EcoPortal Metadata Schema
The EcoPortal Metadata Schema is built upon the Metadata Vocabulary for Ontology Description and Publication (MOD 2.0). This comprehensive schema integrates various vocabularies, such as Dublin Core, OMV, DCAT, and VoID, and was introduced by Dutta et al. 2017. Its primary purpose is to empower ontology developers to annotate and describe their ontologies, while also enabling ontology libraries to provide semantic descriptions of ontologies in the form of linked data.
EcoPortal with other members of the OntoPortal Alliance has embraced a set of metadata elements, comprising classes and properties organised into distinct categories. Each metadata element is linked to a FAIR principle, adding a layer of semantic richness to the description. The assessment of metadata elements is facilitated through the O’FAIRe tool, ensuring a systematic evaluation of the ontology’s Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability aspects. The table below lists all the metadata fields used in EcoPortal, and the FAIR sub-principles to which they are associated for the computation of the FAIR score.
Note: The column Cardinality indicates the quantity constraints for the metadata field. The possible values are:
- 0-n = optional and repeatable;
- 0-1 = optional, but not repeatable;
- 1-n = mandatory and repeatable;
- 1 = mandatory, but not repeatable.
| Metadata category | Metadata element set | Definition | Cardinality | Associated FAIR principle | MOD classes and properties | Example and notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | Acronym | The semantic artefact acronym | 1 | F2 | omv:acronym | |
| General | Name | The semantic artefact name | 1 | omv:name | ||
| General | Representation Language | Controlled list with four format type: SKOS, OBO, OWL, UMLS | 1 | l1,l3 | omv:hasOntologyLanguage | |
| General | Categories | Categories to which the semantic artefact belongs | 0-n | omv:hasDmain | ||
| General | Groups | Group to which the semantic artefact belongs. Groups associate semantic artefact from the same project or organisation, for better identification of the provenance | 0-n | R1.3 | bioportal:group | |
| General | Administrators | Controlled list with registered user on EcoPortal | 1-n | bioportal:administeredBy | ||
| General | Version | The version number of the semantic artefact | 1 | l3, R1.2 | omv:version | Semantic versioning is highly recommended. To assign a version number follow the guidance below. Given a version number MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH, increment the: MAJOR version when you make incompatible API changes. MINOR version when you add functionality in a backward compatible manner. PATCH version when you make backward compatible bug fixes. Additional labels for pre-release and build metadata are available as extensions to the MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH format. |
| General | Status | Semantic artefact release status: alpha, the semantic artefact is actively in development after the previous release and being tested internally; beta, the semantic artefact is feature-complete and being tested internally; production, the semantic artefact has passed all stages of verification and test; retired, the semantic artefact is no longer supported or is obsolete, and it will not be implemented any more. | 1 | A2 | omv:status | |
| General | Deprecated | To specify if the semantic artefact IRI is deprecated | 0-1 | A2 | omv:deprecated | |
| General | URI identifier | The URI of the semantic artefact which is described by this metadata | 1 | F1 | omv:URI | |
| General | Version IRI | The property that identifies the version IRI of a semantic artefact. | 1 | F1 | omv:versionIRI | |
| General | Formality level | Level of formality of the semantic artefact | 1 | I1, I3 | omv:hasFormalityLevel | |
| General | Ontology Syntax | The knowledge representation language for the semantic artefact language | 0-1 | I1, I3 | omv:hasOntologySyntax | |
| General | Natural language | The language of the content of the semantic artefact | 0-n | F2 | omv:naturalLanguage | |
| General | Generic Type | The nature of the content of the semantic artefact | 0-1 | F2 | omv:isOfType | |
