Sourcerich

Sourcerich is a term used in information science and media studies to describe content or datasets that integrate multiple independent sources with explicit provenance and traceability. A sourcerich item typically includes metadata that records the origin of each piece of information, how sources were combined, and when updates occurred. This contrasts with content that relies on a single source or that provides only minimal attribution.

The word is a blend of source and rich, and has appeared in discussions of data provenance and credibility, particularly in the context of AI-generated content and digital journalism. While not yet standardized, it is used to signal a higher level of sourcing discipline and verifiability.

Typical characteristics include explicit attribution for each claim, diverse sources, provenance metadata, and a transparent audit trail that allows independent verification. Sourcerich data often supports redundancy, cross-checking, and reproducibility, and is commonly found in open data portals, knowledge graphs, and fact-checking workflows.

Applications: in journalism, sourcerich reporting helps readers assess credibility; in research, it supports reproducible results; in AI, it aids in training data provenance and model auditing.

Limitations: achieving sourcerich content can increase production costs and metadata overhead; the concept can overemphasize quantity of sources at times, without guaranteeing quality. Critics warn that source richness alone does not ensure accuracy.