Editorial standards
History of Communism takes a clear position — that the historical record shows communist regimes to have been totalitarian (see about the project). A position is only as good as the evidence for it, so these are the rules every article follows.
1. Every factual claim can be traced
Numbers, dates, quotations and any claim a reasonable reader might doubt are tied to a source listed at the end of the article. We prefer peer-reviewed scholarship, published archival documents and identified testimony over journalism, and journalism over anything else.
2. Primary and secondary sources are labelled
Each bibliography separates primary sources (regime documents, laws, speeches, testimony) from scholarship and reference works, so readers can see what a claim rests on.
3. Contested figures are given as ranges
Death tolls and other disputed numbers vary with sources and methods. We give the range of serious estimates, say who produced them and explain why they differ, rather than picking the most dramatic figure.
4. Quotations are verified
Many lines attributed to Lenin, Stalin or Mao are apocryphal. We quote only from a traceable original or a reliable scholarly citation of one. If a famous quotation is doubtful, we say so.
5. Opposing views are stated fairly
Where historians disagree — about intent, numbers or causes — we describe the other side's argument as its strongest proponents would, then explain what the evidence shows. We never invent or caricature an opponent's position.
6. Precise terms
We distinguish communist party-states from communist movements out of power, and both from democratic socialist and social-democratic parties. Criticism of a regime is not a claim about everyone who has called themselves a socialist.
7. How AI tools are used
We use AI tools to help with research, drafting and checking links. They do not decide what is true: every article is reviewed by the editor, and every source is checked against the claim it supports before publication.
8. Corrections
When we get something wrong, we fix it and show the date of the update at the top of the article; significant corrections are noted in the text. Readers who spot an error are encouraged to tell us, citing a source.