UVM Libraries Research Guides: Gray Literature: Data and Statistics

How to Evaluate Gray Literature

Evaluating gray literature can be difficult because many of the standard indicators of quality, such as the reputation of the author, can be missing.

The AACODS Checklist is a well know and widely accepted instrument that you can use to assess what you find. It is made up of the following 6 elements:

Authority: Is the author credible?
Accuracy: Is it supported by documented and authoritative references? Is there a clearly stated methodology? Is it 'in line' with other work on the same topic
Coverage: Have limitations been imposed and are these stated clearly?
Objectivity: Can bias be detected?
Date: Can't find the date? Rule of the thumb is to avoid such material
Significance: Is it relevant? Would it enrich or have an impact on your research?

Print Version of the AACODS Checklist

Suggested Resources

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Canadian Institute for Health Information
Links to quick stats, statistical reports, interactive tools and databases. Some tools and databases require login.
CDC WONDER
WONDER includes data on various public health topic, including AIDS, cancer statistics, tuberculosis, birth rates, and more. Researchers can freely download, use, and write about the data as long as they cite the data providers.
Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services Data and Statistics
Includes national health care indicators and expenditures (aggregate national health care spending); Medicare enrollment (aged, disabled, all), utilization, and expenditure; DRG data for short-stay hospitals; Medicare Chartbook; Data Compendium (Annual compilation of national health care data); Medicaid data.
HealthData.gov
Provides access to reports, data sets, and other types of information generated by various health related agencies sponsored by the federal government.
Healthy Aging: Data and Statistics
Provides access to original data and other resources that track issues related to persons aged 65 or older.
Medical Expendature Panel Survey (MEPS)
Provides detailed information on dental events, including source of payment(s), total payment and total charge, type of provider seen and procedures(s) associated with each dental event.
National Center for Health Statistics
Documents the health status of the U.S. population and selected subgroups and provides data to identify and address specific health issues.
NIH Data Sharing Repositories
Master list of NIH-supported data repositories that accept submissions of appropriate data from NIH-funded investigators (and others). Also included are resources that aggregate information about biomedical data and information sharing systems.
re3data.org
re3data is a global registry of research data repositories. The registry covers research data repositories from different academic disciplines.
Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)
Authoritative source of information on cancer incidence and survival in the United States.
World Bank: Health Data
Covers health systems, disease prevention, reproductive health, nutrition, and population dynamics. Data are from the United Nations Population Division, World Health Organization, United Nations Children's Fund, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, and various other sources.