A nanopublication is a small knowledge graph snippet with metadata that is treated as an independent (scientific) publication.
In its own words: https://nanopub.net/, read 2026-10-29
| What receives provenance | an assertion: a small knowledge-graph snippet published on its own |
| Relations carried | assertion provenance (how the assertion came to be); publication info (who created the nanopublication, when, licence) op |
| Carrier | RDF graphs: assertion, provenance and publication-info parts of one nanopublication op |
| Expresses · records · tests | expressesrecordstests |
| Operations tested | none |
| What survived | not tested: the model carries provenance; it does not measure its survival |
op the operator's own statement · 3p a third-party account · obs our observation · rd our reading. Hover a tag for its quote; each opens below with its source.
| Canonical name | Nanopublications |
| Also known as | nanopub, Nanopub Registry, Nanopub Query, Nanodash |
| Address | https://nanopub.net/ |
| Operator | the nanopublication community (nanopub.net) |
| Kind | publication model and service ecosystem |
| Unit | a nanopublication |
| Lifecycle | active — second-generation Registry and Query services; the legacy nanopub-server keeps old unsigned nanopublications op |
| Data access | decentralized publishing and SPARQL query services op |
| Versions and dates | architecture page updated: 2026-10-28; read: 2026-10-29 |
| Observation | 2026-10-29: read |
b2d9af40755a66ed…b2d9af40755a66ed…b2d9af40755a66ed…b2d9af40755a66ed…0e21d7ae559d8301…0e21d7ae559d8301…b2d9af40755a66ed…0e21d7ae559d8301…Lee Sharks, ed. "Nanopublications." Provenance meta-aggregator, Provenance Erasure, compiled 2026-10-29. https://www.provenanceerasure.org/aggregators/nanopublications
Record https://www.provenanceerasure.org/aggregators/nanopublications · entity https://www.provenanceerasure.org/aggregators/nanopublications#entity · the census as data
@misc{pe-nanopublications2026,
editor = {Sharks, Lee},
title = {Nanopublications},
howpublished = {Provenance meta-aggregator, Provenance Erasure},
year = {2026},
note = {Compiled 2026-10-29; every field sourced and dated},
url = {https://www.provenanceerasure.org/aggregators/nanopublications}
}