# TSM2 Institute Governance Protocol v1.0

## Final Registration & Archiving Protocol
**Post-Compliance, Examiner-Validated Workflow**

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## The 9 Structural Compliance Criteria

All submissions are evaluated against these 9 mandatory structural criteria. Every criterion must be satisfied for a submission to be deemed structurally compliant. This is an AND-gate model — failure on any single criterion results in non-compliance.

| # | Criterion | What It Requires |
|---|-----------|-----------------|
| 1 | **Clear Singular Claim** | A single, identifiable, operationally testable claim. Not compound, vague, or metaphorical. |
| 2 | **Defined Terms and Ontology** | Key technical terms operationally defined; mathematical and empirical layers separated where applicable. |
| 3 | **Causal Mechanism** | A physical or structural mechanism explaining why the claim holds. More than analogy or mathematics alone. |
| 4 | **Empirical Test Path** | An explicit, operationalised test with pre-registered criteria, quantitative thresholds, or specified methodology. |
| 5 | **Falsifiability** | A clear, measurable condition with a defined threshold that would defeat the claim if observed. |
| 6 | **Dependency Transparency** | Explicit acknowledgement of assumptions, limitations, interpretive judgements, and formalisation requirements. |
| 7 | **Non-Arbitrary Selection** | Protection against confirmation bias and post-hoc selection. Analysis target defined before the search. |
| 8 | **Predictive Capability** | At least one novel, testable prediction derived from the claim. Not re-description of existing data. |
| 9 | **Reproducibility** | Methodology explicit enough for independent replication. |

### Criterion 10 — Examiner Assessment Only

In addition to the 9 structural criteria above, a tenth criterion is assessed exclusively by the qualified examiner during human review:

**10. "Why Is This Claim True?"**

The examiner evaluates whether the submission answers in structured causal form: **"Because X interacts with Y, therefore Z"** — where X is the causal driver, Y is the interacting condition, and Z is the necessary outcome.

This criterion is not part of the automated screening or the submitter's self-certification. It is the examiner's primary integrity test.

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## Final Steps: Post-Compliance Pathway
*Mandatory — no exceptions*

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### Step 10: AI Compliance Confirmation (Gate Closed)

**Trigger:**  
Submission has passed all 9 Institute Compliance Criteria with no failures.

**Output:**
- Formal Compliance Pass Certificate (AI-Issued)
- Locked Compliance Case Record
- Submission status changes to: *"Compliance-Cleared — Pending Examiner Review"*

**Important:**  
Passing compliance does not grant registration. It only grants eligibility for examiner review.

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### Step 11: Assignment to Qualified Registered Examiner

**Purpose:**  
To restore human scientific responsibility, complementary to (not replaced by) AI or peer review.

**Process:**
- Submission is routed to a Registered Qualified Examiner (RQE)
- Examiner is selected based on:
  - Domain relevance
  - No conflict of interest
  - Standing within the Examiner Register
- Review is blind to author identity where possible

**Examiner Role (strictly limited):**

*Verify that:*
- The 9 compliance criteria were correctly applied
- No hidden assumptions or category breaches exist
- The submission genuinely satisfies mechanistic, evolutionary, and CEC requirements

*Examiner may not:*
- Introduce new theory requirements
- Reject on taste, style, or orthodoxy
- Override compliance rules

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### Step 12: Examiner Confirmation or Return

**Possible Outcomes:**

**CONFIRMED**  
Examiner signs off: *"Compliance assessment verified. No unresolved violations."*  
Submission proceeds to registration.

**RETURNED WITH FINDINGS**  
Examiner identifies:
- Misapplied criterion
- Overlooked failure
- Boundary breach

Submission is returned to:
- Author (if amendable), or
- Archive as "Non-Compliant — Examiner Review"

*Returned submissions do not receive registration numbers.*

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### Step 13: Sequential Registration Number Assignment

**Condition:**  
Only after Examiner Confirmation.

**Registration Number Format (example):**  
`TSM2-REG-000042`

**Rules:**
- Numbers are sequential, immutable, and never reused
- No provisional numbers
- No skipped numbers without logged cause

**Registration Entry Includes:**
- Registration number
- Title & abstract
- Author(s)
- Compliance Case ID
- Examiner ID (not public-facing unless requested)
- Date & version

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### Step 14: Archival Lock & Public Record

**Actions:**

Submission is:
- Archived in the Permanent Registry
- Hash-locked for integrity
- Time-stamped

Any future revision requires:
- New submission
- New compliance pass
- New examiner confirmation
- New registration number

**Public Registry Status:**  
*"Registered, Examiner-Confirmed, Archived"*

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## Governance Principles

| Principle | Responsibility |
|-----------|----------------|
| AI | Enforces structure |
| Examiners | Enforce judgement |
| Registration | Enforces accountability |
| Archive | Enforces permanence |

**This system explicitly avoids:**
- Unregulated peer review
- Editorial gatekeeping
- Prestige bias
- Silent rejection
- Retroactive rule changes

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## System Status

The Institute now has:

- Submission intake
- 9-criteria compliance gate
- AI audit trail
- Human examiner responsibility
- Sequential registration
- Immutable archive

*This is a complete scientific governance system.*

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## Official Pipeline (Active)

### Phase I: Submission & Binary Structural Compliance
1. Submission received via portal (PDF + structured form data)
2. Assigned Compliance Case ID
3. Evaluated against 9 Mandatory Structural Criteria
4. Output: 9-Criteria Scorecard, Pass/Fail determination, Fix list (if applicable)

The automated AI pre-check evaluates structural completeness, not scientific truth. It produces a 9-criteria scorecard that guides — but does not replace — the qualified examiner's review.

Structural compliance does not constitute scientific validation or endorsement of the submission's content.

### Phase II: Compliance Clearance
- If (and only if) all 9 criteria pass:
  - AI Compliance Pass Certificate issued
  - Status set to: *"Compliance-Cleared — Pending Examiner Review"*

### Phase III: Examiner Validation
1. Submission routed to a Registered Qualified Examiner (RQE)
2. Examiner verifies:
   - Correct application of criteria
   - No hidden violations
   - No category leakage
3. Examiner applies Criterion 10 ("Why Is This Claim True?") as the primary integrity test
4. Examiner outcomes: Confirm (proceed) or Return (no registration)

### Phase IV: Registration & Archive
- Upon examiner confirmation:
  - Sequential Registration Number assigned
  - Entry logged in Permanent Registry
  - Submission hash-locked and time-stamped
- Archive status: *Registered · Examiner-Confirmed · Immutable*

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## Key Governance Guarantees

- No silent rejection
- No prestige bias
- No peer-review ambiguity
- No AI authority without human confirmation
- No registration without accountability
- No retroactive rule changes

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*TSM2 Institute for Cosmology*