Be sure to keep track of the database/s you use and the search strategies.
Everyone should use the Academic Search Ultimate database (an Ebsco database) and depending on your topic focus, and if you need additional documents, add additional databases. To add additional databases, once in Academic Search Ultimate, click on - choose databases to add the rest. See the tab - Searching Multiple Databases
Business:
Business Source Complete
EconLit
Regional Business News
Education:
Education Source
Family:
Family & Society Studies Worldwide
Family Studies Abstracts
Women:
Women Studies International
Health
Health Source - Consumer Edition
Health Source - Nursing/Academic Edition
MEDLINE
Political
International Political Science Abstracts
Psychology / Social
PsycINFO
Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
SocINDEX with Full Text
Urban Studies Abstracts
eBooks
Ebsco eBook Academic Comprehensive Collection
Ebsco eBook Collection
There are additional databases from Proquest. Once in one, click on - Change Databases - and add the other. See the tab - Searching Multiple databases.
PAIS
Ethnic Newswatch
Proquest EBook Central
To make sure the articles are about the United States, change the Select a Field to SU Subject
Too many results?
Limit by Source Type: Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals, Academic Journals, Trade Publications...
Limit by Date
Limit other keywords besides "United States" to the Abstract or Subject instead of Select A Field
Try the search in a variety of ways.
Start with Anywhere, change to either Abstract - AB or Anywhere except full text - NOFT
Limit date / document type
Google
limit by document type:
site:.gov = documents produced/authored by the government at all levels (federal,state,local) and government-sponsored research
site:.org = organizations / associations / think tanks
site:.edu = documents produced/ authored/ sponsored by educational entities
"asylum seeker*" process issues "united states" site:gov
"asylum seeker*" process issues "united states" site:org
Use quotes and truncation