v2026.1CASRAI Dictionary 714 entries across 20 domains · CC-BY 4.0714 entries · CC-BY 4.0

Dictionary termTrack AStablev2026.2

Container image (as output)

A reproducibility-supporting container image (Docker, Singularity/Apptainer, OCI) packaging a complete computational environment — operating system, dependencies, software, configuration — deposited in a container registry with a persistent identifier and treated as a citable research output.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 21 May 2026

Examples

Worked examples

Is an instance
A Docker image with all dependencies for a single-cell analysis paper, pushed to Docker Hub and archived to Zenodo with a DOI

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance
A README listing required software versions is not a container image

Editorial commentary

Container images close the reproducibility gap of dependency hell by capturing the exact environment in which a result was produced. Increasingly accompanied by workflow definitions and code releases. Depositing to Zenodo via a tar export, or registering at BioContainers, gives a DOI for citation.

References

da Veiga Leprevost et al. 2017 ‘BioContainers’ Bioinformatics
Boettiger 2015 ‘An introduction to Docker for reproducible research’ SIGOPS

Also known as

Docker image (output) · Singularity image (output)

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Container image (as output)"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/container-image-as-output" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "name": "Container image (as output)",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/container-image-as-output",
  "description": "A reproducibility-supporting container image (Docker, Singularity/Apptainer, OCI) packaging a complete computational environment — operating system, dependencies, software, configuration — deposited in a container registry with a persistent identifier and treated as a citable research output.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/research-outputs-expanded/",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/container-image-as-output",
  "sameAs": [
    "Docker image (output)",
    "Singularity image (output)"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}

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