A Measurement-Layer Audit Protocol for Directionality-Adjacent Markers: Explicit Evaluability Rules, Evidence Traceability, and a 12-Study x 2-Marker Matrix

This record deposits the manuscript "A Measurement-Layer Audit Protocol for Directionality-Adjacent Markers: Explicit Evaluability Rules, Evidence Traceability, and a 12-Study x 2-Marker Matrix." The study introduces a conservative measurement-layer audit protocol for two explicitly defined markers, obs_entropy_production_rate and obs_irreversibility, and applies it to a fixed 12-study cohort. The completed output is a 24-item study x marker matrix built from accepted records produced through machine extraction, source-PDF review, and deterministic export. Within the audited cohort, explicit irreversibility is broader than explicit entropy-production measurement, and all entropy-production-positive cases fall within the irreversibility-positive subset. Across the 12 studies, obs_entropy_production_rate is positive in 4 cases and obs_irreversibility is positive in 9 cases, with no entropy-positive / irreversibility-negative cases. A separate post-collection inter-rater reliability follow-up was conducted on the same 24 study-marker items. Three retained streams -- a blinded GPT baseline run, a refined-instrument GPT rerun, and a Claude Opus sensitivity run -- each produced 18 matches out of 24 items, or 75 percent agreement. Kappa values ranged from 0.50 to 0.52. The refined GPT rerun did not change the binary result set, while Claude Opus changed which irreversibility cases disagreed without improving the topline agreement. The main contribution is methodological. The protocol separates marker measurement from thematic inference and makes each accepted record source-traceable, providing a conservative and reproducible footing for later hypothesis testing and theory evaluation.