Explainer: JSON-LD and RO-Crate

JSON-LD

JSON (Javascript Object Notation) - is a lightweight data-interchange format. It is easy for humans to read and write. It is easy for machines to parse and generate.https://www.json.org/json-en.html
LD (Linked Data) - linked data is structured data which is interlinked with other data so it becomes more useful through semantic queries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linked_data
JSON-LD - JSON-LD is a lightweight Linked Data format. It is easy for humans to read and write. It is based on the already successful JSON format and provides a way to help JSON data interoperate at Web-scale https://json-ld.org/

RO-Crate (Research Object Crate) - RO-Crate is a community effort to establish a lightweight approach to packaging research data with their metadata. It is based on schema.org annotations in JSON-LD, and aims to make best-practice in formal metadata description accessible and practical for use in a wider variety of situations, from an individual researcher working with a folder of data, to large data-intensive computational research environments. https://www.researchobject.org/ro-crate/