a method for deriving data provenance information corresponding to a workflow process having lower - level workflow processes includes deriving internal provenance information for data pertaining to at least one of the lower - level workflow processes , identifying data objects that are shared between at least a pair of lower - level workflow processes to derive external provenance information for the identified data objects , in response to a user - submitted query , using the internal and external provenance information to retrieve the data provenance information for the workflow process , and outputting the derived data provenance to a user .