Bridging the Grey Gap: Conducting Grey Literature Reviews for Ethical Social Work Practice and Research

This article provides a social work approach to reviewing the grey literature as part of a scoping or systematic review that attends to all layers of the social ecology through a person-in-environment framework. Little guidance exists on how to conduct a grey literature review specific to social work. Yet, consulting the grey literature-which often includes knowledge generated by practitioners and community members outside of academia-aligns with social work's commitment to social justice, integrity, and competence because the grey literature contains case-specific and contemporary information about social work practice. Although academic knowledge about addressing injustices has value, it is often constrained by the neoliberal political economy, which emphasizes depoliticized market-based solutions to social issues and (re)produces inequities. Consequently, sole reliance on academic evidence compromises social workers' ethical commitment to integrity, competence, and social justice. We use a scoping review focused on restorative and transformative justice responses to sexual violence as a case study demonstrating the value of grey literature in social work. We argue that grey literature should be part of evidence-informed ethical social work practice and recommend a social work approach to reviewing the grey literature that incorporates the person-in-environment framework.