a government agency that does work in your research area, it can be a good idea to search that agency's website.
For example, public health topics may be interested in the publications of the CDC, or you may want to look at AHRQ publications for topics related to patient safety.
The library's A-Z database list contains a wide variety of recommended government websites to find high-quality information. See below for a list of some key government resources to consider for your search.
Dissertations and theses are normally not indexed in general bibliographic databases such as MEDLINE or Embase, but there are exceptions, such as CINAHL, where nursing, physiotherapy, and occupational health dissertations are indexed, and PsycINFO, where dissertations in psychiatry and psychology are indexed. To identify relevant studies published in dissertations or theses, it is advisable to search specific dissertation sources.