TheInternationalists.org publishes independent educational and reference content about international theatre, cross-cultural collaboration, translation, and performance across borders. This policy sets standards for selecting, researching, writing, reviewing, and maintaining that content. Its purpose is to help readers understand what an article establishes, how it reaches its conclusions, and where its limits lie.
Reader usefulness guides topic selection. Articles should address a clear question, explain a relevant practice, or examine a documented subject. Coverage may include explainers, practical guides, historical accounts, production case studies, interviews, resource profiles, and opportunity summaries. Titles, introductions, captions, and summaries must accurately reflect the material that follows.
Sources must be appropriate to the claim. A production programme can establish credited roles; an organiser’s announcement can describe a planned event; a review can document a critic’s response. None automatically proves every related claim. Research should consider when a source was produced, its purpose, its relationship to the subject, and whether other evidence supports its account.
References must be traceable and genuinely consulted. Citations should identify sources clearly enough for readers to locate them, using relevant authors, titles, dates, editions, page references, archive identifiers, or links. A citation must support the statement attached to it. Search snippets, copied bibliographies, and AI-generated references are not substitutes for examining source material.
Production reporting requires accurate names, roles, dates, venues, companies, and versions. The distinction between an announced project, a workshop, a staged reading, and a completed production should remain clear. Claims such as “first,” “premiere,” “only,” or “internationally acclaimed” require appropriate evidence or explicit attribution to the source making them.
Historical coverage must distinguish evidence from reconstruction. Surviving records may be incomplete or contradictory. Articles should explain important uncertainties and avoid treating absence from an online archive as proof that an event did not happen. References to the earlier Internationalists directors’ collective must preserve attribution and must not imply organisational continuity with the current publication.
Cultural context is essential. A performance, artist, or institution should not be presented as representing an entire country, language, or community without justification. Coverage should identify relevant places, periods, traditions, and perspectives. Where available, local-language sources and accounts from practitioners can help address gaps in English-language coverage.
Translation and terminology require careful attribution. Quotations should be checked against the identified text or recording. Published translations should name the translator where available; translations prepared for an article should be identified accordingly. Paraphrases must remain distinguishable from direct quotations. Dialect, transliteration, culturally specific terms, and disputed terminology should be explained when they affect understanding.
Articles should distinguish factual description, artistic intention, critical interpretation, and personal experience. A creator’s explanation should be attributed as that creator’s account. Reviews and commentary should identify their evaluative perspective. Claims of attendance, interviews, rehearsals observed, or firsthand testing must reflect work that actually occurred; analysis based on a recording should make that basis clear.
Before publication, the responsible editor should check central claims, references, quotations, credits, dates, and important qualifications. Unresolved material should be narrowed, clearly qualified, or withheld. Specialist review may be sought where the topic requires it. Author biographies, credentials, and review statements must describe actual involvement; routine editing must not be labelled peer review.
Practical guidance should explain its assumptions. Examples, checklists, budgets, and planning tools need enough context for readers to assess their relevance. Illustrative figures must be distinguishable from documented results. Administrative guidance should direct readers to current official information where requirements depend on jurisdiction, nationality, residence, or project circumstances.
Directory profiles and opportunity summaries follow the Directory & Opportunity Verification Policy. Checks must concern the relevant organisation or application round, with sources and checking dates recorded appropriately. Inclusion does not establish endorsement or guarantee participation. Material changes to deadlines, eligibility, costs, or status should receive particular attention.
Editorial decisions must remain independent of commercial influence. Advertising, sponsorship, affiliate relationships, and relevant conflicts of interest should be disclosed alongside affected material. Contributors should identify relationships such as employment, collaboration, complimentary tickets, or funded travel when they could influence coverage. Payment or access must not secure favourable conclusions or suppress substantiated corrections.
Contributors must respect attribution, privacy, and the conditions attached to source material. Substantial criticism or disputed allegations should be checked carefully, and the affected person or organisation should have a reasonable opportunity to respond where appropriate. Responses should be represented fairly without granting subjects control over editorial conclusions.
Visual material must have accurate captions and appropriate credits. Historical photographs, documentary images, reconstructions, conceptual illustrations, and generated media should remain distinguishable. AI assistance is governed by the AI Policy; human responsibility, factual checking, and meaningful disclosure remain necessary.
Corrections and updates are part of editorial accountability. Material factual errors should be addressed under the Corrections Policy, with visible explanations where required. Publication, review, and checking dates must describe actual activity. Readers may suggest sources, identify omissions, or report concerns through the Contact page, including the relevant URL and supporting details.
Further reading: Associated Press guidance on accuracy, attribution, editorial independence, and corrections. The Associated Press