| 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 exile (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, the rôle of the state 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, 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 within the Soviet youth- and student federations, 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 | Soviet and related assessments of the international Trotskyist movement (before the Gorbachev era). 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. (Note: Material about the Trotskyist movement in the pre-Gorbachev USSR is to be found in chapters → 5... and 6.1.) |
| 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 | |
| 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. (Not considered in 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) |