| General | Other identifier | An unambiguous reference to the semantic artefact. Use the semantic artefact URI if not provided in the semantic artefact metadata | 0-n | F1, A1 | dct:identifier | |
| Description | Abstract | A summary of the semantic artefact | 0-1 | F2 | dct:abstract | |
| Description | Description | Description of the semantic artefact | 1 | F2 | dct:description | The best practice is to provide a single sentence. For a longer summary, use Abstract |
| Description | Notes | Additional information about the semantic artefact that is not included somewhere else (e.g. information that you do not want to include in the documentation) | 0-n | F2 | omv:notes | |
| Description | Homepage | The URL of the homepage for the semantic artefact | 0-1 | F2 | foaf:homepage | |
| Description | Documentation | URL for further documentation | 0-1 | omv:documentation | A journal article, white paper, blog, or news article cannot be provided as the documentation of the ontology. | |
| Description | Keywords | List of keywords related to the semantic artefact | 0-n | omv:keywords | The keywords must be taken from controlled vocabularies and the URIs must be attached and separated by a semicolon | |
| Description | Hidden label | A lexical label for a resource that should be hidden when generating visual displays of the resource, but should still be accessible to free text search operations. | 0-n | skos:hiddenLabel | ||
| Alternative name | An alternative title for the semantic artefact | 1-n | F2 | dct:alternative | Any alternative name for the semantic artefact is known in the community | |
| Bibliographic reference | The URL of the bibliographic reference of the semantic artefact | 1-n | F2 | bioportal:publication | ||
| Dates | Creation date | Date of the semantic artefact first release | 1 | bioportal:release | ||
| Dates | Validity date | Date (often a range) of validity of the semantic artefact | 0-1 | F2 | dct:valid | |
| Dates | Curation date | The date the semantic artefact was curated | 0-1 | F2 | pav:curatedOn | |
| Dates | Submission date | Date of the submission/release in the portal. | 0-1 | omv:creationDate | ||
| Dates | Modification date | Date of the last modification made to the semantic artefact | 0-1 | F2 | omv:modificationDate | |
| Licensing | View Restriction | Public ontologies: will be accessible to everyone via UI and API. Download can be deactivated on demand. Private ontologies: are only accessible via UI and API to registered users. | 1 | R 1.1 | bioportal:viewingRestriction | |
| Licensing | License | Underlying licence model | 0-1 | I3, R1.1 | omv:hasLicense | |
| Licensing | Use guidelines | A related resource which defines how the semantic artefact should be used | 0-1 | R1.1 | cc:useGuidelines | |
| Licensing | More permissions | A related resource which describes additional permissions or alternative licences | 0-1 | R1.1 | cc:morePermissions | |
| Licensing | Rights holder | The party holding the legal copyright to the semantic artefact | 0-n | R1.1 | schema:copyrightHolder | E.g. LifeWatch Italy |
| Persons and organisations | Contact | A person or organisation owning or managing rights over the semantic artefact | 1-n | R1.1 | dc:agent | |
| Persons and organisations | Creator(s) | Main responsible for the creation of the semantic artefact | 0-n | R1.2 | omv:hasCreator | A creator can not be an Organisation |
| Persons and organisations | Contributors | Contributors to the creation of the semantic artefact | 0-n | R1.2 | omv:hasContributor | |
| Persons and organisations | Curator | People who curated the semantic artefact | 0-n | R1.2 | pav:curatedBy | |
| Persons and organisations | Publisher | An entity responsible for making the semantic artefact available | 1-n | F2 | dct:publisher | |
| Persons and organisations | Funded or sponsored by | The organisation funding the semantic artefact development | 0-n | R1.2 | foaf:fundedBy | |
| Persons and organisations | Endorsed by | The parties that have expressed support or approval to this semantic artefact | 0-n | R1.3 | omv:endorsedBy | |
| Persons and organisations | Translator | Organisation or person who adapted the semantic artefact to different languages, regional differences and technical requirement | 0-n | R1.2 | schema:translator | |
