NFDIcore
type: Ontology
version IRI: https://nfdi.fiz-karlsruhe.de/ontology/3.0.4
bibliographic citation: Jörg Waitelonis, Oleksandra Bruns, Tabea Tietz, Etienne Posthumus, Hossein Beygi Nasrabadi, Harald Sack. NFDIcore Ontology. Revision: v3.0.4. Retrieved from: https://nfdi.fiz-karlsruhe.de/ontology/3.0.4
created: 2026-02-05
creator: Harald Sack
creator: Tabea Tietz
creator: Oleksandra Bruns
creator: Etienne Posthumus
creator: Jörg Waitelonis
creator: Hossein Beygi Nasrabadi
description: The National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) initiative has led to the formation of various consortia, each focused on developing a research data infrastructure tailored to its specific domain. To ensure interoperability across these consortia, the NFDIcore ontology has been developed as a mid-level ontology for representing metadata related to NFDI resources, including individuals, organizations, projects, data portals, and more. Further infomration can be found at GitHub: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/
license: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
title: NFDIcore Ontology
status: Ontology Specification
preferred namespace uri: https://nfdi.fiz-karlsruhe.de/ontology/
repository: nfdicore
prior version: https://nfdi.fiz-karlsruhe.de/ontology/3.0.3
version info: 3.0.4

example of usage
type: AnnotationProperty
textual definition: A phrase describing how a term should be used and/or a citation to a work which uses it. May also include other kinds of examples that facilitate immediate understanding, such as widely know prototypes or instances of a class, or cases where a relation is said to hold.
textual definition: A phrase describing how a class name should be used. May also include other kinds of examples that facilitate immediate understanding of a class semantics, such as widely known prototypical subclasses or instances of the class. Although essential for high level terms, examples for low level terms (e.g., Affymetrix HU133 array) are not.
definition source: GROUP:OBI:<http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/obi>
definition source: IAO

textual definition
type: AnnotationProperty
textual definition: The official OBI definition, explaining the meaning of a class or property. Shall be Aristotelian, formalized and normalized. Can be augmented with colloquial definitions.
textual definition: The official definition, explaining the meaning of a class or property. Shall be Aristotelian, formalized and normalized. Can be augmented with colloquial definitions.
editor note: 2012-04-05: Barry Smith The official OBI definition, explaining the meaning of a class or property: 'Shall be Aristotelian, formalized and normalized. Can be augmented with colloquial definitions' is terrible. Can you fix to something like: A statement of necessary and sufficient conditions explaining the meaning of an expression referring to a class or property. Alan Ruttenberg Your proposed definition is a reasonable candidate, except that it is very common that necessary and sufficient conditions are not given. Mostly they are necessary, occasionally they are necessary and sufficient or just sufficient. Often they use terms that are not themselves defined and so they effectively can't be evaluated by those criteria. On the specifics of the proposed definition: We don't have definitions of 'meaning' or 'expression' or 'property'. For 'reference' in the intended sense I think we use the term 'denotation'. For 'expression', I think we you mean symbol, or identifier. For 'meaning' it differs for class and property. For class we want documentation that let's the intended reader determine whether an entity is instance of the class, or not. For property we want documentation that let's the intended reader determine, given a pair of potential relata, whether the assertion that the relation holds is true. The 'intended reader' part suggests that we also specify who, we expect, would be able to understand the definition, and also generalizes over human and computer reader to include textual and logical definition. Personally, I am more comfortable weakening definition to documentation, with instructions as to what is desirable. We also have the outstanding issue of how to aim different definitions to different audiences. A clinical audience reading chebi wants a different sort of definition documentation/definition from a chemistry trained audience, and similarly there is a need for a definition that is adequate for an ontologist to work with.
definition source: GROUP:OBI:<http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/obi>
label: definition

editor note
type: AnnotationProperty
textual definition: An administrative note intended for its editor. It may not be included in the publication version of the ontology, so it should contain nothing necessary for end users to understand the ontology.
definition source: GROUP:OBI:<http://purl.obofoundry.org/obo/obi>

alternative label
type: AnnotationProperty
textual definition: A label for a class or property that can be used to refer to the class or property instead of the preferred rdfs:label. Alternative labels should be used to indicate community- or context-specific labels, abbreviations, shorthand forms and the like.
definition source: GROUP:OBI:<http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/obi>

definition source
type: AnnotationProperty
textual definition: Formal citation, e.g. identifier in external database to indicate / attribute source(s) for the definition. Free text indicate / attribute source(s) for the definition. EXAMPLE: Author Name, URI, MeSH Term C04, PUBMED ID, Wiki uri on 31.01.2007
definition source: Discussion on obo-discuss mailing-list, see http://bit.ly/hgm99w
definition source: GROUP:OBI:<http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/obi>

term replaced by
type: AnnotationProperty
textual definition: Use on obsolete terms, relating the term to another term that can be used as a substitute
definition source: Person:Alan Ruttenberg

defined by construct
type: AnnotationProperty
example of usage: 'part disjoint with' 'defined by construct' """ PREFIX owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> PREFIX : <http://example.org/ CONSTRUCT { [ a owl:Restriction ; owl:onProperty :part_of ; owl:someValuesFrom ?a ; owl:disjointWith [ a owl:Restriction ; owl:onProperty :part_of ; owl:someValuesFrom ?b ] ] } WHERE { ?a :part_disjoint_with ?b . }
textual definition: Links an annotation property to a SPARQL CONSTRUCT query which is meant to provide semantics for a shortcut relation.

description
type: AnnotationProperty

license
type: AnnotationProperty

label
type: AnnotationProperty

alternative label
type: AnnotationProperty
definition: An alternative lexical label for a resource.
example: Acronyms, abbreviations, spelling variants, and irregular plural/singular forms may be included among the alternative labels for a concept. Mis-spelled terms are normally included as hidden labels (see skos:hiddenLabel).
sub property of: label

definition
type: AnnotationProperty
definition: A statement or formal explanation of the meaning of a concept.

editorial note
type: AnnotationProperty
definition: A note for an editor, translator or maintainer of the vocabulary.

example
type: AnnotationProperty
definition: An example of the use of a concept.

preferred label
type: AnnotationProperty
definition: The preferred lexical label for a resource, in a given language.
sub property of: label

scope note
type: AnnotationProperty
definition: A note that helps to clarify the meaning and/or the use of a concept.

readable IRI label
type: AnnotationProperty
sub property of: alternative label

term tracker annotation
type: AnnotationProperty
comment: A term tracker annotation is an editor note used to track the history of an entity. For each change, it records the related GitHub issue and pull request.
editorial note: adapted from http://openenergy-platform.org/ontology/oeo/OEO_00020426

has acronym
type: AnnotationProperty
comment: A relation between an entity and its abbreviated form, representing a shortened version of the original term or phrase.
sub property of: alternative label

part of
type: ObjectProperty
inverse of: has part
type: TransitiveProperty
example of usage: my brain is part of my body (continuant parthood, two material entities)
example of usage: my stomach cavity is part of my stomach (continuant parthood, immaterial entity is part of material entity)
example of usage: this day is part of this year (occurrent parthood)
textual definition: a core relation that holds between a part and its whole
editor note: Everything is part of itself. Any part of any part of a thing is itself part of that thing. Two distinct things cannot be part of each other.
editor note: Occurrents are not subject to change and so parthood between occurrents holds for all the times that the part exists. Many continuants are subject to change, so parthood between continuants will only hold at certain times, but this is difficult to specify in OWL. See http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ro/docs/temporal-semantics/
editor note: Parthood requires the part and the whole to have compatible classes: only an occurrent can be part of an occurrent; only a process can be part of a process; only a continuant can be part of a continuant; only an independent continuant can be part of an independent continuant; only an immaterial entity can be part of an immaterial entity; only a specifically dependent continuant can be part of a specifically dependent continuant; only a generically dependent continuant can be part of a generically dependent continuant. (This list is not exhaustive.) A continuant cannot be part of an occurrent: use 'participates in'. An occurrent cannot be part of a continuant: use 'has participant'. A material entity cannot be part of an immaterial entity: use 'has location'. A specifically dependent continuant cannot be part of an independent continuant: use 'inheres in'. An independent continuant cannot be part of a specifically dependent continuant: use 'bearer of'.
alternative label: part_of

has part
type: ObjectProperty
type: TransitiveProperty
example of usage: my body has part my brain (continuant parthood, two material entities)
example of usage: my stomach has part my stomach cavity (continuant parthood, material entity has part immaterial entity)
example of usage: this year has part this day (occurrent parthood)
textual definition: a core relation that holds between a whole and its part
editor note: Everything has itself as a part. Any part of any part of a thing is itself part of that thing. Two distinct things cannot have each other as a part.
editor note: Occurrents are not subject to change and so parthood between occurrents holds for all the times that the part exists. Many continuants are subject to change, so parthood between continuants will only hold at certain times, but this is difficult to specify in OWL. See http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ro/docs/temporal-semantics/
editor note: Parthood requires the part and the whole to have compatible classes: only an occurrent have an occurrent as part; only a process can have a process as part; only a continuant can have a continuant as part; only an independent continuant can have an independent continuant as part; only a specifically dependent continuant can have a specifically dependent continuant as part; only a generically dependent continuant can have a generically dependent continuant as part. (This list is not exhaustive.) A continuant cannot have an occurrent as part: use 'participates in'. An occurrent cannot have a continuant as part: use 'has participant'. An immaterial entity cannot have a material entity as part: use 'location of'. An independent continuant cannot have a specifically dependent continuant as part: use 'bearer of'. A specifically dependent continuant cannot have an independent continuant as part: use 'inheres in'.
alternative label: has_part

has realization
type: ObjectProperty
inverse of: realizes
domain: realizable entity
range: process
alternative label: realized in
definition: b has realization c =Def c realizes b
example: As for realizes

realizes
type: ObjectProperty
domain: process
range: realizable entity
definition: (Elucidation) realizes is a relation between a process b and realizable entity c such that c inheres in some d & for all t, if b has participant d then c exists & the type instantiated by b is correlated with the type instantiated by c
example: A balding process realizes a disposition to go bald; a studying process realizes a student role; a process of pumping blood realizes the pumping function of a heart
scope note: Users that require more sophisticated representations of time are encouraged to import a temporal extension of BFO-Core provided by the BFO development team. See documentation for guidance: <Link>

preceded by
type: ObjectProperty
inverse of: precedes
type: TransitiveProperty
domain: occurrent
range: occurrent
definition: b preceded by c =Def b precedes c
example: The temporal region occupied by the second half of the match is preceded by the temporal region occupied by the first half of the match

precedes
type: ObjectProperty
type: TransitiveProperty
domain: occurrent
range: occurrent
definition: (Elucidation) precedes is a relation between occurrents o, o' such that if t is the temporal extent of o & t' is the temporal extent of o' then either the last instant of o is before the first instant of o' or the last instant of o is the first instant of o' & neither o nor o' are temporal instants
example: The temporal region occupied by Mary's birth precedes the temporal region occupied by Mary's death.
scope note: Each temporal region is its own temporal extent. The temporal extent of a spatiotemporal region is the temporal region it temporally projects onto. The temporal extent of a process or process boundary that occupies temporal region t is t.
scope note: Precedes defines a strict partial order on occurrents.

occurs in
type: ObjectProperty
inverse of: environs
domain: Class
  union of: process
  union of: process boundary
range: Class
  union of: site
  union of: material entity
definition: b occurs in c =Def b is a process or a process boundary & c is a material entity or site & there exists a spatiotemporal region r & b occupies spatiotemporal region r & for all time t, if b exists at t then c exists at t & there exist spatial regions s and s' where b spatially projects onto s at t & c occupies spatial region s' at t & s is a continuant part of s' at t
example: A process of digestion occurs in the interior of an organism; a process of loading artillery rounds into a tank cannon occurs in the interior of the tank

exists at
type: ObjectProperty
domain: entity
range: temporal region
definition: (Elucidation) exists at is a relation between a particular and some temporal region at which the particular exists
example: First World War exists at 1914-1916; Mexico exists at January 1, 2000

has occurrent part
type: ObjectProperty
inverse of: occurrent part of
type: TransitiveProperty
domain: occurrent
range: occurrent
definition: b has occurrent part c =Def c occurrent part of b
example: Mary's life has occurrent part Mary's 5th birthday

has proper occurrent part
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has occurrent part
inverse of: proper occurrent part of
type: TransitiveProperty
domain: occurrent
range: occurrent
definition: b has proper occurrent part c =Def b has occurrent part c & b and c are not identical
example: As for has occurrent part.

has temporal part
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has occurrent part
inverse of: temporal part of
type: TransitiveProperty
domain: occurrent
range: occurrent
definition: b has temporal part c =Def c temporal part of b
example: Your life has temporal part the first year of your life

occurrent part of
type: ObjectProperty
type: TransitiveProperty
domain: occurrent
range: occurrent
definition: (Elucidation) occurrent part of is a relation between occurrents b and c when b is part of c
example: Mary's 5th birthday is an occurrent part of Mary's life; the first set of the tennis match is an occurrent part of the tennis match

proper temporal part of
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: temporal part of
inverse of: has proper temporal part
domain: occurrent
range: occurrent
definition: b proper temporal part of c =Def b temporal part of c & not (b = c)
example: As for temporal part of.

proper occurrent part of
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: occurrent part of
type: TransitiveProperty
domain: occurrent
range: occurrent
definition: b proper occurrent part of c =Def b occurrent part of c & b and c are not identical
example: As for occurrent part of.

temporal part of
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: occurrent part of
type: TransitiveProperty
domain: occurrent
range: occurrent
definition: b temporal part of c =Def b occurrent part of c & (b and c are temporal regions) or (b and c are spatiotemporal regions & b temporally projects onto an occurrent part of the temporal region that c temporally projects onto) or (b and c are processes or process boundaries & b occupies a temporal region that is an occurrent part of the temporal region that c occupies)
example: Your heart beating from 4pm to 5pm today is a temporal part of the process of your heart beating; the 4th year of your life is a temporal part of your life, as is the process boundary which separates the 3rd and 4th years of your life; the first quarter of a game of football is a temporal part of the whole game

temporally projects onto
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
domain: spatiotemporal region
range: temporal region
definition: (Elucidation) temporally projects onto is a relation between a spatiotemporal region s and some temporal region which is the temporal extent of s
example: The world line of a particle temporally projects onto the temporal region extending from the beginning to the end of the existence of the particle

has proper temporal part
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has temporal part
domain: occurrent
range: occurrent
definition: b has proper temporal part c =Def c proper temporal part of b
example: As for has temporal part.

