# Meta research integration contract

**Status:** implementation contract; not DATA and not EVID.  
**Canonical work branch:** develop after reviewed merge.  
**Release branch:** main remains release-only.

## Independent axes

The following are intentionally not interchangeable:

1. the human-defined **11 research directions**;
2. **Stage 0-10** scientific/developmental maturity;
3. research axis: empirical-technical / epistemological-methodological / philosophical-ethical;
4. Recursive Epistemics Edition 1.8 **Parts I-XI**;
5. RQ/H/experiment/review/EVID state;
6. paper/publication state.

The exact 11 direction names/order are currently not recoverable from a source-bound
repository or prior-chat artefact. Therefore the registry locks the count and the rule
against mutation but deliberately leaves identities unpopulated. Automation must never
manufacture DIR-01..DIR-11 titles from another taxonomy.

## Scientific invariants

- implementation != DATA;
- DATA != EVID;
- Human Review != independent replication;
- DOI != peer review;
- AI synthesis/critique != independent external evidence;
- internal replication != external independent replication;
- an error that motivated governance does not prove that governance works;
- human approval, study consent, external review and independent replication cannot be
  generated by repository automation.

## Meta programme

RQ-EPIST-002 and RQ-ETH-001 remain prospective until their human/ethics gates are
satisfied. RQ-META-003, -004 and -005 cover model dependence, recursive source
contamination and governance utility/cost. Their registered study specifications authorize
no execution and create no scientific EVID.

## Active digital-sense work

Digital sensory integration belongs to the existing Gateway/MSBA and multimodal research
programme. It does not create a twelfth direction or a new Stage. Any branch cleanup must
first verify that unique work is present in develop; branch names alone are not evidence
of completion.