| Links | Location | The place from which the semantic artefact is retrieved: Metadata Only, choose this option if you want users to search and view only the semantic artefact metadata; Load from URL, new versions loaded daily; Upload Local File, choose a file from the local file system to upload the semantic artefact | 1 | bioportal:pullLocation | ||
| Links | Is format of | URL to the original document that describe this semantic artefact in a not ontological format | 0-1 | I1, I3 | dct:isFormatOf | Indicate (if exist) the URL where a semantic artefact is available in another format (PDF, CSV, XML, HTML). The document has to be produced before the publication of the semantic artefact |
| Links | Has format | URL to a document that describe this semantic artefact in a not ontological format generated from this semantic artefact | 0-n | I1, I3 | dct:hasFormat | Indicate (if exist) the URL where a semantic artefact is available in another format (PDF, CSV, XML, HTML). The document has to be produced after the publication of the semantic artefact |
| Links | Download URL | An RDF dump, partial or complete, of a void:Dataset | 0-1 | F2 | void:dataDump | |
| Links | CSV dump | A CSV dump, partial or complete, of a void:Dataset | 0-1 | bioportal:csvDump | ||
| Links | URI lookup Endpoint | A protocol endpoint for simple URI lookup for the semantic artefact | 0-1 | F2 | void:uriLookupEndpoing | |
| Links | Free-text search endpoint | F2 | void:openSearchDescription | |||
| Links | SPARQL endpoint | Relates an instance of sd:Service to a SPARQL endpoint that implements the SPARQL Protocol service [SPROT] for the service. The object of the sd:endpoint property is an IRI. | 0-n | A1 | sd:endpoint | |
| Links | Source | A related resource from which the described semantic artefact is derived | 0-n | R1.2 | dct:source | E.g. Direct link or citation to the original research papers, databases, or existing semantic artefacts that were consulted or utilised during its development. |
| Links | Indexed or Included in catalog or repository | A data catalogue which contains this semantic artefact | 0-n | F4 | schema:includedInDataCatalog | |
| Media | The URL of a media associated to the ontology | A media object that encodes this semantic artefact. This property is a synonym for encoding. | 0-n | F2 | schema:associatedMedia | |
| Media | Depiction | The URL of an image representing the semantic artefact | 0-n | F2 | foaf:depiction | |
| Media | Logo | The URL of the semantic artefact logo | 0-1 | F2 | foaf:logo | |
| Community | Bug database | Link to the bug tracker of the semantic artefact (i.e. GitHub issues) | 0-1 | F2 | doap:bugDatabase | |
| Community | Audience | Description of the target user base of the semantic artefact | 0-1 | F2 | dct:audience | |
| Community | Repository | Link to the source code repository | 0-1 | F2 | doap:repository | |
| Community | Mailing list | Mailing list home page or email address | 0-1 | F2 | doap:mailingList | |
| Community | To do list | Describes future tasks planned by a semantic artefact curator | 0-n | F2 | voaf:toDoList | |
| Community | Award | An award won by this semantic artefact | 0-n | F2 | schema:award | |
| Usage | Known usage | The applications where the semantic artefact is being used | 0-n | F2 | omv:knownUsage | Consider also declarins the projects, within EcoPortal, thar are using the semantic artefact. E.g. Used to annotate traits in metadata. |
| Usage | Design for task | The purpose for which the semantic artefact was originally designed | 0-n | R1.2 | omv:designedForOntologyTask | |
| Usage | Subject | A topic of the semantic artefact | 0-n | F2, I3 | dc:subject | |
| Usage | Coverage | The spatial or temporal topic of the semantic artefact, spatial applicability of the resource, or jurisdiction under which the semantic artefact is relevant | 0-1 | F2 | dct:coverage | E.g. Terminologies about italian endemic species |
| Usage | Example of use | A reference to a resource that provides an example of how this semantic artefact can be used | 0-n | F2 | vann:example | E.g. https://dataportal.lifewatchitaly.eu/view/urn%3Auuid%3Ad4c61972-8fa5-4ca7-a1d1-d3d596a8a8b4 |
