According to Betty Blair, editor of "AI" and author of the articles, research was carried out over a period of six years (2004–2010) examining documents and materials in 10 languages (Azerbaijani, Russian, English German, French, Italian, Turkish, Georgian, Persian and Swedish). The magazine staff also relied on archival materials in the Azerbaijan Republic State History Archives, Institute of Manuscripts (Baku), Georgian Centre for Manuscripts (Tbilisi), Ukrainian National Archives (Kyiv), ZMO (Center for Modern Oriental Studies, Berlin) and the rare library resources of German, Italian and French journals from the 1930s that are available at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Getty Museum, Los Angeles.