D — Distributable

Self-containment (S) establishes that everything needed is within the research object’s boundary. Distributability promises that those references actually deliver – that the research object and its components can be shared, retrieved, and used by others in a state consistent with reuse.

The distinction mirrors the concept of a software distribution: a curated, versioned bundle in which all components are resolved to specific versions and packaged for consumption. Simply sharing scripts with loose dependencies does not constitute distribution in this sense.

The spectrum ranges from publicly accessible components with retrieval instructions, through persistent hosting on archival infrastructure (Zenodo, PyPI, conda-forge, DANDI) with frozen versions and content-addressed identifiers, to a fully self-contained archive (e.g., a built container or a zipped RO-Crate).

See the STAMPED paper for the full treatment.

From Script to STAMPED Research Object

20 February 2026·9 mins

Reproducibility Rigor Transparency Reusable Accessible Pattern S — Self-contained T — Tracked A — Actionable M — Modular P — Portable E — Ephemeral D — Distributable Shell Posix Awk Make Git Singularity Containers

Four scenarios showing how to incrementally add STAMPED properties to a shell-based analysis using git, make, and singularity.