docs/PROVENANCE.md

Source provenance and lineage

Provenance is the evidence chain that explains what material was considered, where it came from, which exact version was reviewed, what permission applies, how it was transformed, and why the result is suitable for a stated research purpose.

Minimum source record

Every source must identify:

• a stable source_id and human-readable title;
• canonical publisher and HTTPS location;
• version, snapshot date, or immutable revision;
• retrieval time and SHA-256 digest of the reviewed local artifact;
• licence identifier, licence URL, and redistribution decision;
• privacy and sensitive-data review state;
• consent, contract, public-interest, or other applicable lawful basis;
• allowed purpose, restrictions, attribution, and retention requirements;
• reviewer identity, decision time, and review notes.

unknown and pending are valid research states. They are not approval states.

Lineage record

Each preprocessing run should bind:

1. source-manifest digest;
2. code repository revision;
3. executable command and configuration;
4. runtime and dependency versions;
5. input and output digests;
6. accepted, rejected, duplicate, and error counts;
7. split assignment method and seed, if any;
8. every filter with its version and decision rule;
9. a sample-based manual review record;
10. known limitations and unresolved risks.

Versioning rules

• Never overwrite a released manifest or processed artifact in place.
• Treat source changes, licence changes, filter changes, and split changes as new versions.
• Prefer immutable revisions and content digests over mutable latest URLs.
• Preserve withdrawal and correction records instead of erasing history.
• Record whether downstream deletion is possible when a source is withdrawn.

Evidence language

• Verified — directly observed and bound to evidence in the current review.
• Proposed — designed or nominated but not approved or executed.
• Unknown — required evidence is missing or cannot currently be established.
• Rejected — reviewed and not authorised for the stated purpose.
• Withdrawn — previously considered or approved, then removed from future use.