Source Evaluation Standard

UNCLASSIFIED//OPEN SOURCE

Standard ID: WI-STD-002

Prepared UTC: 2026-06-12T23:20:35Z

Source Classes

WARLOCK-INDEX uses four source classes:

• Class A: Official U.S. Government, allied government, treaty organization, or statutory reporting.
• Class B: Reputable research institutions, academic publications, and specialized conflict monitors with transparent methods.
• Class C: Established news organizations and professional trade reporting.
• Class D: Social media, anonymous claims, partisan outlets, unattributed claims, or sources with unclear provenance.

Class D material should not carry a major judgment unless corroborated by stronger sources.

Reliability Notes

For each source, capture:

• Publisher.
• Publication date.
• Access date/time in UTC.
• URL or archival location.
• Source class.
• Known bias or institutional perspective.
• Use case in the repository.

Corroboration Rule

A major judgment should normally be supported by at least one Class A source or two independent Class B/C sources. Current-event claims can be logged with lower confidence, but the product must say so clearly.

Official Sources Are Not Neutral By Default

Official sources are authoritative for what an institution states and often strong for structured assessments, budget data, and formal doctrine. They still reflect institutional perspective, policy emphasis, and release constraints. Analysts should identify that perspective instead of pretending it does not exist.

Source Handling

Do not copy long passages. Summarize in original language, cite the source, and quote only short phrases when exact wording is analytically necessary.