environs
type: ObjectProperty
domain: Class
  union of: site
  union of: material entity
range: Class
  union of: process
  union of: process boundary
alternative label: contains process
definition: b environs c =Def c occurs in b
example: Mouth environs process of mastication; city environs traffic

history of
type: ObjectProperty
inverse of: has history
type: FunctionalProperty
type: InverseFunctionalProperty
domain: history
range: material entity
definition: (Elucidation) history of is a relation between history b and material entity c such that b is the unique history of c
example: This life is the history of this organism

has history
type: ObjectProperty
domain: material entity
range: history
definition: b has history c =Def c history of b
example: This organism has history this life

specifically depended on by
type: ObjectProperty
inverse of: specifically depends on
domain: Class
  union of: specifically dependent continuant
  union of: Class
    intersection of: independent continuant
    intersection of: Class
      complement of: spatial region
range: specifically dependent continuant
alternative label: s-depended on by
definition: b specifically depended on by c =Def c specifically depends on b
example: Coloured object specifically depended on by colour

specifically depends on
type: ObjectProperty
domain: specifically dependent continuant
range: Class
  union of: specifically dependent continuant
  union of: Class
    intersection of: independent continuant
    intersection of: Class
      complement of: spatial region
alternative label: s-depends on
definition: (Elucidation) specifically depends on is a relation between a specifically dependent continuant b and specifically dependent continuant or independent continuant that is not a spatial region c such that b and c share no parts in common & b is of a nature such that at all times t it cannot exist unless c exists & b is not a boundary of c
example: A shape specifically depends on the shaped object; hue, saturation and brightness of a colour sample specifically depends on each other
scope note: The analogue of specifically depends on for occurrents is has participant.

bearer of
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: specifically depended on by
inverse of: inheres in
domain: Class
  intersection of: independent continuant
  intersection of: Class
    complement of: spatial region
range: specifically dependent continuant
definition: b bearer of c =Def c inheres in b
example: A patch of ink is the bearer of a colour quality; an organism is the bearer of a temperature quality

inheres in
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: specifically depends on
domain: specifically dependent continuant
range: Class
  intersection of: independent continuant
  intersection of: Class
    complement of: spatial region
definition: b inheres in c =Def b is a specifically dependent continuant & c is an independent continuant that is not a spatial region & b specifically depends on c
example: A shape inheres in a shaped object; a mass inheres in a material entity

occupies temporal region
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
domain: Class
  union of: process
  union of: process boundary
range: temporal region
definition: p occupies temporal region t =Def p is a process or process boundary & the spatiotemporal region occupied by p temporally projects onto t
example: The Second World War occupies the temporal region September 1, 1939 - September 2, 1945

occupies spatiotemporal region
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
domain: Class
  union of: process
  union of: process boundary
range: spatiotemporal region
definition: (Elucidation) occupies spatiotemporal region is a relation between a process or process boundary p and the spatiotemporal region s which is its spatiotemporal extent
example: A particle emitted by a nuclear reactor occupies the spatiotemporal region which is its trajectory

first instant of
type: ObjectProperty
inverse of: has first instant
domain: temporal instant
range: temporal region
definition: t first instant of t' =Def t is a temporal instant & t' is a temporal region t' & t precedes all temporal parts of t' other than t
example: An hour starting at midnight yesterday has first instant midnight yesterday

has first instant
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
domain: temporal region
range: temporal instant
definition: t has first instant t' =Def t' first instant of t
example: The first hour of a year has first instant midnight on December 31

last instant of
type: ObjectProperty
inverse of: has last instant
domain: temporal instant
range: temporal region
definition: t last instant of t' =Def t is a temporal instant & t' is a temporal region & all temporal parts of t' other than t precede t
example: Last midnight is the last instant of yesterday

has last instant
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
domain: temporal region
range: temporal instant
definition: t has last instant t' =Def t' last instant of t
example: The last hour of a year has last instant midnight December 31

is about
type: ObjectProperty
inverse of: is subject of
domain: information content entity
example of usage: This document is about information artifacts and their representations
textual definition: A (currently) primitive relation that relates an information artifact to an entity.
editor note: 7/6/2009 Alan Ruttenberg. Following discussion with Jonathan Rees, and introduction of "mentions" relation. Weaken the is_about relationship to be primitive. We will try to build it back up by elaborating the various subproperties that are more precisely defined. Some currently missing phenomena that should be considered "about" are predications - "The only person who knows the answer is sitting beside me" , Allegory, Satire, and other literary forms that can be topical without explicitly mentioning the topic.
definition source: Smith, Ceusters, Ruttenberg, 2000 years of philosophy

denotes
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is about
inverse of: denoted by
domain: information content entity
range: entity
example of usage: A person's name denotes the person. A variable name in a computer program denotes some piece of memory. Lexically equivalent strings can denote different things, for instance "Alan" can denote different people. In each case of use, there is a case of the denotation relation obtaining, between "Alan" and the person that is being named.
textual definition: A primitive, instance-level, relation obtaining between an information content entity and some portion of reality. Denotation is what happens when someone creates an information content entity E in order to specifically refer to something. The only relation between E and the thing is that E can be used to 'pick out' the thing. This relation connects those two together. Freedictionary.com sense 3: To signify directly; refer to specifically
editor note: 2009-11-10 Alan Ruttenberg. Old definition said the following to emphasize the generic nature of this relation. We no longer have 'specifically denotes', which would have been primitive, so make this relation primitive. g denotes r =def r is a portion of reality there is some c that is a concretization of g every c that is a concretization of g specifically denotes r
definition source: Conversations with Barry Smith, Werner Ceusters, Bjoern Peters, Michel Dumontier, Melanie Courtot, James Malone, Bill Hogan

denoted by
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: is subject of
domain: entity
range: information content entity
textual definition: inverse of the relation 'denotes'

characteristic of
type: ObjectProperty
inverse of: has characteristic
type: FunctionalProperty
example of usage: this fragility is a characteristic of this vase
example of usage: this red color is a characteristic of this apple
textual definition: a relation between a specifically dependent continuant (the characteristic) and any other entity (the bearer), in which the characteristic depends on the bearer for its existence.

has characteristic
type: ObjectProperty
type: InverseFunctionalProperty
range: specifically dependent continuant
example of usage: this apple is bearer of this red color
example of usage: this vase is bearer of this fragility
textual definition: Inverse of characteristic_of
editor note: A bearer can have many dependents, and its dependents can exist for different periods of time, but none of its dependents can exist when the bearer does not exist.

participates in
type: ObjectProperty
inverse of: has participant
domain: continuant
range: occurrent
example of usage: this blood clot participates in this blood coagulation
example of usage: this input material (or this output material) participates in this process
example of usage: this investigator participates in this investigation
textual definition: a relation between a continuant and a process, in which the continuant is somehow involved in the process

has participant
type: ObjectProperty
domain: occurrent
range: continuant
property chain axiom: has part
example of usage: this blood coagulation has participant this blood clot
example of usage: this investigation has participant this investigator
example of usage: this process has participant this input material (or this output material)
textual definition: a relation between a process and a continuant, in which the continuant is somehow involved in the process
editor note: Has_participant is a primitive instance-level relation between a process, a continuant, and a time at which the continuant participates in some way in the process. The relation obtains, for example, when this particular process of oxygen exchange across this particular alveolar membrane has_participant this particular sample of hemoglobin at this particular time.

is concretized as
type: ObjectProperty
inverse of: concretizes
domain: generically dependent continuant
range: Class
  union of: process
  union of: specifically dependent continuant
example of usage: A journal article is an information artifact that inheres in some number of printed journals. For each copy of the printed journal there is some quality that carries the journal article, such as a pattern of ink. The journal article (a generically dependent continuant) is concretized as the quality (a specifically dependent continuant), and both depend on that copy of the printed journal (an independent continuant).
example of usage: An investigator reads a protocol and forms a plan to carry out an assay. The plan is a realizable entity (a specifically dependent continuant) that concretizes the protocol (a generically dependent continuant), and both depend on the investigator (an independent continuant). The plan is then realized by the assay (a process).
textual definition: A relationship between a generically dependent continuant and a specifically dependent continuant or process, in which the generically dependent continuant depends on some independent continuant or process in virtue of the fact that the specifically dependent continuant or process also depends on that same independent continuant. A generically dependent continuant may be concretized as multiple specifically dependent continuants or processes.

concretizes
type: ObjectProperty
domain: Class
  union of: process
  union of: specifically dependent continuant
range: generically dependent continuant
example of usage: A journal article is an information artifact that inheres in some number of printed journals. For each copy of the printed journal there is some quality that carries the journal article, such as a pattern of ink. The quality (a specifically dependent continuant) concretizes the journal article (a generically dependent continuant), and both depend on that copy of the printed journal (an independent continuant).
example of usage: An investigator reads a protocol and forms a plan to carry out an assay. The plan is a realizable entity (a specifically dependent continuant) that concretizes the protocol (a generically dependent continuant), and both depend on the investigator (an independent continuant). The plan is then realized by the assay (a process).
textual definition: A relationship between a specifically dependent continuant or process and a generically dependent continuant, in which the generically dependent continuant depends on some independent continuant in virtue of the fact that the specifically dependent continuant or process also depends on that same independent continuant. Multiple specifically dependent continuants or processes can concretize the same generically dependent continuant.

function of
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: characteristic of
inverse of: has function
domain: function
example of usage: this catalysis function is a function of this enzyme
textual definition: a relation between a function and an independent continuant (the bearer), in which the function specifically depends on the bearer for its existence
editor note: A function inheres in its bearer at all times for which the function exists, however the function need not be realized at all the times that the function exists.

quality of
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: characteristic of
inverse of: has quality
example of usage: this red color is a quality of this apple
textual definition: a relation between a quality and an independent continuant (the bearer), in which the quality specifically depends on the bearer for its existence
editor note: A quality inheres in its bearer at all times for which the quality exists.

role of
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: characteristic of
inverse of: has role
example of usage: this investigator role is a role of this person
textual definition: a relation between a role and an independent continuant (the bearer), in which the role specifically depends on the bearer for its existence
editor note: A role inheres in its bearer at all times for which the role exists, however the role need not be realized at all the times that the role exists.

has function
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has characteristic
domain: independent continuant
range: function
example of usage: this enzyme has function this catalysis function (more colloquially: this enzyme has this catalysis function)
textual definition: a relation between an independent continuant (the bearer) and a function, in which the function specifically depends on the bearer for its existence
editor note: A bearer can have many functions, and its functions can exist for different periods of time, but none of its functions can exist when the bearer does not exist. A function need not be realized at all the times that the function exists.

has quality
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has characteristic
range: quality
example of usage: this apple has quality this red color
textual definition: a relation between an independent continuant (the bearer) and a quality, in which the quality specifically depends on the bearer for its existence
editor note: A bearer can have many qualities, and its qualities can exist for different periods of time, but none of its qualities can exist when the bearer does not exist.

has role
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has characteristic
domain: independent continuant
range: role
example of usage: this person has role this investigator role (more colloquially: this person has this role of investigator)
textual definition: a relation between an independent continuant (the bearer) and a role, in which the role specifically depends on the bearer for its existence
editor note: A bearer can have many roles, and its roles can exist for different periods of time, but none of its roles can exist when the bearer does not exist. A role need not be realized at all the times that the role exists.

has disposition
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has characteristic
domain: independent continuant
range: disposition
textual definition: a relation between an independent continuant (the bearer) and a disposition, in which the disposition specifically depends on the bearer for its existence

located in
type: ObjectProperty
type: TransitiveProperty
domain: independent continuant
domain: Class
  intersection of: independent continuant
  intersection of: Class
    complement of: spatial region
range: independent continuant
range: Class
  intersection of: independent continuant
  intersection of: Class
    complement of: spatial region
property chain axiom: part of
example of usage: my brain is located in my head
example of usage: this rat is located in this cage
textual definition: a relation between two independent continuants, the target and the location, in which the target is entirely within the location
editor note: Location as a relation between instances: The primitive instance-level relation c located_in r at t reflects the fact that each continuant is at any given time associated with exactly one spatial region, namely its exact location. Following we can use this relation to define a further instance-level location relation - not between a continuant and the region which it exactly occupies, but rather between one continuant and another. c is located in c1, in this sense, whenever the spatial region occupied by c is part_of the spatial region occupied by c1. Note that this relation comprehends both the relation of exact location between one continuant and another which obtains when r and r1 are identical (for example, when a portion of fluid exactly fills a cavity), as well as those sorts of inexact location relations which obtain, for example, between brain and head or between ovum and uterus
editor note: Most location relations will only hold at certain times, but this is difficult to specify in OWL. See http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ro/docs/temporal-semantics/

has input
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has participant
inverse of: input of
domain: process
textual definition: p has input c iff: p is a process, c is a material entity, c is a participant in p, c is present at the start of p, and the state of c is modified during p.

has output
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has participant
inverse of: output of
textual definition: p has output c iff c is a participant in p, c is present at the end of p, and c is not present in the same state at the beginning of p.

member of
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: part of
inverse of: has member
example of usage: An organism that is a member of a population of organisms
textual definition: is member of is a mereological relation between a item and a collection.
definition source: SIO

has member
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has part
type: IrreflexiveProperty
textual definition: has member is a mereological relation between a collection and an item.
definition source: SIO

input of
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: participates in
textual definition: inverse of has input

output of
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: participates in
textual definition: inverse of has output

has broader
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has broader transitive
inverse of: has narrower
definition: Relates a concept to a concept that is more general in meaning.
scope note: By convention, skos:broader is only used to assert an immediate (i.e. direct) hierarchical link between two conceptual resources.

has broader transitive
type: ObjectProperty
inverse of: has narrower transitive
type: TransitiveProperty
definition: skos:broaderTransitive is a transitive superproperty of skos:broader.
scope note: By convention, skos:broaderTransitive is not used to make assertions. Rather, the properties can be used to draw inferences about the transitive closure of the hierarchical relation, which is useful e.g. when implementing a simple query expansion algorithm in a search application.

has exact match
type: ObjectProperty
type: SymmetricProperty
type: TransitiveProperty
definition: skos:exactMatch is used to link two concepts, indicating a high degree of confidence that the concepts can be used interchangeably across a wide range of information retrieval applications. skos:exactMatch is a transitive property, and is a sub-property of skos:closeMatch.