| Relations | This ontology is a view of: | Is a portion of a larger semantic artefacts | 0-1 | |||
| Relations | Prior version | An URI to the prior version of the semantic artefact | 0-1 | I3, R1.2 | omv:hasPriorVersion | |
| Relations | Has part (has views) | A related semantic artefacts that is included either physically or logically in the described semantic artefact | 0-n | F2, I3 | dct:hasPart | |
| Relations | Similar to | Vocabularies that are similar in scope and objectives, independently of the fact that they otherwise refer to each other | 0-n | I2, I3 | door:similarTo | |
| Relations | Generally related to | A semantic artefact that uses or extends some class or property of the described semantic artefact | 0-n | I2 | door:ontologyRelatedTo | |
| Relations | Comes from the same domain | Semantic artefact that come from the same domain | 0-n | F2, I3 | door:comesFromTheSameDomain | |
| Relations | Has equivalences with | Semantic artefact that have an alignment which covers a substantial part of the described semantic artefact | 0-n | I2, I3 | door:isAlignedTo | |
| Relations | Backward compatible | URI of an semantic artefact that has its prior version compatible with the described semantic artefact | 0-n | F2, I3 | omv:isBackwardCompatibleWith | Compatible Version: when two versions of an SA are compatible, it means that changes made in the newer version do not disrupt the functionality or interoperability with systems that use the previous version. For example, adding new concepts or properties to the ontology without removing or altering existing ones may result in compatible versions. |
| Relations | Incompatibile | URI of a semantic artefact that is a prior version of this semantic artefact, but not compatible | 0-n | F2, I3 | omv:isIncompatibleWith | Incompatible Version: when two versions of a semantic artefact are incompatible, it means that changes made in the newer version introduce conflicts or inconsistencies with systems that rely on the previous version. Incompatible changes may include renaming or removing existing concepts, altering relationships between concepts, or changing the structure of the semantic artefact in a way that breaks existing implementations. Incompatible versions often require updating or modifying systems that use the ontology to ensure continued functionality. |
| Relations | Disparate modelling with | URI of a semantic artefact that is considered to have a different model, because they represent corresponding entities in different ways e.g. instance in one case and a class in the other for the same concept | 0-n | F2, I3 | door:hasDisparateModelling | A SKOS or an OWL corresponding artefact |
| Relations | Has disjunctions with | Indicates that the subject vocabulary declares some disjunct classes with the object vocabulary. | 0-n | voaf:hasDisjunctionsWith | ||
| Relations | Generalization of | Vocabulary that is generalised by some superclasses or super properties by the described semantic artefact | 0-n | I2, I3 | voaf:generalizes | |
| Relations | Specialization of | If the semantic artefact is a latter version that is semantically equivalent to another semantic artefact | 0-n | I2 | door:explanationEvolution | |
| Relations | Imports | Indicate the imported semantic artefact into the semantic artefact described | 0-n | I2, I3 | omv:useImports | |
| Relations | Used by | Semantic artefact that use the described semantic artefact | 0-n | F2, I3 | voaf:usedBy | A URI should be provided |
| Relations | Translated from | A semantic artefact that is a translation of the content of this semantic artefact | 0-n | F2, I3 | schema:workTranslation | |
| Relations | Translation of | The semantic artefact from which has been translated from | 0-n | I2, I3 | schema:translationOfWork | |
| Content | Root of obsolete branch | Property used to specify the root of an obsolete branch in the semantic artefact. | 0-1 | bioportal:obsoleteParent | ||
| Content | URI Regex Pattern | A regular expression that matches the URIs of the semantic artefact entities | 0-1 | F2 | void:uriRegexPattern | |
| Content | Preferred namespace URI | The preferred namespace URI to use when using terms from this semantic artefact | 0-1 | F2 | vann:preferredNamespaceUri | E.g. http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1 |
