sourceso

SourceSo is a term used to describe a framework and reference implementation for documenting the provenance of information as it moves through digital ecosystems. It defines a structured approach to capturing source metadata—such as origin, authorship, timestamps, and every transformation or aggregation the content undergoes—and to producing verifiable provenance records that can be audited later. The goal is to increase transparency, enable replication of results, and support the detection of misinformation by exposing how a piece of content spread and changed over time.

The concept emerged from discussions in information science and journalism about content provenance in the 2010s and 2020s, with early prototypes and standards proposals that sought interoperability with existing provenance models. A number of open-source projects and academic papers contributed to its evolution, culminating in formal schemas and reference implementations that emphasize cryptographic integrity and cross-platform compatibility.

SourceSo relies on a metadata schema for provenance records, cryptographic hashes, digital signatures, and optional notarization services. It supports chaining of provenance records so that each step records its predecessor, creating a tamper-evident lineage. The framework specifies interfaces for exporting and importing provenance data, and compatibility with the W3C PROV model to enable interoperability with other provenance systems.

In practice, SourceSo has been proposed for use in journalism to document sourcing and edits of articles, in research to track data processing pipelines, in content platforms to annotate user-generated content with source histories, and in digital forensics to establish the chain of custody.

Related topics include data provenance, the W3C PROV model, and cryptographic signing.