has narrower
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has narrower transitive
definition: Relates a concept to a concept that is more specific in meaning.
scope note: By convention, skos:broader is only used to assert an immediate (i.e. direct) hierarchical link between two conceptual resources.

has narrower transitive
type: ObjectProperty
type: TransitiveProperty
definition: skos:narrowerTransitive is a transitive superproperty of skos:narrower.
scope note: By convention, skos:narrowerTransitive is not used to make assertions. Rather, the properties can be used to draw inferences about the transitive closure of the hierarchical relation, which is useful e.g. when implementing a simple query expansion algorithm in a search application.

download URL
type: ObjectProperty
label: URL de descarga @es
label: URL de téléchargement @fr
label: URL di scarico @it
label: URL souboru ke stažení @cs
label: URL μεταφόρτωσης @el
label: downloadURL @da
label: رابط تحميل @ar
label: ダウンロードURL @ja
definition: Ceci est un lien direct à un fichier téléchargeable en un format donnée. Exple fichier CSV ou RDF. Le format est décrit par les propriétés de distribution dcterms:format et/ou dcat:mediaType. @fr
definition: La URL de un archivo descargable en el formato dato. Por ejemplo, archivo CSV o archivo RDF. El formato se describe con las propiedades de la distribución dcterms:format y/o dcat:mediaType. @es
definition: Questo è un link diretto al file scaricabile in un dato formato. E.g. un file CSV o un file RDF. Il formato è descritto dal dcterms:format e/o dal dcat:mediaType della distribuzione. @it
definition: The URL of the downloadable file in a given format. E.g. CSV file or RDF file. The format is indicated by the distribution's dcterms:format and/or dcat:mediaType.
definition: URL souboru ke stažení v daném formátu, například CSV nebo RDF soubor. Formát je popsán vlastností distribuce dcterms:format a/nebo dcat:mediaType. @cs
definition: URL til fil der kan downloades i et bestemt format. Fx en CSV-fil eller en RDF-fil. Formatet for distributionen angives ved hjælp af egenskaberne dcterms:format og/eller dcat:mediaType. @da
definition: dcat:downloadURLはdcat:accessURLの特定の形式です。しかし、DCATプロファイルが非ダウンロード・ロケーションに対してのみaccessURLを用いる場合には、より強い分離を課すことを望む可能性があるため、この含意を強化しないように、DCATは、dcat:downloadURLをdcat:accessURLのサブプロパティーであると定義しません。 @ja
definition: Είναι ένας σύνδεσμος άμεσης μεταφόρτωσης ενός αρχείου σε μια δεδομένη μορφή. Π.χ. ένα αρχείο CSV ή RDF. Η μορφη αρχείου περιγράφεται από τις ιδιότητες dcterms:format ή/και dcat:mediaType της διανομής. @el
definition: رابط مباشر لملف يمكن تحميله. نوع الملف يتم توصيفه باستخدام الخاصية dcterms:format dcat:mediaType @ar

is subject of
type: ObjectProperty
comment: inverse of the relation 'is about'
alternative label: is described by

has value
type: DatatypeProperty
comment: A relation between an information content entity and its specific value.

has url
type: DatatypeProperty
range: anyURI
comment: A relation between an information content entity and its specific url.

OWL format
type: Class
subclass of: RDF format

RDF format
type: Class
subclass of: data format specification

OWL Functional Syntax
type: Class
subclass of: OWL format

Manchester OWL Syntax
type: Class
subclass of: OWL format

Turtle
type: Class
subclass of: RDF format

N-Triples
type: Class
subclass of: RDF format

Notation3
type: Class
subclass of: RDF format

RDF/XML
type: Class
subclass of: RDF format

OWL/XML
type: Class
subclass of: OWL format

JSON-LD
type: Class
subclass of: RDF format

N-Quads
type: Class
subclass of: RDF format

entity
type: Class
example of usage: Julius Caesar
example of usage: Verdi’s Requiem
example of usage: the Second World War
example of usage: your body mass index
editor note: BFO 2 Reference: In all areas of empirical inquiry we encounter general terms of two sorts. First are general terms which refer to universals or types:animaltuberculosissurgical procedurediseaseSecond, are general terms used to refer to groups of entities which instantiate a given universal but do not correspond to the extension of any subuniversal of that universal because there is nothing intrinsic to the entities in question by virtue of which they – and only they – are counted as belonging to the given group. Examples are: animal purchased by the Emperortuberculosis diagnosed on a Wednesdaysurgical procedure performed on a patient from Stockholmperson identified as candidate for clinical trial #2056-555person who is signatory of Form 656-PPVpainting by Leonardo da VinciSuch terms, which represent what are called ‘specializations’ in [81
definition: (Elucidation) An entity is anything that exists or has existed or will exist
example: Julius Caesar; the Second World War; your body mass index; Verdi's Requiem

continuant
type: Class
subclass of: entity
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: part of
  all values from: continuant
disjoint with: occurrent
disjoint with: Restriction
  on property: part of
  some values from: occurrent
textual definition: An entity that exists in full at any time in which it exists at all, persists through time while maintaining its identity and has no temporal parts.
editor note: BFO 2 Reference: Continuant entities are entities which can be sliced to yield parts only along the spatial dimension, yielding for example the parts of your table which we call its legs, its top, its nails. ‘My desk stretches from the window to the door. It has spatial parts, and can be sliced (in space) in two. With respect to time, however, a thing is a continuant.’ [60, p. 240
definition: (Elucidation) A continuant is an entity that persists, endures, or continues to exist through time while maintaining its identity
example: A human being; a tennis ball; a cave; a region of space; someone's temperature

occurrent
type: Class
subclass of: entity
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: part of
  all values from: occurrent
disjoint with: Restriction
  on property: part of
  some values from: continuant
textual definition: An entity that has temporal parts and that happens, unfolds or develops through time.
definition: (Elucidation) An occurrent is an entity that unfolds itself in time or it is the start or end of such an entity or it is a temporal or spatiotemporal region
example: As for process, history, process boundary, spatiotemporal region, zero-dimensional temporal region, one-dimensional temporal region, temporal interval, temporal instant.

independent continuant
type: Class
subclass of: continuant
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: part of
  all values from: independent continuant
disjoint with: specifically dependent continuant
disjoint with: generically dependent continuant
example of usage: a chair
example of usage: a heart
example of usage: a leg
example of usage: a molecule
example of usage: a spatial region
example of usage: an atom
example of usage: an orchestra.
example of usage: an organism
example of usage: the bottom right portion of a human torso
example of usage: the interior of your mouth
textual definition: b is an independent continuant = Def. b is a continuant which is such that there is no c and no t such that b s-depends_on c at t. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [017-002])
definition: b is an independent continuant =Def b is a continuant & there is no c such that b specifically depends on c or b generically depends on c
example: An atom; a molecule; an organism; a heart; a chair; the bottom right portion of a human torso; a leg; the interior of your mouth; a spatial region; an orchestra

spatial region
type: Class
subclass of: immaterial entity
definition: (Elucidation) A spatial region is a continuant entity that is a continuant part of the spatial projection of a portion of spacetime at a given time
example: As for zero-dimensional spatial region, one-dimensional spatial region, two-dimensional spatial region, three-dimensional spatial region

temporal region
type: Class
subclass of: occurrent
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: occurrent part of
  all values from: temporal region
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: temporal part of
  all values from: temporal region
definition: (Elucidation) A temporal region is an occurrent over which processes can unfold
example: As for zero-dimensional temporal region and one-dimensional temporal region

two-dimensional spatial region
type: Class
subclass of: spatial region
definition: (Elucidation) A two-dimensional spatial region is a spatial region that is a whole consisting of a surface together with zero or more surfaces which may have spatial regions of lower dimension as parts
example: The surface of a sphere-shaped part of space; an infinitely thin plane in space

spatiotemporal region
type: Class
subclass of: occurrent
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: occurrent part of
  all values from: spatiotemporal region
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: temporal part of
  all values from: spatiotemporal region
definition: (Elucidation) A spatiotemporal region is an occurrent that is an occurrent part of spacetime
example: The spatiotemporal region occupied by the development of a cancer tumour; the spatiotemporal region occupied by an orbiting satellite
scope note: 'Spacetime' here refers to the maximal instance of the universal spatiotemporal region.

process
type: Class
subclass of: occurrent
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has occurrent part
  all values from: Class
    union of: process
    union of: process boundary
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: occurrent part of
  all values from: process
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: temporal part of
  all values from: process
textual definition: p is a process = Def. p is an occurrent that has temporal proper parts and for some time t, p s-depends_on some material entity at t. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [083-003])
alternative label: event
definition: (Elucidation) p is a process means p is an occurrent that has some temporal proper part and for some time t, p has some material entity as participant
example: An act of selling; the life of an organism; a process of sleeping; a process of cell-division; a beating of the heart; a process of meiosis; the taxiing of an aircraft; the programming of a computer

disposition
type: Class
subclass of: realizable entity
disjoint with: role
example of usage: an atom of element X has the disposition to decay to an atom of element Y
example of usage: certain people have a predisposition to colon cancer
example of usage: children are innately disposed to categorize objects in certain ways.
example of usage: the cell wall is disposed to filter chemicals in endocytosis and exocytosis
editor note: BFO 2 Reference: Dispositions exist along a strength continuum. Weaker forms of disposition are realized in only a fraction of triggering cases. These forms occur in a significant number of cases of a similar type.
alternative label: internally-grounded realizable entity
definition: (Elucidation) A disposition b is a realizable entity such that if b ceases to exist then its bearer is physically changed & b's realization occurs when and because this bearer is in some special physical circumstances & this realization occurs in virtue of the bearer's physical make-up
example: An atom of element X has the disposition to decay to an atom of element Y; the cell wall is disposed to transport cellular material through endocytosis and exocytosis; certain people have a predisposition to colon cancer; children are innately disposed to categorize objects in certain ways

realizable entity
type: Class
subclass of: specifically dependent continuant
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: part of
  all values from: realizable entity
disjoint with: quality
example of usage: the disposition of this piece of metal to conduct electricity.
example of usage: the disposition of your blood to coagulate
example of usage: the function of your reproductive organs
example of usage: the role of being a doctor
example of usage: the role of this boundary to delineate where Utah and Colorado meet
textual definition: A specifically dependent continuant that inheres in continuant entities and are not exhibited in full at every time in which it inheres in an entity or group of entities. The exhibition or actualization of a realizable entity is a particular manifestation, functioning or process that occurs under certain circumstances.
definition: (Elucidation) A realizable entity is a specifically dependent continuant that inheres in some independent continuant which is not a spatial region & which is of a type some instances of which are realized in processes of a correlated type
example: The role of being a doctor; the role of this boundary to delineate where Utah and Colorado meet; the function of your reproductive organs; the disposition of your blood to coagulate; the disposition of this piece of metal to conduct electricity

zero-dimensional spatial region
type: Class
subclass of: spatial region
definition: (Elucidation) A zero-dimensional spatial region is one or a collection of more than one spatially disjoint points in space
example: The spatial region occupied at some time instant by the North Pole

quality
type: Class
subclass of: specifically dependent continuant
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: part of
  all values from: quality
example of usage: the ambient temperature of this portion of air
example of usage: the color of a tomato
example of usage: the length of the circumference of your waist
example of usage: the mass of this piece of gold.
example of usage: the shape of your nose
example of usage: the shape of your nostril
definition: (Elucidation) A quality is a specifically dependent continuant that, in contrast to roles and dispositions, does not require any further process in order to be realized
example: The colour of a tomato; the ambient temperature of this portion of air; the length of the circumference of your waist; the shape of your nose; the shape of your nostril; the mass of this piece of gold

specifically dependent continuant
type: Class
subclass of: continuant
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: part of
  all values from: specifically dependent continuant
disjoint with: generically dependent continuant
example of usage: Reciprocal specifically dependent continuants: the function of this key to open this lock and the mutually dependent disposition of this lock: to be opened by this key
example of usage: of one-sided specifically dependent continuants: the mass of this tomato
example of usage: of relational dependent continuants (multiple bearers): John’s love for Mary, the ownership relation between John and this statue, the relation of authority between John and his subordinates.
example of usage: the disposition of this fish to decay
example of usage: the function of this heart: to pump blood
example of usage: the mutual dependence of proton donors and acceptors in chemical reactions [79
example of usage: the mutual dependence of the role predator and the role prey as played by two organisms in a given interaction
example of usage: the pink color of a medium rare piece of grilled filet mignon at its center
example of usage: the role of being a doctor
example of usage: the shape of this hole.
example of usage: the smell of this portion of mozzarella
textual definition: b is a specifically dependent continuant = Def. b is a continuant & there is some independent continuant c which is not a spatial region and which is such that b s-depends_on c at every time t during the course of b’s existence. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [050-003])
definition: b is a specifically dependent continuant =Def b is a continuant & there is some independent continuant c which is not a spatial region & which is such that b specifically depends on c
example: (with multiple bearers) John's love for Mary; the ownership relation between John and this statue; the relation of authority between John and his subordinates
example: (with one bearer) The mass of this tomato; the pink colour of a medium rare piece of grilled filet mignon at its centre; the smell of this portion of mozzarella; the disposition of this fish to decay; the role of being a doctor; the function of this heart to pump blood; the shape of this hole

