Sentence:  The question of the plausibility of the counter-factual is seen as key in all three discussions of allohistorical fiction (as it is in Demandt's and Ferguson's <WSD>examinations</WSD> of allohistory) (cf. Rodiek 25–26; Ritter 15–16; Helbig 32). 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The act of examining.