| 1. | Generalities and bibliography |
| 1.1 | Bibliographies on Trotsky and Trotskyism. (Incl. inventories, archive guides and related research tools) | |
| 1.2 | Conference proceedings, symposia, collections, journals and special topic issues | |
| 1.3 | Research on Trotsky/Trotskyism and its sources. Reception and publication history of works by and about Trotsky. See also → 3.2 and 3.3.15 | |
| 1.4 | Encyclopaedic articles and miscellaneous. See also → 2.2 |
| 2. | Biographical items and related material |
| 2.1 | Comprehensive biographies and collective works. See also → 3.1 | |
| 2.2 | Concise biographies, biographical outlines, biochronologies and introductions to Trotsky's life and work. See also → 1.4 and 3.2 | |
| 2.3 | Obituaries, appreciations, general characterizations, occasional writings, varia. See also → 3.2 | |
| 2.4 | Recollections and reminiscences | |
| 2.5 | Literary adaptations. (Trotsky in drama, novel, short story, poem, satire, and film.) For films see also → 2.2 and → 2.8.08 | |
| 2.6 | Works of visual art, iconography, exhibition catalogues, caricatures, cartoons | |
| 2.7 | Miscellaneous incl. juvenile and children's literature | |
| 2.8 | Single aspects and periods of Trotsky's life |
| 2.8.01 | Trotsky's genealogy, childhood, youth and family. His physical and mental health. His autobiographical writings | |
| 2.8.02 | Trotsky as a Jew and as a target of anti-Semitism | |
| 2.8.03 | Trotsky before May 1917. His banishment and exiles (Siberia, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, United States, Canada). His return to Russia in 1917 | |
| 2.8.04 | Trotsky as revolutionary leader. (Trotsky in the Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917, as chairman of the Petrograd Soviet and of the Military Revolutionary Committee) | |
| 2.8.05 | Trotsky as People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs, as People's Commissar of War, as founder and chief of the Red Army. His rôle in the civil war and its aftermath | |
| 2.8.06 | Trotsky's downfall (1925-27), his banishment (1928-29), and his expulsion from the USSR (1929). His attempts to find asylum | |
| 2.8.07 | Trotsky's final exiles (1929-40) |
| 2.8.07.01 | Items about the entire final exile period and generalities | |
| 2.8.07.02 | Trotsky in Turkey (1929-33). (Incl. Trotsky's trip to Copenhagen, Nov. 1932) | |
| 2.8.07.03 | Trotsky in France (1933-35) | |
| 2.8.07.04 | Trotsky in Norway (1935-36) | |
| 2.8.07.05 | Trotsky in Mexico (1937-40). (Incl. items about the Trotsky Museum in Coyoacán) |
| 2.8.08 | Trotsky's assassination (August 1940). (Incl. items about the May 1940 assault and about Trotsky's murderer) |
| 3. | Trotsky's political, philosophical, socio-economic and military thought |
| 3.1 | Comprehensive works, collections, introductions. General assessments of his thought. See also → 2.1 and 3.2 | |
| 3.2 | Generalities, outlines, intellectual portraits and concise evaluations. Trotsky's significance to the present. See also → 1.3, 1.4, 2.2, 2.3, and 3.3.15 | |
| 3.3 | Single aspects of Trotsky's political and socio-economic thought |
| 3.3.01 | Trotsky's theory of permanent revolution. (Uneven and combined development. Theory of permanent revolution. The revolutions of 1905 and 1917 in Trotsky. Also: The rôle of the state, of law, and of social classes in Trotsky. Trotsky and comparative revolutionary history) | |
| 3.3.02 | Trotsky and world revolution. (Trotsky on revolutionary strategy and tactics, his criticism of Comintern and reformist policies, etc.) |
| 3.3.03 | Trotsky's economic thought |
| 3.3.03.01 | Trotsky on capitalism and imperialism | |
| 3.3.03.02 | Trotsky and the socio-economic problems of post-revolutionary Russia. See also → 5.3.05.03 |
| 4. | Trotsky's literary, cultural, educational, and religious thought |
| 5. | Trotsky/Trotskyism and the factional struggles within the Russian/Soviet Social-Democratic and Communist Party |
| 5.1 | Comprehensive works and collections | |
| 5.2 | Generalities, outlines and surveys | |
| 5.3 | Single periods and major topics |
| 5.3.01 | The pre-1917 factional struggles | |
