How the public corpus is classified
Research Types
Use these labels to understand what a 2IA page is designed to do, how much evidence it should carry, and whether it describes factual records, current source activity, or a clearly bounded hypothetical scenario.
Publication information
Reader-facing taxonomy
One label, one public purpose
The label describes the page’s job, not its importance. Evidence strength still depends on source origin, directness, independence, authenticity, dates, legal posture, dispute, and correction history.
Report
A full, source-backed analytical publication with findings, evidence, limitations, uncertainty, related research, and a correction path.
Research Brief
A concise publication focused on one case, development, legal question, report, or bounded evidentiary issue.
Research Guide
A cross-source explanatory or methodological pathway that compares records and teaches readers how to understand or verify a subject.
Civic Toolkit
Lawful public-process material such as records-request preparation, source-verification checklists, correction preparation, and document templates.
Topic Hub
The canonical subject entrance linking the strongest reports, briefs, guides, tools, datasets, collections, sources, limitations, and correction route.
Collection
A bounded thematic body of research with collection-level scope, navigation, evidence boundaries, and related material.
Dataset or Data Catalog
Structured records intended for filtering, downloading, citation, or longitudinal research, with source lineage and record-level limitations.
Daily Brief Edition
A current or historical edition syndicated from the authoritative upstream publisher and clearly distinguished from original 2IA reporting.
Scenario
A hypothetical, fictional, projected, alternate-history, or what-if record that is visually and structurally separate from factual events.
Legacy terminology
“Dossier” is not a competing public content type
The word may remain inside a historical title, quotation, or report section where it is substantively necessary. Existing top-level material is classified as a Report, Research Brief, Research Guide, Civic Toolkit, Topic Hub, Collection, Dataset or Data Catalog, Daily Brief Edition, or Scenario.
Claim states
What the evidence says—and what it does not
2IA distinguishes verified facts, primary or official records, court findings, legal allegations, government attribution, participant self-description, claimed responsibility, scholarly interpretation, analytical inference, disputed claims, unknowns, and hypotheticals. See Methodology for the complete evidence ladder and Corrections and Right of Reply to report a material error.