Relationships and lifecycle vocabularies

Controlled terms and semantic relations used to connect research objects, describe versions and publication stages, and represent provenance across the research lifecycle.

This resource explains how to create explicit machine-readable links between datasets, publications, software, workflows, instruments, projects, samples and other research resources.

It also provides guidance on recording versions, lifecycle dates, derivation, dependencies, replacement and provenance without confusing these distinct types of information.

Resource information

Purpose and scope

A typed relationship states not only that two resources are connected but also how they are connected and in which direction the relationship should be interpreted.

Lifecycle metadata records the state, version and relevant dates of a resource. Provenance metadata describes the activities, inputs, outputs and agents responsible for its creation or transformation.

These forms of metadata should be coordinated but kept separate. A resource version, a publication stage, a provenance event and a related identifier represent different concepts.

Relationship and lifecycle families

What a typed relationship must contain

Relationship direction

DataCite relationship definitions are expressed from the registered resource A to the related resource B. The selected value must therefore be read as a complete statement beginning with the resource currently being described.

DataCite relationship types

Citation and reference relationships

Supplements, descriptions and documentation

Part–whole and publication relationships

Version relationships

Derivation, dependencies and compilation

Identity, form, review and translation

Using the Other relationship

RelatedIdentifier and RelatedItem

COAR Version Types

When to use COAR Version Types

Dataset and software versioning

Lifecycle dates

Date type and lifecycle state

Provenance relationships with PROV-O

PROV-O represents provenance through three principal classes: Entity, Activity and Agent.

Core provenance relationships

DataCite relationships and PROV-O

Example: DFT → MLIP → MD relationship chain

Example of DataCite relationships

{
  "doi": "10.xxxx/example-dataset-v2",
  "version": "2.0",
  "relatedIdentifiers": [
    {
      "relatedIdentifier": "10.xxxx/example-dataset",
      "relatedIdentifierType": "DOI",
      "relationType": "IsVersionOf",
      "resourceTypeGeneral": "Dataset"
    },
    {
      "relatedIdentifier": "10.xxxx/example-dataset-v1",
      "relatedIdentifierType": "DOI",
      "relationType": "IsNewVersionOf",
      "resourceTypeGeneral": "Dataset"
    },
    {
      "relatedIdentifier": "10.xxxx/example-publication",
      "relatedIdentifierType": "DOI",
      "relationType": "IsSupplementTo",
      "resourceTypeGeneral": "JournalArticle"
    },
    {
      "relatedIdentifier": "https://example.org/workflow/",
      "relatedIdentifierType": "URL",
      "relationType": "IsDocumentedBy",
      "resourceTypeGeneral": "Workflow"
    },
    {
      "relatedIdentifier": "10.xxxx/source-dataset",
      "relatedIdentifierType": "DOI",
      "relationType": "IsDerivedFrom",
      "resourceTypeGeneral": "Dataset"
    }
  ],
  "dates": [
    {
      "date": "2026-07-01",
      "dateType": "Created"
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-07-25",
      "dateType": "Issued"
    }
  ]
}

Example of workflow provenance

{
  "@context": {
    "prov": "http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#",
    "ex": "https://example.org/workflow/"
  },
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@id": "ex:reference-dataset",
      "@type": "prov:Entity",
      "prov:wasGeneratedBy": {
        "@id": "ex:dft-calculation"
      }
    },
    {
      "@id": "ex:dft-calculation",
      "@type": "prov:Activity",
      "prov:used": [
        {
          "@id": "ex:input-structures"
        },
        {
          "@id": "ex:dft-configuration"
        }
      ],
      "prov:wasAssociatedWith": {
        "@id": "ex:dft-software"
      }
    },
    {
      "@id": "ex:trained-model",
      "@type": "prov:Entity",
      "prov:wasGeneratedBy": {
        "@id": "ex:model-training"
      },
      "prov:wasDerivedFrom": {
        "@id": "ex:reference-dataset"
      }
    },
    {
      "@id": "ex:model-training",
      "@type": "prov:Activity",
      "prov:used": {
        "@id": "ex:reference-dataset"
      }
    },
    {
      "@id": "ex:md-trajectory",
      "@type": "prov:Entity",
      "prov:wasGeneratedBy": {
        "@id": "ex:md-simulation"
      }
    },
    {
      "@id": "ex:md-simulation",
      "@type": "prov:Activity",
      "prov:used": [
        {
          "@id": "ex:trained-model"
        },
        {
          "@id": "ex:initial-configuration"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

How to select a relationship

Relationship selection guide

Validation of relationships and lifecycle metadata

Recommended validation conditions

Common implementation errors

How to use this resource