| 5.3.02 | From the October revolution to the peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1917-18) | |
| 5.3.03 | War communism, trade union debate, Kronstadt rebelllion and the beginnings of the NEP (1919-1922) | |
| 5.3.04 | The Trotskyist Left Opposition and its controversy with the 'triumvirate' (1923-25). Lenin's death and the succession struggle |
| 5.3.04.01 | Comprehensive works, collections, generalities | |
| 5.3.04.02 | The 'literary debate'. (The party controversy about Trotsky's New course, Lessons of October, etc.) See also → 5.4 | |
| 5.3.04.03 | The struggle against the Left Opposition in the youth- and student federations, at the universities, in the trade unions and in the press | |
| 5.3.04.04 | Varia and miscellaneous |
| 5.3.05 | The Joint (New) Opposition (Trotskyist-Zinovievist Opposition) and its controversy with the Stalin-Bukharin majority faction (1925-27) |
| 5.3.06 | The Trotskyist Opposition after its defeat in 1927. The fight against Trotsky and the underground opposition in the USSR 1928-36 |
| 5.4 | Leading figures of the CPSU (1920s and 1930s) about Trotsky and the Trotskyist Opposition |
| 5.5 | CPSU and Comintern resolutions relating to Trotsky and the Trotskyist Opposition |
| 5.6 | Area studies relating to the Trotskyist Opposition and the struggle against it |
| 6. | Repression and liquidation of the Trotskyists. The Moscow show trials and Trotsky's counter-trial in Mexico |
| 7. | The international Trotskyist movement |
| 7.1 | The International Left Opposition. Comintern's struggle against Trotskyism | |
| 7.2 | The Trotskyist Fourth International |
| 7.2.01 | Comprehensive works and collections | |
| 7.2.02 | Generalities and shorter contributions about the history, rôle and meaning of the Fourth International. General assessments of Trotskyism in the past, present, and future | |
| 7.2.03 | Early history of the Fourth International. (The International Communist League, the Movement for the Fourth International, and Trotsky's struggle for the founding of the F.I.) | |
| 7.2.04 | The Fourth International after Trotsky's death. Policies, strategies, and tactics. Factional struggles, splits, and re-unifications. Currents, tendencies, and deviations (Pabloism, Posadism, Healyism, Lambertism and others). | |
| 7.2.05 | Varia and miscellaneous |
| 7.3 | Assessments of the international Trotskyist movement by Stalinist and post-Stalinist 'orthodox communism'. Trotskyism and the 'new left'. | |
| 7.4 | About Anti-Trotskyism. See also → 3.3.15 | |
| 7.5 | Trotskyist movements in various countries and regions. Area studies. |
| 7.5.01 | Australia and New Zealand | |
| 7.5.02 | Austria | |
| 7.5.03 | Belgium and The Netherlands | |
| 7.5.04 | China | |
| 7.5.05 | Denmark, Sweden, Norway | |
| 7.5.06 | Eastern Europe, The Balcans, USSR/CIS (Note: For material about the Trotskyist movement in the pre-Gorbachev USSR see particularly chapters → 5... and → 6.1.) | |
| 7.5.07 | France | |
| 7.5.08 | Germany | |
| 7.5.09 | Great Britain | |
| 7.5.10 | India | |
| 7.5.11 | Indochina | |
| 7.5.12 | Italy | |
| 7.5.13 | Latin America |
| 7.5.13.01 | Latin America in general, various countries | |
| 7.5.13.02 | Argentina | |
| 7.5.13.03 | Bolivia | |
| 7.5.13.04 | Brazil | |
| 7.5.13.05 | Chile | |
| 7.5.13.06 | Cuba | |
| 7.5.13.07 | Mexico | |
| 7.5.13.08 | Peru | |
| 7.5.13.09 | Other Latin American countries |
| 7.5.14 | South Africa | |
| 7.5.15 | Spain and Portugal | |
| 7.5.16 | Sri Lanka (Ceylon) | |
| 7.5.17 | Switzerland | |
| 7.5.18 | USA and Canada | |
| 7.5.19 | Other countries and regions. (Countries not considered in chapters 7.5.01 - 7.5.18) |
| 8. | Book reviews, review articles, progress reports, abstracts |
| 8.1 | Reviews of Trotsky's writings |
| 8.1.01 | Review articles, omnibus reviews | |
| 8.1.02 | Single reviews, forewords, etc. |
| 8.2 | Reviews of writings about Trotsky and Trotskyism |
| 8.2.01. | Review articles, omnibus reviews | |
| 8.2.02 | Single reviews, forewords, etc. |
| 8.3 | Reviews of writings by and about Trotsky |
| 9. | Material about selected deceased Trotskyists (Incl. some dissidents and ex-Trotskyists) |