Welcome to the April edition of the IFIS newsletter! Each month, you'll find our highlights of new features, tips, resources, and much more.

This month, we’re shining a spotlight on grey literature. Discover what it is, why it deserves a place in your literature searches, and the many forms it can take.

Let's dive in! >>>

Grey literature includes research produced outside traditional academic publishing: reports from governments, NGOs, academic institutions, and industry bodies. These could be conference papers, technical standards, and more. The term “grey” reflects its in-between status: not informal, but not commercially published either.

When carrying out comprehensive literature searches, such as systematic reviews, don’t stop at traditional peer-reviewed journal articles. But as with all sources, it's important to be aware of potential biases, inaccuracies, and other concerns.

Grey literature often covers cutting-edge or niche topics before they appear in journals, and can broaden your bibliodiversity with scientific research conducted by local organisations and smaller institutions.

However, grey literature isn’t peer reviewed, so treat it with a critical eye. Before citing or relying on it, always check:

> Who produced it, and why?

> Is the data supported or corroborated by other sources?

Including grey literature in your search can help you uncover information others might miss. Just make sure to verify its credibility before using it.

We’re reviewing how we identify and include grey literature in FSTA and would value your input.

Your feedback will help guide FSTA’s coverage and help us ensure it continues to meet your food information research needs. Complete the survey

To bring this theme to life, we’ve highlighted three recent pieces of grey literature indexed in FSTA.

Below, you’ll find examples of reports and a book, all fully searchable in FSTA and discoverable alongside traditional sources such as academic journals. They are ready to enrich your literature searches across a wide range of food-related topics.

> Early warning tools and systems for emerging issues in food safety – Technical background

FAO, 2023

> Engineering Innovations in Sensory Science.

Mahendran Radhakrishnan & Anbarasan Rajan (Eds.), 2025, CRC Press

> An analysis of the calorie content of 'food on the go' products in the out of home sector in Scotland - 2023. 

Food Standards Scotland, 2024

 

Claim a free trial of FSTA now to continue exploring this topic.

The latest articles from our Thought for Food and Research Skills blogs 

What is Grey Literature and Why Should You Care? Discover how grey literature can enhance your food research, why critical evaluation is essential, and how FSTA makes finding reliable sources easier. Read more

FSTA helps you discover emerging research quickly, adding new entries weekly. In March, over 17,000 new records were added, curated from 502 different sources, including 157 publishers based in 46 countries.

6 new journals passed our strict assessment process during March. These new journals have been sourced from the UK and China, and focus on general food-related areas such as Nutrition, Health, Biotechnology, and Agriculture, as well as specialist topics like Poultry Science.

Learn more about the newest additions, screened by the FSTA science team for quality, integrity, and relevance.