Copyright © 2026 Michael Herman (Bindloss, Alberta, Canada) – Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License
The Scientific Discovery Process (SDP) is a research lifecycle framework designed to support disciplined inquiry without assuming that scientific work is linear. It includes ten connected stages, explicit decision gates, evidence and claim records, provenance, uncertainty, correction pathways, and context-sensitive validation. Version 2.1 adds a machine-validatable record profile and explicit workflow invariants.
- JSON Schema validates record structure and controlled values; it does not validate scientific reasoning or truth.
- W3C PROV concepts can represent entities, activities, and agents involved in creating or transforming research artifacts; a mapping must be specified before claiming interoperability.
- Workflow state transitions are separately defined and must be checked by an application or workflow engine.
- Claims carry scope, supporting evidence, counterevidence, uncertainty, status, maturity, and review history.
- Stage gates evaluate readiness and process quality; claim maturity changes only when evidence and validation criteria justify the change.
- Corrections, withdrawals, and superseded versions remain part of the audit trail.