role
type: Class
subclass of: realizable entity
example of usage: John’s role of husband to Mary is dependent on Mary’s role of wife to John, and both are dependent on the object aggregate comprising John and Mary as member parts joined together through the relational quality of being married.
example of usage: the priest role
example of usage: the role of a boundary to demarcate two neighboring administrative territories
example of usage: the role of a building in serving as a military target
example of usage: the role of a stone in marking a property boundary
example of usage: the role of subject in a clinical trial
example of usage: the student role
textual definition: A realizable entity the manifestation of which brings about some result or end that is not essential to a continuant in virtue of the kind of thing that it is but that can be served or participated in by that kind of continuant in some kinds of natural, social or institutional contexts.
editor note: BFO 2 Reference: One major family of examples of non-rigid universals involves roles, and ontologies developed for corresponding administrative purposes may consist entirely of representatives of entities of this sort. Thus ‘professor’, defined as follows,b instance_of professor at t =Def. there is some c, c instance_of professor role & c inheres_in b at t.denotes a non-rigid universal and so also do ‘nurse’, ‘student’, ‘colonel’, ‘taxpayer’, and so forth. (These terms are all, in the jargon of philosophy, phase sortals.) By using role terms in definitions, we can create a BFO conformant treatment of such entities drawing on the fact that, while an instance of professor may be simultaneously an instance of trade union member, no instance of the type professor role is also (at any time) an instance of the type trade union member role (any more than any instance of the type color is at any time an instance of the type length).If an ontology of employment positions should be defined in terms of roles following the above pattern, this enables the ontology to do justice to the fact that individuals instantiate the corresponding universals – professor, sergeant, nurse – only during certain phases in their lives.
alternative label: externally-grounded realizable entity
definition: (Elucidation) A role b is a realizable entity such that b exists because there is some single bearer that is in some special physical, social, or institutional set of circumstances in which this bearer does not have to be & b is not such that, if it ceases to exist, then the physical make-up of the bearer is thereby changed
example: The priest role; the student role; the role of subject in a clinical trial; the role of a stone in marking a property boundary; the role of a boundary to demarcate two neighbouring administrative territories; the role of a building in serving as a military target

fiat object part
type: Class
subclass of: material entity
definition: (Elucidation) A fiat object part b is a material entity & such that if b exists then it is continuant part of some object c & demarcated from the remainder of c by one or more fiat surfaces
example: The upper and lower lobes of the left lung; the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the body; the Western hemisphere of the Earth; the FMA:regional parts of an intact human body

one-dimensional spatial region
type: Class
subclass of: spatial region
definition: (Elucidation) A one-dimensional spatial region is a whole consisting of a line together with zero or more lines which may have points as parts
example: An edge of a cube-shaped portion of space; a line connecting two points; two parallel lines extended in space

object aggregate
type: Class
subclass of: material entity
definition: (Elucidation) An object aggregate is a material entity consisting exactly of a plurality (≥1) of objects as member parts which together form a unit
example: The aggregate of the musicians in a symphony orchestra and their instruments; the aggregate of bearings in a constant velocity axle joint; the nitrogen atoms in the atmosphere; a collection of cells in a blood biobank
scope note: 'Exactly' means that there are no parts of the object aggregate other than its member parts.
scope note: The unit can, at certain times, consist of exactly one object, for example, when a wolf litter loses all but one of its pups, but it must at some time have a plurality of member parts.

three-dimensional spatial region
type: Class
subclass of: spatial region
definition: (Elucidation) A three-dimensional spatial region is a whole consisting of a spatial volume together with zero or more spatial volumes which may have spatial regions of lower dimension as parts
example: A cube-shaped region of space; a sphere-shaped region of space; the region of space occupied by all and only the planets in the solar system at some point in time

site
type: Class
subclass of: immaterial entity
definition: (Elucidation) A site is a three-dimensional immaterial entity whose boundaries either (partially or wholly) coincide with the boundaries of one or more material entities or have locations determined in relation to some material entity
example: A hole in a portion of cheese; a rabbit hole; the Grand Canyon; the Piazza San Marco; the kangaroo-joey-containing hole of a kangaroo pouch; your left nostril (a fiat part - the opening - of your left nasal cavity); the lumen of your gut; the hold of a ship; the interior of the trunk of your car; hole in an engineered floor joist

object
type: Class
subclass of: material entity
definition: (Elucidation) An object is a material entity which manifests causal unity & is of a type instances of which are maximal relative to the sort of causal unity manifested
example: An organism; a fish tank; a planet; a laptop; a valve; a block of marble; an ice cube
scope note: A description of three primary sorts of causal unity is provided in Basic Formal Ontology 2.0. Specification and User Guide

generically dependent continuant
type: Class
subclass of: continuant
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: part of
  all values from: generically dependent continuant
example of usage: The entries in your database are patterns instantiated as quality instances in your hard drive. The database itself is an aggregate of such patterns. When you create the database you create a particular instance of the generically dependent continuant type database. Each entry in the database is an instance of the generically dependent continuant type IAO: information content entity.
example of usage: the pdf file on your laptop, the pdf file that is a copy thereof on my laptop
example of usage: the sequence of this protein molecule; the sequence that is a copy thereof in that protein molecule.
textual definition: b is a generically dependent continuant = Def. b is a continuant that g-depends_on one or more other entities. (axiom label in BFO2 Reference: [074-001])
alternative label: g-dependent continuant
definition: (Elucidation) A generically dependent continuant is an entity that exists in virtue of the fact that there is at least one of what may be multiple copies which is the content or the pattern that multiple copies would share
example: The pdf file on your laptop; the pdf file that is a copy thereof on my laptop; the sequence of this protein molecule; the sequence that is a copy thereof in that protein molecule; the content that is shared by a string of dots and dashes written on a page and the transmitted Morse code signal; the content of a sentence; an engineering blueprint

function
type: Class
subclass of: disposition
example of usage: the function of a hammer to drive in nails
example of usage: the function of a heart pacemaker to regulate the beating of a heart through electricity
example of usage: the function of amylase in saliva to break down starch into sugar
editor note: BFO 2 Reference: In the past, we have distinguished two varieties of function, artifactual function and biological function. These are not asserted subtypes of BFO:function however, since the same function – for example: to pump, to transport – can exist both in artifacts and in biological entities. The asserted subtypes of function that would be needed in order to yield a separate monoheirarchy are not artifactual function, biological function, etc., but rather transporting function, pumping function, etc.
definition: (Elucidation) A function is a disposition that exists in virtue of its bearer's physical make-up & this physical make-up is something the bearer possesses because it came into being either through evolution (in the case of natural biological entities) or through intentional design (in the case of artefacts) in order to realize processes of a certain sort
example: The function of a hammer to drive in nails; the function of a heart pacemaker to regulate the beating of a heart through electricity

process boundary
type: Class
subclass of: occurrent
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has occurrent part
  all values from: process boundary
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has temporal part
  all values from: process boundary
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: occurrent part of
  all values from: Class
    union of: process
    union of: process boundary
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: temporal part of
  all values from: Class
    union of: process
    union of: process boundary
definition: p is a process boundary =Def p is a temporal part of a process & p has no proper temporal parts
example: The boundary between the 2nd and 3rd year of your life

one-dimensional temporal region
type: Class
subclass of: temporal region
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has temporal part
  all values from: Class
    union of: one-dimensional temporal region
    union of: zero-dimensional temporal region
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: temporal part of
  all values from: one-dimensional temporal region
disjoint with: zero-dimensional temporal region
definition: (Elucidation) A one-dimensional temporal region is a temporal region that is a whole that has a temporal interval and zero or more temporal intervals and temporal instants as parts
example: The temporal region during which a process occurs

material entity
type: Class
subclass of: independent continuant
disjoint with: immaterial entity
textual definition: An independent continuant that is spatially extended whose identity is independent of that of other entities and can be maintained through time.
editor note: Elucidation: An independent continuant that is spatially extended whose identity is independent of that of other entities and can be maintained through time.
definition: (Elucidation) A material entity is an independent continuant has some portion of matter as continuant part
example: A human being; the undetached arm of a human being; an aggregate of human beings

continuant fiat boundary
type: Class
subclass of: immaterial entity
definition: (Elucidation) A continuant fiat boundary b is an immaterial entity that is of zero, one or two dimensions & such that there is no time t when b has a spatial region as continuant part & whose location is determined in relation to some material entity
example: As for fiat point, fiat line, fiat surface

immaterial entity
type: Class
subclass of: independent continuant
definition: b is an immaterial entity =Def b is an independent continuant which is such that there is no time t when it has a material entity as continuant part
example: As for fiat point, fiat line, fiat surface, site

fiat line
type: Class
subclass of: continuant fiat boundary
definition: (Elucidation) A fiat line is a one-dimensional continuant fiat boundary that is continuous
example: The Equator; all geopolitical boundaries; all lines of latitude and longitude; the median sulcus of your tongue; the line separating the outer surface of the mucosa of the lower lip from the outer surface of the skin of the chin

relational quality
type: Class
subclass of: quality
definition: b is a relational quality =Def b is a quality & there exists c and d such that c and d are not identical & b specifically depends on c & b specifically depends on d
example: A marriage bond; an instance of love; an obligation between one person and another

fiat surface
type: Class
subclass of: continuant fiat boundary
definition: (Elucidation) A fiat surface is a two-dimensional continuant fiat boundary that is self-connected
example: The surface of the Earth; the plane separating the smoking from the non-smoking zone in a restaurant

fiat point
type: Class
subclass of: continuant fiat boundary
definition: (Elucidation) A fiat point is a zero-dimensional continuant fiat boundary that consists of a single point
example: The geographic North Pole; the quadripoint where the boundaries of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona meet; the point of origin of some spatial coordinate system

zero-dimensional temporal region
type: Class
subclass of: temporal region
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has temporal part
  all values from: zero-dimensional temporal region
definition: (Elucidation) A zero-dimensional temporal region is a temporal region that is a whole consisting of one or more separated temporal instants as parts
example: A temporal region that is occupied by a process boundary; the moment at which a finger is detached in an industrial accident

history
type: Class
subclass of: process
definition: (Elucidation) A history is a process that is the sum of the totality of processes taking place in the spatiotemporal region occupied by the material part of a material entity
example: The life of an organism from the beginning to the end of its existence

temporal interval
type: Class
subclass of: one-dimensional temporal region
definition: (Elucidation) A temporal interval is a one-dimensional temporal region that is continuous, thus without gaps or breaks
example: The year 2018.
scope note: A one-dimensional temporal region can include as parts not only temporal intervals but also temporal instants separated from other parts by gaps.

temporal instant
type: Class
subclass of: zero-dimensional temporal region
definition: (Elucidation) A temporal instant is a zero-dimensional temporal region that has no proper temporal part
example: The millennium

objective specification
type: Class
subclass of: directive information entity
example of usage: In the protocol of a ChIP assay the objective specification says to identify protein and DNA interaction.
textual definition: A directive information entity that describes an intended process endpoint. When part of a plan specification the concretization is realized in a planned process in which the bearer tries to effect the world so that the process endpoint is achieved.
editor note: 2009-03-16: original definition when imported from OBI read: "objective is an non realizable information entity which can serve as that proper part of a plan towards which the realization of the plan is directed."
editor note: 2014-03-31: In the example of usage ("In the protocol of a ChIP assay the objective specification says to identify protein and DNA interaction") there is a protocol which is the ChIP assay protocol. In addition to being concretized on paper, the protocol can be concretized as a realizable entity, such as a plan that inheres in a person. The objective specification is the part that says that some protein and DNA interactions are identified. This is a specification of a process endpoint: the boundary in the process before which they are not identified and after which they are. During the realization of the plan, the goal is to get to the point of having the interactions, and participants in the realization of the plan try to do that.
editor note: Answers the question, why did you do this experiment?
alternative label: goal specification
definition source: OBI Plan and Planned Process/Roles Branch
definition source: OBI_0000217

action specification
type: Class
subclass of: directive information entity
example of usage: Pour the contents of flask 1 into flask 2
textual definition: A directive information entity that describes an action the bearer will take.
definition source: OBI Plan and Planned Process branch

programming language
type: Class
subclass of: plan specification
example of usage: R, Perl, Java
textual definition: A language in which source code is written that is intended to be executed/run by a software interpreter. Programming languages are ways to write instructions that specify what to do, and sometimes, how to do it.
definition source: OBI_0000058
definition source: group:OBI

data item
type: Class
subclass of: information content entity
example of usage: Data items include counts of things, analyte concentrations, and statistical summaries.
textual definition: An information content entity that is intended to be a truthful statement about something (modulo, e.g., measurement precision or other systematic errors) and is constructed/acquired by a method which reliably tends to produce (approximately) truthful statements.
editor note: 2/2/2009 Alan and Bjoern discussing FACS run output data. This is a data item because it is about the cell population. Each element records an event and is typically further composed a set of measurment data items that record the fluorescent intensity stimulated by one of the lasers.
editor note: 2009-03-16: data item deliberatly ambiguous: we merged data set and datum to be one entity, not knowing how to define singular versus plural. So data item is more general than datum.
editor note: 2009-03-16: removed datum as alternative term as datum specifically refers to singular form, and is thus not an exact synonym.
editor note: JAR: datum -- well, this will be very tricky to define, but maybe some information-like stuff that might be put into a computer and that is meant, by someone, to denote and/or to be interpreted by some process... I would include lists, tables, sentences... I think I might defer to Barry, or to Brian Cantwell Smith JAR: A data item is an approximately justified approximately true approximate belief
editor note: 2014-03-31: See discussion at http://odontomachus.wordpress.com/2014/03/30/aboutness-objects-propositions/
alternative label: data

symbol
type: Class
subclass of: information content entity
example of usage: a serial number such as "12324X"
example of usage: a stop sign
example of usage: a written proper name such as "OBI"
textual definition: An information content entity that is a mark(s) or character(s) used as a conventional representation of another entity.
editor note: 20091104, MC: this needs work and will most probably change
editor note: 2014-03-31: We would like to have a deeper analysis of 'mark' and 'sign' in the future (see https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/IAO/issues/154).
definition source: based on Oxford English Dictionary

information content entity
type: Class
subclass of: generically dependent continuant
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: is about
  some values from: entity
example of usage: Examples of information content entites include journal articles, data, graphical layouts, and graphs.
textual definition: A generically dependent continuant that is about some thing.
textual definition: An information content entity is an entity that is generically dependent on some artifact and stands in relation of aboutness to some entity.
editor note: 2014-03-10: The use of "thing" is intended to be general enough to include universals and configurations (see https://groups.google.com/d/msg/information-ontology/GBxvYZCk1oc/-L6B5fSBBTQJ).
editor note: information_content_entity 'is_encoded_in' some digital_entity in obi before split (040907). information_content_entity 'is_encoded_in' some physical_document in obi before split (040907). Previous. An information content entity is a non-realizable information entity that 'is encoded in' some digital or physical entity.
definition source: OBI_0000142
definition source: IAO

