Identify an individual’s Instagram profile and review the content available publicly.

This site has tools for open-source research based on phone numbers, email addresses and other data. You can search it using any known usernames for a candidate, such as email addresses or handles for Twitter and Instagram. These may identify other websites where the candidate has used the same usernames. Michael Bazzell, an expert in open-source intelligence, cybersecurity and privacy, maintains Intel Techniques.

Public record requests to law enforcement agencies in the jurisdictions where an individual has lived can identify police reports naming the candidate that did not result in charges and are therefore not documented in county case indexes. Agencies can also provide otherwise unavailable details on incidents that did result in charges. The same is true of records on calls for service, or calls to 911 requesting service at the individual’s address. In any given jurisdiction, there will generally be a municipal or county police department – sometimes both. There will also generally be a county sheriff’s office, which is distinct from the county police. At the state-level, there is generally a state police force, often called a state highway patrol or state troopers.

This database describes itself as having compiled public information on congressional investigations, criminal convictions, censures by and expulsions from Congress, and more. It includes alleged and actual misconduct by legislators in Congress from 1789 until now. Use this to see any misconduct in an elected official’s past .

LexisNexis provides access to information available through public records and a broad collection of media, much of which would otherwise be behind a paywall. It also has an advantage over Google in that its search function returns any documents that match search terms, whereas Google’s algorithm may suppress unpopular results that are nevertheless valuable for research. If an individual has had a long career in politics or other closely watched industries, there may be a volume of coverage that makes it impossible to review every “hit” naming the candidate in LexisNexis. In these cases, you will need to design search threads to return more limited sets of documents. For example, a search for key controversial search terms might look something like: FIRST NAME /2 LAST NAME AND (CORRUPTION OR FRAUD OR CONTROVERSY OR MISCONDUCT). Like TLO, LexisNexis is a secondary source, and anything significant in a report must be verified independently. LexisNexis data should only be used to identify leads for further investigation but never as an authoritative source itself.

This website maintains an official record of federal legislation and Congressional resolutions and can be researched for information on bills and resolutions sponsored by a Congressional member as well as roll call voting records for specific bills and resolutions.

Before conducting research on LinkedIn, consider whether you should be browsing in Private Mode. To enable Private Mode, navigate to the Settings and Privacy page, select Visibility in the left-hand panel, and click on “Profile Viewing Options.” To identify people currently or formerly associated with a specific company or company location, use the Search feature’s Filters. If LinkedIn does not allow you to view the full profile of someone outside your network, try copying the visible text of the profile, pasting it into the Google search bar in quotes, and limiting your Google search to the LinkedIn domain by adding site:linkedin.com to your search string.

Newspaper archives preserve digital records of newspapers published going back decades or even centuries and may include information about an individual, their family and their professional connections that search engines might not index.

MeWe is a decentralized social media platform with a focus on the blockchain. The app may be useful for identifying fringe connections to an individual and finding online discussion of them among groups not able to openly post on mainstream social media.

State medical licensing boards generally provide information to the public on the qualifications and licensing of medical professionals. A call to the state regulator or public-record request may be necessary to obtain full copies of license applications and related documents, which may include criminal cases or civil judgments filed against the licensee. You can use these records to check an individual’s license status, educational background, and employment history, verify the accuracy of information an individual submitted on a licensing application, identify an individual’s professional associates and search for disciplinary actions against an individual.

Medium is a social publishing platform for articles, newsletters and other written work. You can search the platform for writings on, about or by individuals and other individuals and organizations connected to them.

The National Personnel Records Center of the National Archives provides public access to certain military records that can be used to verify an individual’s claimed military service. You can request these records as explained on the NRC website.

mugshots.com provides mugshots, details on the booking of suspects into jail and other content about crimes and arrests. You can narrow search results by state and county.

NEXUS Mountain Network is a Christian social network. Searching for members requires an account.