Public Records & Open-Source Research: Find What's Actually Out There
A practical, no-jargon guide to locating and interpreting publicly available records — property filings, court documents, corporate registrations, FOIA requests, and digital OSINT tools. For journalists, genealogists, small business owners, and anyone who wants to verify what they're told, with no legal or technical background required.
14 sections⏱ 121 min read Updated
public recordsosintinvestigative researchfoiajournalismopen governmentdigital researchproperty recordscourt records
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Sources & References
This guide draws from the following sources. Visit them for additional depth.
- 🔗foia.gov — How To ↗webpage
- 🔗pacer.uscourts.gov ↗webpage
- 🔗foia.gov — Faq ↗webpage
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- 🔗muckrock.com ↗webpage
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- 🔗courtlistener.com ↗webpage
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- 🔗sec.gov — Browse Edgar ↗webpage
- 🔗usaspending.gov ↗webpage
- 🔗offshoreleaks.icij.org ↗webpage
- 🔗opencorporates.com ↗webpage
- 🔗fec.gov — Data ↗webpage
- 🔗opensecrets.org ↗webpage
- 🔗followthemoney.org ↗webpage
- 🔗echo.epa.gov ↗webpage
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- 🔗apps.ilsos.gov — Uccsearch ↗webpage
- 🔗web.archive.org ↗webpage
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- 🔗judyrecords.com ↗webpage
- 🔗lda.senate.gov — Public ↗webpage
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