| Content | Preferred namespace prefix | The preferred namespace prefix to use when using terms from this semantic artefact | 0-1 | F2 | vann:preferredNamespacePrefix | E.g. foaf, dct, lupo |
| Content | Example of resource | An example identifier used by one item (or record) from a dataset | 0-1 | F2 | idot:exampleIdentifier | E.g. https://kos.lifewatch.eu/thesauri/endemisms/c_1 |
| Content | Key classes | Representative classes/instances in the semantic artefact | 0-n | F2 | omv:keyClasses | |
| Content | Metadata vocabulary used | Vocabularies that are used and/or referred to create the described semantic artefact | 0-n | I2 | voaf:metadataVoc | E.g. http://purl.org/dc/terms |
| Methodology | Knowledge representation paradigm | A representation formalism that is followed to describe knowledge in an semantic artefact | 0-1 | R1.2 | omv:conformsToKnowledgeRepresentationParadigm | E.g. First-order, Description Logic |
| Methodology | Engineering methodology | Information about the method model used to create the semantic artefact | 0-1 | R1.2 | omv:usedOntologyEngineeringMethodology | E.g. Waterfall, Lifecycles, Agile (see also: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/10/9/1060) |
| Methodology | Created With | Information about the tool used to create the semantic artefact | 0-n | R1.2 | omv:usedOntologyEngineeringTool | |
| Methodology | Accrual method | The method by which items are added to the semantic artefact | 0-n | R1.2 | dct:accrualMethod | E.g. Text mining, Bibliographic analysis |
| Methodology | Accrual periodicity | The frequency with which items are added to the semantic artefact | 0-1 | R1.2 | dct:accrualPeriodicity | E.g. every 6 months new terms could be added after an updated analysis |
| Methodology | Accrual policy | The policy governing the addition of items to the semantic artefact | 0-1 | R1.2 | dct:accrualPolicy | E.g. Infrastructure policies that suggests when and how the semantic artefact should be updated |
| Methodology | Competency question | A set of questions made to build a semantic artefact at the design time. They are used to clarify the scope, purpose, and requirements of the semantic artefact.. | 0-n | R1.2 | mod:competencyQuestion | E.g. In a biodiversity ontology: What are the interactions between species within a given habitat? |
| Methodology | Was generated by | People who generated the semantic artefact | 0-n | R1.2 | prov:wasGeneratedBy | |
| Methodology | Was invalidated by | People who invalidated the semantic artefact | 0-n | R1.2 | prov:wasInvalidatedBy | |
| Object description properties | Object preferred label property | Property used to specify objects preferred label. | 0-1 | I3, R1 | bioportal:prefLabelProperty | |
| Object description properties | Object definition property | Property used to specify objects definition. | 0-1 | I3, R1 | bioportal:definitionProperty | |
| Object description properties | Object synonym property | Property used to specify objects synonyms. | 0-1 | I3, R1 | bioportal:synonymProperty | |
| Object description properties | Object author property | Property used to specify object author. | 0-1 | I3, R1 | bioportal:authorProperty | |
| Object description properties | Hierarchy property | A property that is used to specify the hierarchy. | 0-1 | I3, R1 | bioportal:hierarchyProperty | |
| Object description properties | Object obsolete property | Property used to specify obsolete objects. | 0-1 | I3, R1 | bioportal:obsoleteProperty | |
| Object description properties | Object creation date property | Property used to specify the date of creation of a class or another object in the ontology. | 0-1 | I3, R1 | bioportal:createdProperty | |
| Object description properties | Object modification date property | Property used to specify the date of modification of a class or another object in the ontology. | 0-1 | I3, R1 | bioportal:modifiedProperty |
EcoPortal administrators encourage the creators of semantic artefacts to compile the metadata fields by adding as much detail as possible to ensure the accurate communication of information to users and to be compliant to the FAIR principles when publishing a resource.