Methodology
Follow the evidence.
Keep the distinctions.
Every attribution needs a bounded claim, a source locator and an explanation of what the source can establish.
Evidence classifications
Documented decision or action
A source documents a specified action by a named individual or institution. Its authenticity, date, scope and access limitations must be recorded. An institutional address does not establish where a private order was given.
Source-explicit causal claim
A source expressly connects an action and a consequence. We identify whose account this is. A source asserting causation is not the same as independently established causation.
Allegation or contested account
The claim remains attributed to its source, with procedural status, opposing evidence and unresolved questions. An allegation is not a finding of guilt.
Editorial inference
A reasoned interpretation must be labelled and explain its basis and alternatives. Chronological sequence alone does not establish causation.
Judicial finding
Record the exact court, decision, procedural status, crime or issue decided, and limits. A final judgment for a particular crime does not establish responsibility for every consequence of a conflict.
Context or chronology
Background, office holding, geographical reference and events in sequence help orientation. They cannot silently become proof of individual action.
Review scope is part of the evidence
A source register identifies the original document, edition, source family, exact passage, dates and access limitations. Indexed excerpts and attributed republications do not count as complete review of the original. Missing documents remain explicit verification gaps.
Casualty accounting
Deaths, injuries, displacement and humanitarian need are separate measures. Each observation retains its population, reporting period, geography, definition, uncertainty and source. A documented minimum, an estimate and an unknown quantity are displayed separately.
Repeated reports, revised totals and overlapping populations are not added together. Civilian and military figures are not silently combined. A child subset is not an additional total. A country-level operation theatre does not establish harm throughout the territory.
Public release gates
- Prepare a bounded research record in staging.
- Verify the claim-to-source bindings and source access limits.
- Check reuse rights, privacy, contradictory evidence and legal terminology.
- Obtain independent AI editorial review of the exact wording, source bindings and limitations. Clearly disclose that this is AI review, not independent human approval.
- Obtain owner release authorisation for that exact content.
- Validate and audit the final public artifact before deployment.
A technical test pass cannot replace editorial approval.
Symbolic capitals, separately sourced
For a documented state-level decision, the default green origin is a historically appropriate capital reference. It is stored separately from the actual decision location. The map states: Symbolic capital reference — not the verified location of the decision.
Capital changes and disputed status require explicit source treatment. Jerusalem is displayed only as the Israeli government’s claimed capital and seat, with its disputed status and both domestic and UN context. An operational commander or non-state organisation does not automatically receive a national-capital origin.
A symbolic origin does not waive evidence for the person, decision, action, phase, relationship or destination. Country-navigation rings remain navigation; separately reviewed operation-theatre references have a different role and square symbol. No operation footprint, strike site or casualty chain is inferred.