Bounded answer
Establish identity from authoritative identifiers and the inspected object itself; keep title, author or organization, version, date, host, and digest as separate fields. For preprint-to-version-of-record transitions, preserve preprint version, accepted manuscript, version of record, dates, identifiers, and substantive differences.
Input contract
What must be fixed first
Candidate source URL or identifier
Observed title and responsible entity
Version and issue date
Stable locator or file digest
Procedure
Work the decision in order
- 1
Resolve the identifier at an authoritative registry or host.
- 2
Compare registry metadata with the opened object.
- 3
Record version relationships without collapsing them.
- 4
Fingerprint the exact inspected object.
- 5
Refuse identity when the observed object contradicts the metadata.
Expected outputs
- Source identity record
- Version-relationship classification
- Mismatch or unresolved status
Refuse when
- Only a search-result snippet was seen.
- The opened object has another title or subject.
- A mutable landing page is treated as a frozen version.
- A later version does not silently validate claims bound to an earlier text; the relationship must be recorded explicitly.
Questions this guide answers
How should source identity be established for preprint to version-of-record transition?
Establish identity from authoritative identifiers and the inspected object itself; keep title, author or organization, version, date, host, and digest as separate fields. Preserve preprint version, accepted manuscript, version of record, dates, identifiers, and substantive differences.
What must be preserved for preprint-to-version-of-record transitions?
Preprint version, accepted manuscript, version of record, dates, identifiers, and substantive differences.
When must the protocol refuse?
It must refuse when only a search-result snippet was seen. or when the identified source cannot be inspected at the required depth.
Does a successful preflight verify the claim?
No. It shows that the evidence request is sufficiently structured to begin inspection; factual verification remains a separate stage.
What does this protocol not establish about preprint-to-version-of-record transitions?
A later version does not silently validate claims bound to an earlier text; the relationship must be recorded explicitly.
Limits
- A later version does not silently validate claims bound to an earlier text; the relationship must be recorded explicitly.
- This protocol produces a preflight or evidence-structure finding, not a verified Evidence Dossier.
- No source is treated as inspected merely because its metadata or identifier resolves.