directive information entity
type: Class
subclass of: information content entity
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: is about
  some values from: realizable entity
textual definition: An information content entity whose concretizations indicate to their bearer how to realize them in a process.
editor note: 2009-03-16: provenance: a term realizable information entity was proposed for OBI (OBI_0000337) , edited by the PlanAndPlannedProcess branch. Original definition was "is the specification of a process that can be concretized and realized by an actor" with alternative term "instruction".It has been subsequently moved to IAO where the objective for which the original term was defined was satisfied with the definitionof this, different, term.
editor note: 2013-05-30 Alan Ruttenberg: What differentiates a directive information entity from an information concretization is that it can have concretizations that are either qualities or realizable entities. The concretizations that are realizable entities are created when an individual chooses to take up the direction, i.e. has the intention to (try to) realize it.
editor note: 8/6/2009 Alan Ruttenberg: Changed label from "information entity about a realizable" after discussions at ICBO
editor note: Werner pushed back on calling it realizable information entity as it isn't realizable. However this name isn't right either. An example would be a recipe. The realizable entity would be a plan, but the information entity isn't about the plan, it, once concretized, *is* the plan. -Alan

curation status specification
type: Class
equivalent class: Class
  one of: example to be eventually removed
  one of: metadata complete
  one of: organizational term
  one of: ready for release
  one of: metadata incomplete
  one of: uncurated
  one of: pending final vetting
  one of: to be replaced with external ontology term
  one of: requires discussion
subclass of: data about an ontology part
textual definition: The curation status of the term. The allowed values come from an enumerated list of predefined terms. See the specification of these instances for more detailed definitions of each enumerated value.
editor note: Better to represent curation as a process with parts and then relate labels to that process (in IAO meeting)
definition source: GROUP:OBI:<http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/obi>
definition source: OBI_0000266

data format specification
type: Class
subclass of: directive information entity
textual definition: A data format specification is the information content borne by the document published defining the specification. Example: The ISO document specifying what encompasses an XML document; The instructions in a XSD file
editor note: 2009-03-16: provenance: term imported from OBI_0000187, which had original definition "A data format specification is a plan which organizes information. Example: The ISO document specifying what encompasses an XML document; The instructions in a XSD file"
definition source: OBI branch derived
definition source: OBI_0000187

data about an ontology part
type: Class
subclass of: data item
textual definition: Data about an ontology part is a data item about a part of an ontology, for example a term

plan specification
type: Class
subclass of: directive information entity
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has part
  some values from: objective specification
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has part
  some values from: action specification
example of usage: PMID: 18323827.Nat Med. 2008 Mar;14(3):226.New plan proposed to help resolve conflicting medical advice.
textual definition: A directive information entity with action specifications and objective specifications as parts, and that may be concretized as a realizable entity that, if realized, is realized in a process in which the bearer tries to achieve the objectives by taking the actions specified.
editor note: 2009-03-16: provenance: a term a plan was proposed for OBI (OBI_0000344) , edited by the PlanAndPlannedProcess branch. Original definition was " a plan is a specification of a process that is realized by an actor to achieve the objective specified as part of the plan". It has been subsequently moved to IAO where the objective for which the original term was defined was satisfied with the definitionof this, different, term.
editor note: 2014-03-31: A plan specification can have other parts, such as conditional specifications.
editor note: 2022-01-16 Updated definition to that proposed by Clint Dowloand, IAO Issue 231.
editor note: Alternative previous definition: a plan is a set of instructions that specify how an objective should be achieved
definition source: OBI Plan and Planned Process branch
definition source: OBI_0000344

version number
type: Class
subclass of: symbol
textual definition: A version number is an information content entity which is a sequence of characters borne by part of each of a class of manufactured products or its packaging and indicates its order within a set of other products having the same name.
editor note: Note: we feel that at the moment we are happy with a general version number, and that we will subclass as needed in the future. For example, see 7. genome sequence version

obsolescence reason specification
type: Class
equivalent class: Class
  one of: failed exploratory term
  one of: placeholder removed
  one of: terms merged
  one of: term imported
  one of: term split
  one of: out of scope
subclass of: data about an ontology part
textual definition: The reason for which a term has been deprecated. The allowed values come from an enumerated list of predefined terms. See the specification of these instances for more detailed definitions of each enumerated value.
editor note: The creation of this class has been inspired in part by Werner Ceusters' paper, Applying evolutionary terminology auditing to the Gene Ontology.

textual entity
type: Class
subclass of: information content entity
example of usage: Words, sentences, paragraphs, and the written (non-figure) parts of publications are all textual entities
textual definition: A textual entity is a part of a manifestation (FRBR sense), a generically dependent continuant whose concretizations are patterns of glyphs intended to be interpreted as words, formulas, etc.
editor note: AR, (IAO call 2009-09-01): a document as a whole is not typically a textual entity, because it has pictures in it - rather there are parts of it that are textual entities. Examples: The title, paragraph 2 sentence 7, etc.
editor note: MC, 2009-09-14 (following IAO call 2009-09-01): textual entities live at the FRBR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_Requirements_for_Bibliographic_Records) manifestation level. Everything is significant: line break, pdf and html versions of same document are different textual entities.
alternative label: text

institutional identification
type: Class
subclass of: textual entity
example of usage: University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine
textual definition: A textual entity intended to identify a particular institution

caption
type: Class
subclass of: textual entity
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: is about
  some values from: figure
example of usage: Figure 1: A system diagram describing the modules of the Hanalyzer. Reading methods (green) take external sources of knowledge (blue) and extract information from them, either by parsing structured data or biomedical language processing to extract information from unstructured data. Reading modules are responsible for tracking the provenance of all knowledge. Reasoning methods (yellow) enrich the knowledge that results from reading by, for example, noting two genes that are annotated to the same ontology term or database entry. All knowledge sources, read or reasoned, are assigned a reliability score, and all are combined using that score into a knowledge network (orange) that represents the integration of all sorts of relationship between a pair of genes and a combined reliability score. A data network (also orange) is created from experimental results to be analyzed. The reporting modules (pink) integrate the data and knowledge networks, producing visualizations that can be queried with the associated drill-down tool.
textual definition: A textual entity that describes a figure

document title
type: Class
subclass of: textual entity
example of usage: Textual characteristics of traditional and Open Access scientific journals are similar
textual definition: A textual entity that names a document

figure
type: Class
subclass of: information content entity
example of usage: Any picture, diagram or table
textual definition: An information content entity consisting of a two dimensional arrangement of information content entities such that the arrangement itself is about something.

denotator type
type: Class
equivalent class: Class
  one of: universal
  one of: defined class
  one of: named class expression
subclass of: data about an ontology part
example of usage: The Basic Formal Ontology ontology makes a distinction between Universals and defined classes, where the formal are "natural kinds" and the latter arbitrary collections of entities.
textual definition: A denotator type indicates how a term should be interpreted from an ontological perspective.
definition source: Barry Smith, Werner Ceusters

postal address
type: Class
subclass of: textual entity
textual definition: A textual entity that is used as directive to deliver something to a person, or organization
editor note: 2010-05-24 Alan Ruttenberg. Use label for the string representation. See issue https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/IAO/issues/59

email address
type: Class
subclass of: information content entity
editor note: Alan Ruttenberg 1/3/2012 - Provisional id, see issue at https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/IAO/issues/130&thanks=130&ts=1325636583

centrally registered identifier symbol
type: Class
subclass of: symbol
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: part of
  some values from: centrally registered identifier
example of usage: The sentence "The article has Pubmed ID 12345." contains a CRID that has two parts: one part is the CRID symbol, which is '12345'; the other part denotes the CRID registry, which is Pubmed.
textual definition: A symbol that is part of a CRID and that is sufficient to look up a record from the CRID's registry.
alternative label: CRID symbol
definition source: Original proposal from Bjoern, discussions at IAO calls

centrally registered identifier
type: Class
subclass of: identifier
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has part
  some values from: centrally registered identifier symbol
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has part
  some values from: Restriction
    on property: denotes
    some values from: centrally registered identifier registry
example of usage: The sentence "The article has Pubmed ID 12345." contains a CRID that has two parts: one part is the CRID symbol, which is '12345'; the other part denotes the CRID registry, which is Pubmed.
textual definition: An information content entity that consists of a CRID symbol and additional information about the CRID registry to which it belongs.
editor note: 2014-05-05: In defining this term we take no position on what the CRID denotes. In particular do not assume it denotes a *record* in the CRID registry (since the registry might not have 'records').
editor note: Alan, IAO call 20101124: potentially the CRID denotes the instance it was associated with during creation.
editor note: Note, IAO call 20101124: URIs are not always CRID, as not centrally registered. We acknowledge that CRID is a subset of a larger identifier class, but this subset fulfills our current needs. OBI PURLs are CRID as they are registered with OCLC. UPCs (Universal Product Codes from AC Nielsen)are not CRID as they are not centrally registered.
alternative label: CRID
definition source: Original proposal from Bjoern, discussions at IAO calls

centrally registered identifier registry
type: Class
subclass of: code set
example of usage: PubMed is a CRID registry. It has a code set of PubMed identifiers associated with journal articles.
textual definition: A code set of CRID records, each consisting of a CRID symbol and additional information which was recorded in the code set through an assigning a centrally registered identifier process.
alternative label: CRID registry
definition source: Original proposal from Bjoern, discussions at IAO calls

written name
type: Class
subclass of: textual entity
example of usage: "Bill Clinton"
example of usage: "The Eiffel Tower"
example of usage: "United States of America"
textual definition: A textual entity that denotes a particular in reality.
definition source: https://github.com/information-artifact-ontology/IAO/issues/114

abbreviation textual entity
type: Class
subclass of: textual entity
example of usage: From Shiba et al. Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2013; 1: 45. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3893467/): BAC: Bacterial artificial chromosome; CR: Calretinin; GFAP: Glial fibrillary acidic protein; MAP: Microtubule-associated protein; MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging; NSC: Neural stem cell; PDA: Patent ductus arteriosus; PMG: Polymicrogyria; PNH: Periventricular nodular heterotopia; VSD: Ventricular septal defect.
textual definition: A textual entity listing abbreviations and their expansions that are used in a document.

author information textual entity
type: Class
subclass of: textual entity
example of usage: From Takon. Ann Gen Psychiatry. 2011; 10: 25. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3204268/): IT [the author] is the lead paediatrician for ADHD services in East Hertfordshire, UK, where she runs a weekly joint ADHD clinic with the Child and Adolescent psychiatrist and works within an ADHD specialist team. IT also sees children with other neurodisability issues who may have comorbid ADHD, where the presentation may be more complex and challenging to manage. IT has vast experience in managing children with complex ADHD. She has 18 years of experience in paediatrics and also has extensive experience in the use of psychopharmacologic agents in managing children with ADHD.
textual definition: A textual entity expression information about an author of a document. This information may include biographical information and may discuss how the authors' professional experiences are relevant to the work described in the document.

related work textual entity
type: Class
subclass of: textual entity
example of usage: Excerpt from Žitnik and Zupan. Bioinformatics. 2015 Jun 15; 31(12): i230–i239. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4542780/): Our work presented here is similar in spirit to our recently developed methodology for data fusion via collective matrix factorization (Žitnik and Zupan, 2015).
textual definition: A textual entity that discusses work from other publications and expresses their relevancy to the content of a document.

ORCID identifier
type: Class
subclass of: centrally registered identifier
textual definition: A centrally registered identifier that is issued by ORCID (https://orcid.org/) and used to persistantly identify oneself as a human researcher or contributor.
editor note: "You can connect your iD with your professional information — affiliations, grants, publications, peer review, and more. You can use your iD to share your information with other systems, ensuring you get recognition for all your contributions, saving you time and hassle, and reducing the risk of errors." [https://orcid.org/]
editor note: This class was originally defined in Apollo_SV (http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/APOLLO_SV_00000496) but due to it being more in scope of IAO, it was decided to add it to IAO and deprecate its Apollo_SV equivalent. (2022-10-25)
alternative label: ORCID ID
alternative label: ORCiD
alternative label: Open Researcher and Contributor ID
alternative label: Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier
definition source: https://orcid.org/

identifier
type: Class
subclass of: information content entity
textual definition: An information content entity that is the outcome of a dubbing process and is used to refer to one instance of entity shared by a group of people to refer to that individual entity.
alternative label: proper name

personal name
type: Class
subclass of: identifier
textual definition: An identifier referring to an individual entity that is ascribed personhood by the user of the identifier.
definition source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_name

given name
type: Class
subclass of: personal name
textual definition: A personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name (surname). A given name is purposefully given, usually by a child's parents at or near birth, in contrast to an inherited one such as a family name
alternative label: first name
definition source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Given_name

family name
type: Class
subclass of: identifier
textual definition: An identifier that is typically a part of a person's name which has been passed, according to law or custom, from one or both parents to their children.
alternative label: last name
alternative label: surname
definition source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_name

code set
type: Class
subclass of: information content entity
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has part
  some values from: identifier
textual definition: An information content entity that is a collection of other information content entities that has been created to identify or annotate things in a specified domain, and where the intention of its creators is that the collection has a one-to-one correspondence with those things.
alternative label: code map
alternative label: code system
alternative label: codeset
alternative label: coding system
alternative label: controlled vocabulary

ontology module
type: Class
subclass of: data about an ontology part
editor note: I have placed this under 'data about an ontology part', but this can be discussed. I think this is OK if 'part' is interpreted reflexively, as an ontology module is the whole ontology rather than part of it.
alternative label: ontology file

base ontology module
type: Class
subclass of: ontology variant
textual definition: An ontology module that comprises only of asserted axioms local to the ontology, excludes import directives, and excludes axioms or declarations from external ontologies.

editors ontology module
type: Class
subclass of: ontology module
textual definition: An ontology module that is intended to be directly edited, typically managed in source control, and typically not intended for direct consumption by end-users.
alternative label: source ontology module

main release ontology module
type: Class
subclass of: ontology variant
textual definition: An ontology module that is intended to be the primary release product and the one consumed by the majority of tools.
editor note: TODO: Add logical axioms that state that a main release ontology module is derived from (directly or indirectly) an editors module

reasoned ontology module
type: Class
subclass of: ontology variant
textual definition: An ontology module that contains axioms generated by a reasoner. The generated axioms are typically direct SubClassOf axioms, but other possibilities are available.

