In research communication, unambiguous referencing of documents is essential. Referencing a baseprint using a location on the world wide web is not sufficient, as multiple websites can present the same baseprint and there is no authoritative source. Instead of a website location, baseprints are referenced with an intrinsic identifier, such as a Software Heritage ID (SWHID). The identity of a baseprint is determined by its exact digital encoding, which is a sequence of bytes when it is a single file. When the baseprint is more than a single file, other digital encodings, such as a *git tree*, are possible. A SWHID identifies a baseprint using a cryptographic hash of its digital encoding.
