About

Companion to the STAMPED paper #

This site is the companion resource to the STAMPED paper (“STAMPED: Properties of a Reproducible Research Object”). While the paper develops the framework and evaluates existing tools against it, this site provides the practical side: concrete, runnable examples that show how the properties look when applied to real data management tasks.

STAMPED and YODA #

The YODA principles (YODA’s Organigram on Data Analysis) established foundational conventions for structuring DataLad datasets. STAMPED extends and generalizes those ideas beyond any single tool:

• Where YODA focuses on DataLad dataset organization, STAMPED formalizes properties of a research object that make YODA effective and expresses them in a tool-agnostic way.
• STAMPED adds properties (such as Ephemerality and Distributability) that were implicit in YODA practice but not explicitly named.
• By decoupling the properties from a specific tool, STAMPED provides a vocabulary for evaluating any dataset management approach – whether built on DataLad, DVC, Git LFS, Hugging Face Datasets, or plain Git with conventions.

Multi-dimensional taxonomy #

Examples on this site are organized along four independent dimensions:

1. STAMPED properties – Self-contained, Tracked, Actionable, Modular, Portable, Ephemeral, and Distributable.
2. FAIR mapping – which of the FAIR goals (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) the practice supports.
3. Instrumentation level – ranging from conventions that require no special tooling, through lightweight tools, to full version-control workflows.
4. Aspirational goals – higher-level objectives such as reproducibility, rigor, transparency, and efficiency.

An example may be tagged with multiple values in each dimension. A README convention, for instance, supports Self-containment and Findability and Reusability while requiring no special instrumentation.

Range of examples #

Examples span a wide range of complexity:

• Simple conventions – directory layouts, naming schemes, README templates that require nothing more than discipline.
• Lightweight practices – using checksums, manifests, or small scripts to add provenance without heavy infrastructure.
• Tool-assisted workflows – leveraging Git, Git-annex, DataLad, DVC, or similar tools for automated tracking and distribution.
• Advanced pipelines – multi-step, multi-tool workflows that demonstrate several STAMPED principles working together.

Contributing #

We welcome contributions of new examples, corrections, and improvements. The source for this site lives at https://github.com/myyoda/principles-examples. To contribute:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Add or edit example pages under content/examples/.
3. Tag your example with the appropriate STAMPED principles, FAIR mappings, instrumentation level, and aspirational goals in the front matter.
4. Open a pull request with a brief description of what the example demonstrates.

See the repository README for details on front-matter fields and the taxonomy values available.