organization
type: Class
subclass of: agent
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: material entity
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has role
    some values from: agent role
example of usage: PMID: 16353909.AAPS J. 2005 Sep 22;7(2):E274-80. Review. The joint food and agriculture organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives and its role in the evaluation of the safety of veterinary drug residues in foods.
textual definition: An entity that can bear roles, has members, and has a set of organization rules. Members of organizations are either organizations themselves or individual people. Members can bear specific organization member roles that are determined in the organization rules. The organization rules also determine how decisions are made on behalf of the organization by the organization members.
editor note: BP: The definition summarizes long email discussions on the OBI developer, roles, biomaterial and denrie branches. It leaves open if an organization is a material entity or a dependent continuant, as no consensus was reached on that. The current placement as material is therefore temporary, in order to move forward with development. Here is the entire email summary, on which the definition is based: 1) there are organization_member_roles (president, treasurer, branch editor), with individual persons as bearers 2) there are organization_roles (employer, owner, vendor, patent holder) 3) an organization has a charter / rules / bylaws, which specify what roles there are, how they should be realized, and how to modify the charter/rules/bylaws themselves. It is debatable what the organization itself is (some kind of dependent continuant or an aggregate of people). This also determines who/what the bearer of organization_roles' are. My personal favorite is still to define organization as a kind of 'legal entity', but thinking it through leads to all kinds of questions that are clearly outside the scope of OBI. Interestingly enough, it does not seem to matter much where we place organization itself, as long as we can subclass it (University, Corporation, Government Agency, Hospital), instantiate it (Affymetrix, NCBI, NIH, ISO, W3C, University of Oklahoma), and have it play roles. This leads to my proposal: We define organization through the statements 1 - 3 above, but without an 'is a' statement for now. We can leave it in its current place in the is_a hierarchy (material entity) or move it up to 'continuant'. We leave further clarifications to BFO, and close this issue for now.
definition source: GROUP: OBI

plan
type: Class
subclass of: realizable entity
example of usage: The plan of researcher X to perform an experiment according to a protocol.
textual definition: A plan is a realizable entity that is the inheres in a bearer who is committed to realizing it as a completely executed planned process.
editor note: This class is included to make clear how the plan specification, the plan, and the planned process relate. OBI will however only subclass and work under the 'plan specification', and 'planned process' class, as we want to avoid to get deep into discussions of 'intend' etc.
definition source: branch derived

software license
type: Class
subclass of: information content entity
textual definition: A licence is a legal instrument (usually by way of contract law, with or without printed material) governing the use or redistribution of the resource containing the licence.
definition source: Modified from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_license
label: licence

obsolete NFDI resource
type: Class
comment: An information content entity that refers to digital creative works and services, and is utilized to organize the resources of NFDI. The most generic kind of a resource and may be associated with any kind of digital creative work, e.g. datasets, collections, metadata; offered products and services, e.g. data portals, data curation, data digitization.
deprecated: true
editorial note: 2024-03-25 - Sasha Bruns: This class is useful in nfdicore to provide a unified and structured representation of the diverse range of resources that contribute to the NFDI infrastructure. IMO, it helps to emphasize the scope of resources that can be contributed to the NFDI compared to all information content entites in IAO.
readable IRI label: Resource
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/118

project
type: Class
subclass of: process
comment: A process of a scientific or business endeavor that aims to conclude an investigation or to answer a research question.
editorial note: Why "project" as an occurrent: - A project typically has a start and end time. - It involves a sequence of activities, such as planning, conducting experiments, analyzing data, and publishing results. - It has temporal parts (e.g., Phase 1, Phase 2, review stages). So, it aligns well with the occurrent category - more precisely, it can be considered a complex process made up of various subprocesses. But what about the organization or plan behind it? - The institution running or participating the project would be a continuant (consortium). - The project plan might be a generically dependent continuant (a kind of information content entity). - But the project as executed over time is an occurrent.
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/50

person
type: Class
subclass of: agent
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: object
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has role
    some values from: agent role
comment: An object that represents a single human individual.
editorial note: 2024-03-24. Sasha Bruns - the class is not mapped to NCBITaxon_9606 (homo sapiens) due to different scope of the ontologies. "Person" in nfdicore represents entities with specific roles, responsibilities, and attributes within an organization, and is not limited to its biological characteristics.
example: Harald Sack, Tabea Tietz, Sasha Bruns, Etienne Posthumus

place
type: Class
subclass of: site
comment: A site that refers to geographical locations, such as cities, countries, landmarks, and natural environments.
editorial note: A spatial region, e.g. country, city or district.
example: Hessen, Berlin, Schweiz
term tracker annotation: Issue: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/75

consortium
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: organization
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has member
    some values from: Restriction
      on property: has role
      some values from: consortium member role
comment: An organisation that consists of multiple independent groups and individuals, who join together to collaborate on a specific goal.
editorial note: A consortium of autonomous organizations collaborating towards a shared goal, operating within the framework of an agreement.
example: NFDI4Culture, NFDI-MatWerk, DataPLANT.

obsolete creative work
type: Class
comment: An independent continuant or information content entity that refers to a manifestation of someone's creative effort. A creative work refers to a digital intellectual or artistic resource, e.g. a dataset, metadata, a guideline, a software and other materials offering relevant information or instructions within their specific domains.
deprecated: true
editorial note: 2024-03-22. Sasha Bruns - Unlike schema:CreativeWork, nfdicore:CreativeWork is specialized to cover digital creative works only. Through the mapping to "schema:CreativeWork and 'information content entity'", we exclude material creative works such as real paintings, architectural objects, and other physical artifacts, which fall outside the scope of nfdicore:CreativeWork.
example: TRANSRAZ Data Model, NFDI4Culture Knowledge Graph, Guide for digital collection management at art museums, NFDI4Culture SPARQL Endpoint, Registry for Tools & Services, RADAR4Culture service, etc.
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/122

dataset
type: Class
subclass of: information content entity
comment: An information content entity that refers to a structured collection of data, organized typically for a specific goal such as analysis, research, or reference. Dataset is structured information about a resource provided by an organization or a person.
editorial note: 2024-04-10. Sasha Bruns: nfdicore:dataset and ioa:data set are not equivalent, due to their differing conceptualizations of what constitutes a iao:data item, which is a superclass of iao:data set. In the nfdicore ontology, a dataset may not necessarily align perfectly with the definition of a data item, since this definition implies a level of accuracy that may not always apply to datasets in their entirety. While a nfdicore:dataset may contain data items, it doesn't necessarily qualify as a data item itself under the strict definition provided by ioa:dataset. This differentiation helps us avoid ambiguity and ensures that our modeling aligns with the intended semantics.
example: Fotothek Bibliotheca Hertziana Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte 320px static derivates research dataset (https://doi.org/10.17617/3.SVH2BT)

obsolete plan
type: Class
term replaced by: plan
comment: A realizable entity that represents a structured set of intended actions or steps designed to achieve specific objectives or outcomes.
deprecated: true

publishing process
type: Class
subclass of: process
definition source: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/IAO_0000444
comment: A process of making information, such as literature, music, and software etc., available to the public for sale or for free.

obsolete identifier
type: Class
term replaced by: identifier
comment: An information content entity that is the outcome of a dubbing process and is used to refer to one instance of entity shared by a group of people to refer to that individual entity.
deprecated: true

software development
type: Class
subclass of: process
definition source: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/APOLLO_SV_00000008
comment: A process that has specified output a software product and that involves the creation of source code.

spokesperson role
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: agent role
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: role of
    some values from: person
comment: A role inherent in an agent that is realized when representing, advocating, or communicating on behalf of an organization or group to convey messages or information.

academic event
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: event
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has participant
    some values from: Restriction
      on property: has role
      some values from: academic organization role
comment: An event that focuses on scholarly activities and the exchange of knowledge, typically involving presentations, discussions, or collaborations among researchers, academics, and students, often in the context of conferences, workshops, seminars, symposia, or colloquia, to advance a specific field of study or interdisciplinary research.

academic organization role
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: agent role
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: role of
    some values from: organization
comment: A role inherent in an organization that is realized when coordinating, managing, or supporting academic activities, programs, or research to promote education and knowledge advancement.

industry organization role
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: agent role
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: role of
    some values from: organization
comment: A role inherent in an organization that is realized when promoting, regulating, or supporting industry-specific standards, practices, and collaboration to advance sector development and innovation.

obsolete workflow
type: Class
comment: A plan that specifies a sequence of tasks, processes, or operations, often involving multiple agents, tools, or systems, to achieve a specific goal or produce a desired outcome.
deprecated: true
editorial note: A workflow defines the logical order and dependencies of steps, the roles or entities responsible for each step, and the inputs and outputs required for and produced by each task. It is a realizable entity that can be enacted or executed within a defined context, such as a business process, computational framework, or organizational procedure.
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/125

document
type: Class
subclass of: information content entity
example of usage: A journal article, patent application, laboratory notebook, or a book
definition source: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/IAO_0000310
comment: A collection of information content entities intended to be understood together as a whole

ontology
type: Class
subclass of: data item
comment: An (nfdi) ontology is a data item that coherently represents all components of an ontology, including its versions, variants, modules and other associated artifacts. It is typically denoted by a name and/or an acronym, which is the term we use to communicate about it.

ontology variant
type: Class
subclass of: ontology module
comment: An ontology variant represents a self-contained, reusable subset of an ontology that provides a specific functionality while maintaining interoperability with the larger ontology. Typically, an ontology is released in different variants, which makes a variant a release artifact.

patent
type: Class
subclass of: document
example of usage: US Patent 6,449,603
definition source: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/IAO_0000313
comment: A document that has been accepted by a patent authority

ontology release version
type: Class
subclass of: data item
comment: An (nfdi) ontology release version represents a particular release of an ontology.

file data item
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: data item
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: is subject of
    some values from: data format specification
comment: A file data item is a data item that represents a file stored on a hard drive. It might also include essential attributes like its name, location, download URL, size, type, and timestamps for creation, modification, and access. It might also capture permissions and ownership details to control how the file can be accessed or modified.

report
type: Class
subclass of: document
comment: A document that conveys information, data, or findings, typically structured in a formal or semi-formal manner, to communicate the results of an analysis, investigation, observation, or activity.
editorial note: A report is created with the intent of informing specific audiences and may include textual descriptions, visualizations, metrics, or conclusions. It is a realizable entity that is produced and maintained as part of a process or workflow.

source code repository
type: Class
subclass of: document
comment: A document that organizes and stores source code files, associated metadata, and version history to facilitate the management, sharing, and collaborative development of software projects. It serves as a structured collection of information that tracks changes, maintains integrity, and supports workflows such as version control, branching, and merging.
editorial note: The source code repository stands for the CONTENT of the repository, which, e.g., you can copy to your hard drive. This distinguishes it from the website class which e.g. is used to publish the content.

academic discipline
type: Class
subclass of: information content entity
comment: An information content entity that specifies the subject area, domain or academic discipline of an entity. An academic discipline, a research field or domain of an entity, e.g. a domain of a data portal or a field of study of a person.
editorial note: 2024-03-26: SB & JW: Following the OMIT Ontology, the academy discilpine is defined as a subclass of bfo:quality (see e.g. http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/OMIT_0001008)
editorial note: 2024-12-16: TT & JW: An academic discipline is not a quality, as assumed before, but an ICE. A discipline like philosophy or chemistry consists of structured knowledge, theories, and practices. These are abstract entities that represent and encode information.
example: Q12271
example: Architecture, Art History, Musicology, Media Studies, Performing Arts
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/80

service process
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: process
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has output
    some values from: service product
comment: A process that organizes activities and resources to deliver a specific service, ensuring its efficiency, reliability, and alignment with intended goals.
term tracker annotation: Issue: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/75

agent
type: Class
equivalent class: Class
  intersection of: independent continuant
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has role
    some values from: agent role
subclass of: independent continuant
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has role
  some values from: agent role
comment: An independent continuant that acts autonomously and is entrusted with the authority to represent, negotiate, or act on behalf of another agent.
editorial note: A class that represents entities that are capable of autonomous actions, decision-making, or interaction within a given environment, e.g. persons or organizations.
example: Torsten Schrade, Linnaea Söhn, Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz

city
type: Class
subclass of: place
comment: A place that refers to a densely populated urban area.
editorial note: A city or a town where the thing is located.
example: Berlin, Hannover, Kyiv

collection
type: Class
subclass of: object aggregate
comment: A material entity that represents a collection of material entities intended to be understood together as a whole.
editorial note: A tangible collection of valuables published or curated by an organization or a person.
example: A collection of arts displayed at the museum

consortium member role
type: Class
equivalent class: Class
  intersection of: agent role
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has realization
    some values from: project
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: role of
    all values from: organization
subclass of: agent role
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has realization
  some values from: project
comment: A role inherent in an organization that is realized when the organization is a member of a consortium.

contacting process
type: Class
subclass of: process
comment: A process in which the contact information of an entity is provided.
readable IRI label: Contacting

contact point role
type: Class
subclass of: agent role
comment: A role inherent in an agent that is realized when the agent is a contact point of a resource or a project.

contributing process
type: Class
subclass of: process
comment: A process of contibuting or providing information to an endeavor.
readable IRI label: Contributing

contributor role
type: Class
equivalent class: Class
  intersection of: agent role
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has realization
    some values from: contributing process
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: role of
    some values from: Class
      intersection of: agent
      intersection of: Restriction
        on property: participates in
        some values from: contributing process
subclass of: agent role
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has realization
  some values from: contributing process
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: role of
  some values from: Class
    intersection of: agent
    intersection of: Restriction
      on property: participates in
      some values from: contributing process
comment: A role inherent in an agent that provides input, resources, or effort to support or enhance a project, work, or process.

country
type: Class
subclass of: place
comment: A place that refers to a defined geographical area distinguished by its territorial boundaries, governance structure, and sovereignty.
editorial note: A country where the thing is located.

database software
type: Class
subclass of: software
definition source: zenodo.10101412
comment: Software that provides large amounts of structured data from repositories and archives to the user. Usually the data can be uploaded, accessed, searched and/or downloaded via a web browser.

data curation service
type: Class
subclass of: service process
definition source: zenodo.10101412
comment: The activity of managing and promoting the use of data from their point of creation to ensure that they are fit for contemporary purpose and available for discovery and reuse. For dynamic datasets this may mean continuous enrichment or updating to keep them fit for purpose. Higher levels of curation will also involve links with annotation and with other published materials

data portal
type: Class
subclass of: website
comment: A website that serves as a centralized platform for accessing, managing, and sharing datasets, information, or resources related to a specific topic, theme, or domain.
editorial note: An online platform that provides access to datasets.
example: Bach digital, KultSam, MusiXplora

event
type: Class
subclass of: process
comment: An process that represents an organized happening that unfolds in time.
editorial note: A class that represents entities that occur or unfold in time, typically characterized by a specific organized happening or occurrence with temporal properties.
example: conferences, celebrations, workshops, meetings, or any other specific incident or happening that has been planned somehow.

