Our editorial method
A short contract between the archive and its readers.
Source before certainty
We prefer official records, bibliographic records and institutional archives. We link to the record whenever possible. We do not use a declassified memo as proof that the memo's subject was true.
Four evidence labels
Document, testimony, hypothesis and research result are kept distinct. That distinction is the central design decision of this archive.
Corrections and updates
Pages are reviewed when a source changes, a new document clarifies the record or a reader provides a verifiable correction. Contact the editor with the page URL and a source.
What we do not claim
We do not turn an interesting anecdote into a general law, and we do not treat a government interest in a topic as validation of the topic. Readers can follow the original source and see where interpretation begins.