Source Protocol
Every claim on this site should be traceable to a source a reader can check. This protocol sets out how we classify sources, how we cite them, when and how we quote, how we mark our own translations, and how we handle rights.
Four classes of source§
Every source in the Library is classified, and the class is shown on its page.
Primary sources§
The writings of the traditions and their thinkers, and the texts they regard as authoritative: scriptures, treatises, sermons, poems, letters, commentaries by the tradition’s own teachers. A primary source in translation is still a primary source, but we always name the translator.
Scholarly sources§
Academic books and peer-reviewed research: critical editions, historical studies, philosophical analyses. We rely on them for facts, dates and interpretations, and report their disagreements.
Secondary sources§
Reliable works for general readers, including older studies that remain valuable even where scholarship has moved on. We cite them as introductions or further reading, not as the last word.
Commentary§
Writings that interpret a primary text, and contemporary writing, always identified as commentary. A traditional commentary, such as Śaṅkara’s on the Upaniṣads, is both a primary source for its own tradition and a commentary on another text; we say which role it plays in each citation.
Citation§
In the text, a short citation names the source and the place in it: a chapter, verse, section or page. The full bibliographic details are given in the list of sources at the end of each piece, divided into primary sources, scholarship and further reading, and on the source’s own page in the Library. Notes are numbered and gathered at the end.
Where a traditional numbering exists, we use it rather than page numbers, so that readers can find the passage in any edition: the verse of a sūtra, the chapter and section of an Ennead, the number of a sermon in its critical edition.
Quotation§
We quote sparingly. Most of what we say about a text is paraphrase, with a citation to the passage. When we quote, the quotation is short, it comes from a published translation that is in the public domain or used with permission, or from our own translation, and it names the translator. Every quotation is checked against its printed edition before the piece is approved.
Longer passages appear as primary passages, set apart from our own text, with the source, the location and the translator.
Our own translations§
Where we translate a word or passage ourselves, from Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese or another language, we say so: in a note, in the passage’s attribution, or, in a PDF, in its colophon. Our translations are offered as aids to reading, not as authoritative renderings, and we welcome corrections.
Original terms and transliteration§
Key terms are given in their original language as well as in translation, because translation often hides a choice. We transliterate Sanskrit and Pali with the conventional diacritics (ātman, śūnyatā), Chinese in pinyin with tones where they matter (dào), Arabic and Persian with marks for long vowels and for ʿayn and hamza (tawḥīd, fanāʾ), and Hebrew in a simple scholarly form (Ein Sof, devekut). Original scripts are shown on the concept pages of the Library.
Uncertain details§
Where a date, an attribution or a bibliographic detail is uncertain, we say so, and we leave a detail out rather than guess. Traditional attributions are given as traditional, and modern scholarly views as scholarly.
Rights§
We quote at length only from texts in the public domain or used with permission. The Library links to public-domain editions where they can be read freely, and records the rights status of every edition it holds. Rights holders who believe material has been used improperly can write to the editors through the Contact page; we will review the matter and, where appropriate, remove the material promptly.