Every document is born "grey". Some documents can become "open"

Lombardi S.

Document  Grey  Open Access 

As we all know, "grey" doesn't often mean "closed"; maybe sometimes it can mean just hard to find. If its sources are open and there are the conditions, the whole document could become an open access one. An example among all is the case of the pre-prints. When you archive a pre-print in a repository you allow the free, open and "grey" preprint become Open Access to everyone. If the immediately archived "grey" pre-print is open access it can accelerate global knowledge and research advancement. The recent COVID-19 pandemic is making us rethink the way we communicate, search, research and inform; there are some cases of publishers which immediately publish some COVID-19 related articles pre-print; other, instead, are making soon available the accepted manuscript (post-print). Let us concentrate on pre-prints, closer to "grey" literature. An immediate and open pre-print could accelerate research in some fields and could let researchers (and us) know on time if there is a deadlock or not. Some publishers are following this way. By the way, some pre-prints will never become a published article; in any case knowing those pre-prints let people know why that way is an unpassable one or if some other ways to improve research could be passable. So, "grey" sometimes could become open to improve and accelerate research, especially in this uncommon period.

Source: GL2020 - Twenty-Second International Conference on Grey Literature. Applications of Grey Literature for Science and Society, pp. 57–60, Online conference, 19/11/2020

Publisher: GreyNet International - Grey Literature Network Service, Amsterdam, NLD