How claims are treated
Every entry separates three different kinds of statement:
- Facts that a reliable source directly supports.
- Attributed traditions - claims that a source presents as belonging to a particular tradition or historical account, rather than as settled history.
- Editorial explanation - simplifications written to help a general reader, which are not themselves sourced claims.
Traditional narratives are not written up as established historical fact, and the practice of one period or social group is not generalised into the experience of everyone.
How sources are judged
Four things are tracked separately, because they are not interchangeable:
- whether a source exists;
- whether it is accessible;
- whether it actually supports a given claim;
- whether it is strong enough to publish that claim.
A URL is never treated as trustworthy just because it exists. Search-result summaries are not accepted as evidence; the source itself is checked.