federal state
type: Class
subclass of: place
comment: A place that refers to a geographical territory forming part of a country.
editorial note: A federal state where the thing is located.
example: Sachsen, Berlin @de

funding organization role
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: agent role
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: role of
    some values from: organization
comment: A role inherent in an organization that is realized when the organization serves as a funder to endevaours, e.g. projects.

software library
type: Class
subclass of: software
definition source: zenodo.10101412
comment: Collection of pre-implemented functions for a specific task that can be accessed via a well-defined interface.

obsolete license
type: Class
term replaced by: software license
comment: An information content entity that refers to a legal instrument (usually by way of contract law, with or without printed material) governing the use or redistribution of the resource containing the licence.
deprecated: true
editorial note: A document that provides legal guidelines for the use of a resource, e.g. a software.
example: cc-by-3, Digital Peer Publishing Lizenz

media type
type: Class
subclass of: directive information entity
comment: A directive information entity that describes a media type a bearer has.
editorial note: A digital resource format or physical medium.
example: doc, avi, mpeg, epub, txt, MIME-type, record, cassette, VHS, LaserDiscs, CD, DVD, Blu-ray color lithograph, text book

MIME-type
type: Class
subclass of: media type
comment: A media type that serves as a standardized identifier for specifying the nature and format of data.
editorial note: The MIME-type template of the resource
example: https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/application/dicom, https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/video/mp4, https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/text/n3
readable IRI label: MIMEType

obsolete programming language
type: Class
term replaced by: programming language
comment: A plan specification that is used for implementing software.
deprecated: true
editorial note: A formal language used for implementing a software.
example: Java, Ruby, C++, Perl, PHP

publication
type: Class
subclass of: document
comment: A publication that is the output of a publishing process and a creative process.
editorial note: A published scholarly work that reports on ongoing activity about or within a resource, e.g. a dataset.
example: MusiXplora: Visual analysis of a musicological encyclopedia, Textkategorien in kompositorischen Werkstattdokumenten

publisher role
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: agent role
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has realization
    some values from: publishing process
comment: A role inherent in an agent that is realized when the bearer participates in the publishing of the document.

software
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: plan specification
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: output of
    some values from: creative process
comment: A plan specification that comprises a set of instructions, programs, or algorithms designed to perform specific tasks or functions on a computer or other electronic devices.
editorial note: A computer software provided by an organization or a person.
example: Edirom, Muscat

specification
type: Class
subclass of: directive information entity
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: directive information entity
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property:
      inverse of: has output
    some values from: creative process
subclass of: Restriction
  on property:
    inverse of: has output
  some values from: creative process
comment: A directive information entity that defines the requirements, characteristics, or standards for the design, implementation, or operation of a system, product, or process.Specification is a set of requirements, guidelines, standards contributed by an organization or a person.
editorial note: 2024-03-24. Sasha Bruns: specifications have dual nature - they are both directive information entities guiding actions (plan specification) and digital intellectual resources providing relevant information and guidelines (creative work).
example: Guidelines, technical specifications, design specifications

standard
type: Class
subclass of: specification
comment: A specification that establishes a set of guidelines, criteria, or norms recognized and adopted by internationational community.
editorial note: An international standard and norm that can be used to evaluate or create a resource.
example: ISO 15511, DINI-Zertifikat

storage service
type: Class
subclass of: service process
definition source: zenodo.10101412
comment: Provision of storage space for research data as a service to external users. Access is possible via web protocols.

support service
type: Class
subclass of: service process
definition source: zenodo.10101412
comment: Service with direct user contact for topics going beyond the support for specific single services.

technological method specification
type: Class
subclass of: plan specification
comment: A plan specification that refers to a technology method employed for the creation, management, utilization, or control of a digital resource.
editorial note: A technology, e.g. a web application or a programming framework used in a resource.
example: Groovy on Grails, Angular
readable IRI label: TechnologicalMeans

software application
type: Class
subclass of: software
definition source: zenodo.10101412
comment: Software that can be downloaded and executed locally on the users' hardware.

training service
type: Class
subclass of: service process
definition source: zenodo.10101412
comment: Standalone training for self-study can be considered a technical service (usually a web application). Generally speaking, training materials often come in the form of specific measures or tutorials that are attached to a service and that are designed to improve the user’s service experience. Our joint understanding of training as a stand-alone service, however, is not limited to the above and includes materials designed for education in all fields of research data management.

web application software
type: Class
subclass of: software
definition source: zenodo.10101412
comment: Software that is installed on a server and can be used by users via a web page and the internet, for example Software-as-a-service (SaaS).

website
type: Class
subclass of: information content entity
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: information content entity
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property:
      inverse of: has output
    some values from: creative process
subclass of: Restriction
  on property:
    inverse of: has output
  some values from: creative process
comment: An information content entity that represents a collection of interconnected web pages, multimedia content, and digital resources accessible via the World Wide Web.
editorial note: A collection of webpages contributed by an organization or a person.
example: https:\/\/opac.rism.info

creative process
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: process
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has participant
    some values from: person
comment: A process that involves generating, developing, and refining original ideas or concepts through exploration, experimentation, and problem-solving, aiming to produce innovative or expressive outcomes in artistic, scientific, or other creative fields.

workflow process
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: process
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: realizes
    some values from: Class
      intersection of: plan
      intersection of: Restriction
        on property: concretizes
        some values from: workflow specification
comment: A process that processes tasks, activities, or steps to achieve specific objectives efficiently within an organized workflow system.

service product role
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: role
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has realization
    some values from: service process
comment: Role of an immaterial entity that facilitates the delivery or support of a service product, ensuring its proper execution and value realization.

agent role
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: role
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: role of
    some values from: agent
comment: Role of an independent continuant that is realized through an agent's actions, enabling the agent to perform specific functions or achieve particular outcomes within a system or context.

service provider role
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: agent role
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has realization
    some values from: service process
comment: A role inherent in an agent that is realized when delivering services, managing processes, and ensuring the effective fulfillment of service product requirements.

service product
type: Class
subclass of: immaterial entity
comment: An immaterial entity that provides value through a service offering, delivering intangible benefits or functionality designed to fulfill specific needs or requirements, often in a structured process.

service specification
type: Class
subclass of: plan specification
comment: A plan specification that defines the requirements, features, and parameters of a service, outlining its scope, performance, and delivery criteria.

software title
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: title
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: denotes
    some values from: software
comment: A textual entity that uniquely identifies a specific software application, program, or system, often used for branding, categorization, and reference in documentation, licensing, and distribution.

citation
type: Class
subclass of: textual entity
definition source: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/IAO_0000301
comment: A textual entity intended to identify a particular publication.

workflow specification
type: Class
subclass of: plan specification
comment: A plan specification that defines the sequence, dependencies, roles, and conditions governing the execution of tasks and processes within a workflow, ensuring structured and efficient task coordination, automation, and completion.

project proposal
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: document
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: is about
    some values from: project
comment: A project proposal is a detailed document that outlines the objectives, scope, requirements, and deliverables of a project. It serves as a blueprint for all stakeholders, ensuring everyone understands what needs to be accomplished.

GND identifier
type: Class
subclass of: centrally registered identifier
alternative label: Gemeinsame Normdatei @de
alternative label: Integrated Authority File
definition source: https://www.dnb.de/EN/Professionell/Standardisierung/GND/gnd_node.html
comment: A centrally registered identifier that is issued by the German National Library. The Integrated Authority File (GND) is facilitates the collaborative use and administration of authority data. These authority data represent and describe entities, i.e. persons, corporate bodies, conferences and events, geographic entities, topics and works relating to cultural and academic collections.
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/61
has acronym: GND

VIAF identifier
type: Class
subclass of: centrally registered identifier
alternative label: Integrated Authority File
alternative label: Virtual International Authority File
definition source: https://viaf.org/en
comment: The centrally registered identifier VIAF (Virtual International Authority File) is an international authority file that links and integrates authority records from multiple national libraries and other organizations. It provides a unique identifier for authors, creators, and entities, facilitating better data sharing and cataloging across institutions.
example: https://viaf.org/en/viaf/137346469
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/61
has acronym: VIAF

GeoNames identifier
type: Class
subclass of: centrally registered identifier
alternative label: GeoNames
definition source: https://www.geonames.org/
comment: GeoNames is a geographical database that provides information on places, including names, coordinates, and administrative divisions. It integrates data from multiple sources and is widely used for geolocation, mapping, and geographic information systems (GIS).
example: https://www.geonames.org/2950159
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/61

Wikidata identifier
type: Class
subclass of: centrally registered identifier
alternative label: Wikidata
definition source: https://www.wikidata.org/
comment: Wikidata is maintained by the Wikimedia Foundation and serves as a central repository for structured data used by Wikipedia, Wikimedia projects, and external applications.
example: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1388737
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/61

ROR identifier
type: Class
subclass of: centrally registered identifier
definition source: https://ror.org/
comment: ROR (Research Organization Registry) is a global, open, and community-driven registry of research organizations. It provides unique identifiers for institutions involved in research, enabling better data integration, disambiguation, and interoperability across scholarly communication systems.
example: https://ror.org/01kdxra28
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/61
has acronym: ROR

ISIL identifier
type: Class
subclass of: centrally registered identifier
alternative label: International Standard Identifier for Libraries and Related Organizations
definition source: https://sigel.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/
comment: ISIL (International Standard Identifier for Libraries and Related Organizations) is a globally recognized identifier system used to uniquely identify libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions. It facilitates resource sharing, cataloging, and data exchange across institutions and countries.
example: https://ld.zdb-services.de/resource/organisations/DE-4153
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/61
has acronym: ISIL

FactGrid identifier
type: Class
subclass of: centrally registered identifier
alternative label: FactGrid
definition source: https://database.factgrid.de/
comment: FactGrid is a collaborative, structured knowledge database designed for historical research. It operates on Wikibase and focuses on documenting historical entities, events, and relationships.
example: https://database.factgrid.de/entity/Q595
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/61

RISM identifier
type: Class
subclass of: centrally registered identifier
alternative label: Répertoire International des Sources Musicales @fr
definition source: https://rism.info/
comment: RISM (Répertoire International des Sources Musicales) is an international catalog of historical music sources, including manuscripts, printed music, and treatises. It provides unique identifiers and bibliographic data to support music research and documentation.
example: https://rism.online/sources/201001959/
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/61
has acronym: RISM

export format specification
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: directive information entity
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has part
    some values from: MIME-type
comment: A directive information entity that defines the structural, syntactic, and encoding rules for representing data when it is exported from a system.

textual description
type: Class
subclass of: textual entity
comment: A textual entity that describe some resource.

title
type: Class
subclass of: textual entity
comment: A textual entity that denotes some resource.

act of foundation
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: event
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has participant
    some values from: organization
comment: The act of foundation refers to the formal establishment or creation of an institution, organization, or entity, typically through a legal, administrative, or ceremonial process.

act of dissolution
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: event
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: has participant
    some values from: organization
comment: The act of dissolution refers to a formal legal or administrative event that officially terminates or dissolves an entity, relationship, or agreement.

ontology namespace
type: Class
subclass of: data item
comment: A namespace refers to a distinct, unique identifier that is used to distinguish concepts and entities within an ontology from those in other ontologies or systems. It's typically represented as a URL or URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) and ensures that each element within the ontology has a globally unique reference.

creation process
type: Class
subclass of: process
definition source: NCIT C42620
comment: A process by which something is brought into existence; having been brought into existence.
term tracker annotation: issue: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/95

creator role
type: Class
subclass of: agent role
comment: A role inherent in an agent that originates, develops, or produces a work, product, or idea.

document part
type: Class
subclass of: information content entity
comment: An information content entity that is part of a document.
example: An abstract, introduction, method or results section.

author list
type: Class
subclass of: document part
comment: A part of a document that enumerates the authors of the document

contributor list
type: Class
subclass of: document part
comment: A part of a document that enumerates the contributors of the document

creator list
type: Class
subclass of: document part
comment: A part of a document that enumerates the creators of the document

institution list
type: Class
subclass of: document part
comment: A part of a document that has parts that are institution identifications associated with the authors of the document

uniform resource locator
type: Class
subclass of: identifier
comment: A Uniform Resource Locator (URL), colloquially termed a web address, is a reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it. [Wikipedia]
term tracker annotation: issue: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/95

work package textual entity
type: Class
subclass of: textual entity
comment: A work package textual entity is a textual entity that describes a structured unit of work within a project, outlining specific tasks, objectives, deliverables, and assigned responsibilities to achieve defined project outcomes.

comment textual entity
type: Class
subclass of: textual entity
comment: A comment textual entity is a textual entity that provides supplimentary information, feedback, opinions, clarifications, or annotations related to a specific subject.
example: peer review comments on journal articles, user feedback on digital repositories, inline annotations in collaborative documents, explanatory remarks in software code documentation

digital object identifier
type: Class
subclass of: centrally registered identifier
alternative label: DOI
comment: A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a centrally registered identifier that provides a unique, persistent reference to digital objects such as publications, datasets, and software, ensuring reliable access and citation.
example: 10.1016/j.compind.2023.104016

NFDI consortium
type: Class
subclass of: consortium
alternative label: National Research Data Infrastructure
alternative label: Nationale Forschungsdateninfrastruktur @de
definition source: https://www.dfg.de/en/research-funding/funding-initiative/nfdi
definition source: https://www.nfdi.de/
comment: An NFDI Consortium is a collaborative organizational entity within the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) initiative, responsible for the development, management, and coordination of research data infrastructures in specific scientific domains.
comment: The National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) is intended to sytematically manage scientifich and research data, provide long-term data storage, backup and accessibility, and network the data (inter-)nationally. The German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Joint Science Conference (GWK) are working together to establish and fund the NFDI, on the basis of the administrative agreement concluded by the Federal Government and the federal states on November 26, 2018. The NFDI is designed as a nationwide network, which is built gradually and cooperatively by the respective communities. The goal is to provide a reliable and sustainable service portfolio that covers generic and disciplinary requirements of research data management in Germany. The NFDI is developed step by step and science-oriented with services available to researchers from vaious disciplines, institutions, and federal states.

academic title
type: Class
subclass of: identifier
comment: An academic title is an identifier that denotes an individual’s academic rank, qualification, or honorary designation within educational and research institutions.
example: Professor, Associate Professor, Dr., PhD, Dr. Ing.

