S — Self-contained

A research object must never rely on implicit external state – the “don’t look up” rule. All modules and components essential to replicate computational execution must be contained within a single top-level boundary.

Components may be included literally (files committed directly) or by reference (subdatasets, registered data URLs), provided the references are explicit and tracked. Self-containment is the foundational property upon which the remaining STAMPED properties build.

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.

Datasette and MVC Pattern for Actionable Data Exploration

19 February 2026·8 mins

Transparency Efficiency Accessible Interoperable Pattern A — Actionable S — Self-contained Datasette Mvc Data-Exploration Sqlite

Shows how datasette turns static datasets into interactive, queryable web applications following an MVC-like pattern.

Ephemeral Shell Scripts for Reproducing Issues

19 February 2026·6 mins

Reproducibility Rigor Transparency Reusable Accessible Pattern S — Self-contained A — Actionable E — Ephemeral P — Portable Shell Posix Reproducer Bug-Report Testing

Distills a common practice among open-source developers: writing throwaway shell scripts that set up a fresh environment, reproduce a problem, and can be shared as actionable bug reports or starting points for test cases.