postal code
type: Class
subclass of: identifier
comment: An identifier that denotes some postal delivery route, some aggregate of postal delivery routes or a geographical region and was created for the purpose of sorting and delivering mail.

zone improvement plan code
type: Class
subclass of: postal code
comment: A postal code that is used in the United States for the purpose of sorting and delivering mail, and that denotes some postal delivery route or some aggregate of postal delivery routes.

meeting
type: Class
subclass of: academic event
comment: Av event that brings together individuals or groups for structured discussions, decision-making, planning, or coordination of research, educational, or institutional activities.

data analysis software
type: Class
subclass of: software
comment: Data Analysis Software is a subclass of Software designed to process, visualize, and interpret structured and unstructured data using statistical, machine learning, and computational techniques.

electronic lab notebook
type: Class
subclass of: software
comment: An Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN) is a subclass of Software that provides a digital platform for recording, managing, and sharing experimental procedures, observations, and research data in scientific workflows.

image processing software
type: Class
subclass of: software
comment: Image Processing Software is a subclass of Software that enables the manipulation, enhancement, analysis, and visualization of images obtained from experimental, computational, or simulation-based sources.

operating system
type: Class
subclass of: software
comment: An Operating System (OS) is a software system that manages computer hardware and software resources and provides common services for computer programs. It acts as an intermediary between users and the computer hardware, enabling the execution of application programs.
editorial note: Concerning the content of ‘Software’ datasheet and its related knowledge graph, the ‘Operating System’ class wase created to respond to competency questions like what operating systems are compatible with a specific software.
example: Windows, Linux, MacOS

simulation software
type: Class
subclass of: software
comment: Simulation Software is a subclass of Software that facilitates the modeling and numerical simulation of physical, chemical, or computational systems to study behaviors, interactions, and performance under different conditions
example: Examples include COMSOL Multiphysics, LAMMPS, Quantum ESPRESSO, and ANSYS.

workflow management software
type: Class
subclass of: software
comment: Workflow Management Software is a subclass of Software that provides tools for designing, automating, executing, and monitoring scientific or computational workflows in research and engineering domains.

event implementation specification
type: Class
equivalent class: Class
  intersection of: specification
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: denotes
    some values from: event
subclass of: specification
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: denotes
  some values from: event
comment: An event implementation specification is a type of Directive Information Entity that provides formal guidelines, constraints, and details on how an event should be executed. It specifies the mode of implementation, including logistical, technical, and procedural aspects required to carry out an event successfully.
editorial note: HBN: Concerning the content of ‘Event’ datasheets and its related knowledge graph, the ‘Event Implementation Specification’ class and its instances were created to respond to competency questions like what are the implementation formats of a given event.
example: Specifications for organizing conferences, training workshops, and academic seminars in different formats such as virtual, in-person, or hybrid settings.

funding specification
type: Class
subclass of: specification
comment: A funding specification is a directive information entity that provides structured guidelines, policies, and requirements for securing, managing, and allocating financial resources for various activities, projects, or organizations.
editorial note: HBN: Concerning the content of ‘Service’ datasheets and its related knowledge graph, the ‘Funding Specification’ class and its instances were created to respond to competency questions like what funding models exist for a given service.

information access specification
type: Class
subclass of: specification
comment: An information access specification is a directive information entity that defines the policies, conditions, and mechanisms governing the accessibility of digital or physical information resources for users or organizations.
editorial note: HBN: Concerning the content of ‘Publication’ datasheet and its related knowledge graph, the ‘Information Access Specification’ class and its instances were created to respond to competency questions like: what access policies apply to a specific publication document, which resources are available under open access, etc.

ontology version IRI
type: Class
subclass of: identifier
comment: An ontology version IRI is a unique identifier that points to a specific version of an ontology. It helps distinguish between different updates or revisions of the same ontology. This ensures consistent referencing and compatibility across systems using the ontology.
term tracker annotation: issue: issue: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/95

metadata specification
type: Class
subclass of: specification
comment: A Metadata Specification is a detailed document that describes metadata structures, guidelines, and usage policies for standardization and adoption.
example: metadata schema and standards

TGN identifier
type: Class
subclass of: centrally registered identifier
comment: The TGN Identifier refers to a unique ID within the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN), which is a controlled vocabulary developed to standardize geographic names for use in cultural heritage and library contexts. The TGN is part of the Getty Vocabulary Program by the Getty Research Institute.
example: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/tgn/7003712
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/100
has acronym: TGN

status specification
type: Class
subclass of: specification
comment: A status specification is a directive information entity that defines the current state, progress, or condition of an entity, process, or project based on predefined criteria and operational guidelines.
editorial note: HBN: Concerning the content of ‘Service’ and 'International collabrations' datasheets and their related knowledge graphs, the ‘Status Specification’ class and its instances were created to respond to competency questions like: what is the current status of a service or collaboration project, which collabrations are in an active state, etc.

co organizer role
type: Class
subclass of: agent role
comment: A role inherent in an agent that is realized when collaborating in planning, managing, and executing an event, project, or initiative alongside one or more primary organizers.

co spokesperson role
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: agent role
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: role of
    some values from: person
comment: A role inherent in an agent that is realized when shareing the responsibilities of representing an organization, group, or initiative, typically communicating its views, policies, or findings to the public.

collaboration partner role
type: Class
subclass of: agent role
comment: A role inherent in an agent that is realized when engageing in cooperative work with another individual or organization toward a shared goal, such as research, development, or business initiatives.

manufacturer role
type: Class
subclass of: agent role
comment: A role inherent in an agent that is realized when being responsible for producing goods, components, or materials through industrial or commercial processes.
example: Siemens as a manufacturer of industrial automation equipment or Intel as a manufacturer of semiconductor chips

organizer role
type: Class
subclass of: agent role
comment: A role inherent in an agent that is realized when being responsible for planning, managing, and executing an event, project, or structured activity.
example: event management firms organizing scientific symposiums or non-profit organizations coordinating community outreach programs

speaker role
type: Class
subclass of: Class
  intersection of: agent role
  intersection of: Restriction
    on property: role of
    some values from: person
comment: A role inherent in an agent that is realized when delivers presentations, lectures, or speeches at events, conferences, or public gatherings.
example: invited speakers at scientific symposiums, keynote presenters at technology expos, and guest lecturers at universities

LCNAF identifier
type: Class
subclass of: centrally registered identifier
comment: The LCNAF Identifier refers to a unique identifier assigned to entries in the Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF). This file is a standardized authority database maintained by the Library of Congress, used to establish and control the names of people, organizations, geographic places, and titles in bibliographic records.
example: http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n78095332
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/101
has acronym: LCNAF

BnF identifier
type: Class
subclass of: centrally registered identifier
comment: The BnF Identifier refers to a unique identifier assigned to an authority record in the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) catalog. It is part of the BnF’s authority files, used to standardize names of people, organizations, titles, places, and subjects across bibliographic records.
example: https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb123735831
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/102
has acronym: BnF

sparql endpoint
type: Class
subclass of: web application software
comment: A SPARQL Endpoint is a web application software that provides a queryable interface for accessing and retrieving structured data from RDF-based knowledge graphs using the SPARQL query language.
example: Wikidata Query Service, DBpedia SPARQL Endpoint, Linked Data Fragments

consortium partner role
type: Class
subclass of: agent role
comment: An agent role that exresses that an organization inhering that role actively collaborates within a consortium, contributing expertise, resources, or infrastructure to support shared research, development, or innovation goals.

DDB organization identifier
type: Class
subclass of: centrally registered identifier
comment: Identifier for institutions registered with the German Digital Library (Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek)
comment: Identifikator für Institutionen, die bei der Deutschen Digitalen Bibliothek registriert sind @de
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/104

re3data repository identifier
type: Class
subclass of: centrally registered identifier
comment: identifier for a data repository in the re3data registry
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/106

added value textual entity
type: Class
subclass of: textual entity
comment: An added value textual entity is a textual entity that describes the achievements, benefits, or additional value generated by a project, service, or initiative, highlighting its impact, improvements, or contributions.
editorial note: In responce to competency questions like what are the added values of project X1 or service X2.
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119

affiliation
type: Class
subclass of: textual entity
comment: An affiliation is a textual entity that specifies the organizational or institutional association of an individual, group, or entity, typically used in academic, professional, or research contexts.
example: FIZ Karlsruhe – Leibniz-Institute for Information Infrastructure Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Applied Informatics and Formal Description Methods

goal textual entity
type: Class
subclass of: textual entity
comment: A goal textual entity is a textual entity that describes the intended objectives, aims, or targets of a project, initiative, organization, or research effort, providing a clear statement of purpose and expected outcomes.
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119

conference abstract
type: Class
subclass of: publication
comment: A Conference Abstract is a brief summary of research findings or scholarly work submitted for presentation at an academic or professional conference, often serving as a precursor to a full paper or presentation.
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119

conference paper
type: Class
subclass of: publication
comment: A Conference Paper is a scholarly publication that presents research findings at an academic or professional conference, typically published in conference proceedings.
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119

conference poster
type: Class
subclass of: publication
comment: A Conference Poster is a visual presentation of research findings, displayed at an academic or professional conference to facilitate discussion and knowledge exchange.
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119

interim report
type: Class
subclass of: report
comment: An Interim Report is a report that provides a temporary or progress-based assessment of an ongoing project, research, or operational activity, documenting current findings, challenges, and future directions before the final report is completed.
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119

research data repository
type: Class
subclass of: data portal
comment: A Research Data Repository is a data portal designed for the preservation, management, and sharing of research datasets, ensuring long-term accessibility and compliance with open science principles.
example: Open Science Framework (OSF), Harvard Dataverse
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119

repository hosting data portal
type: Class
subclass of: data portal
comment: A Repository Hosting Data Portal is a data portal that provides infrastructure and tools for hosting datasets, code, and publications in a structured and accessible format.
example: Zenodo, Figshare, Dataverse
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119

experimental dataset
type: Class
subclass of: dataset
comment: An Experimental Dataset is a dataset that contains measured or observed data collected from laboratory experiments, physical tests, or scientific investigations.
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119

reference dataset
type: Class
subclass of: dataset
definition source: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2025.120735
comment: A Reference Dataset is a dataset that serves as a benchmark or standardized collection of data used for validation, comparison, and reproducibility in scientific research and engineering applications.
comment: Reference data of materials - are documented according to certain standards as well as - are curated (i.e., generated, maintained, preserved, validated) according to certain standards - are quantitative data sets (i.e., data + their corresponding metadata) - have been measured or simulated to a particularly high standard, and - are generated for a material that has either experienced a well-documented process or is reference material or its composition and structure has been completely characterized. Reference data of materials can also be derived data from reference data. These data are distributed with a license (e.g., GPL). The here addressed standards for documentation, curation and measurement need to be defined for specific materials characteristics (e.g., creep tests) in terms of domain standards. These domain standards are the result of a steered community process. Standards should integrate as much as possible existing standards (e.g., the individual MatWerk domain standards should be as much as possible consistent).
example: BAM reference data: results of ASTM E139 -11 creep tests on a reference material of Nimonic 75 nickel-base alloy (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7764161)
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119

simulation dataset
type: Class
subclass of: dataset
comment: A Simulation Dataset is a dataset that contains data generated from computational models, numerical simulations, or digital twin environments to predict material behaviors, properties, and interactions.
example: Examples include DFT simulation datasets, molecular dynamics (MD) trajectory files, and phase-field modeling results.
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119

large scale facility
type: Class
subclass of: service product
comment: A Large-Scale Facility is a service product that provides specialized, high-capacity infrastructure for scientific research, engineering, or computational purposes, supporting large-scale experiments, simulations, and data analysis in various domains.
editorial note: HBN: Concerning the content of ‘Large-Scale Facility’ datasheet and its related knowledge graph, the ‘Large-Scale Facility’ class and its subclasses were created to define the types of used facilituies and respond to competency questions like: what large-scale facilities support research in field X, which organization provide facility Y, what is the contact point with facility Z, etc.
example: European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ), CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119

presentation document
type: Class
subclass of: document
comment: A Presentation Document is a document that consists of structured visual and textual content designed for conveying information to an audience, typically used in meetings, conferences, and educational settings.
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119

laboratory
type: Class
subclass of: place
comment: A place that provides a controlled environment equipped with specialized instruments and facilities for conducting scientific research, experiments, measurements, and testing across various disciplines.
example: materials characterization laboratories, chemical analysis labs, high-energy physics laboratories
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119 https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/120

journal article
type: Class
subclass of: publication
comment: A Journal Article is a peer-reviewed scholarly publication that presents original research, review studies, or theoretical discussions, typically published in academic journals.
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119

software repository
type: Class
subclass of: data portal
comment: A Software Repository is a data portal designed to store, manage, and distribute software packages, source code, and related documentation for research, development, and deployment purposes.
example: GitHub, GitLab, Apache Software Foundation repositories
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119

linked data portal
type: Class
subclass of: data portal
comment: A Linked Data Portal is a data portal that supports the publication, access, and exploration of linked datasets using semantic web technologies and standardized data formats.
example: Wikidata Query Service, DBpedia, Europeana Linked Open Data portal
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119

data analysis portal
type: Class
subclass of: data portal
comment: A data analysis portal is a data portal that provides tools, services, and computational resources for performing data analysis, visualization, and interpretation.
example: JupyterHub platforms, KNIME analytics portals, R Shiny-based analysis environments
term tracker annotation: https://github.com/ISE-FIZKarlsruhe/nfdicore/issues/119

workshop
type: Class
subclass of: academic event
comment: An event focused on interactive learning, where participants engage in hands-on activities or group work to develop specific skills or knowledge.

conference
type: Class
subclass of: academic event
comment: An event where experts and scholars gather to present research, exchange ideas, and discuss advancements in a particular field.

hackathon
type: Class
subclass of: academic event
comment: An event where participants collaborate intensively over a short period to develop technological solutions, such as software or hardware projects.

lecture
type: Class
subclass of: academic event
comment: An event where a subject matter expert delivers a formal presentation to inform or educate an audience about a specific topic.

course
type: Class
subclass of: academic event
comment: An event structured as a program of study, offering instruction on a particular subject, often leading to certification or academic credit.

summer school
type: Class
subclass of: academic event
comment: An event held during the summer, providing specialized courses or workshops to supplement regular academic studies or offer additional learning opportunities.

seminar
type: Class
subclass of: academic event
comment: An event where a small group of participants discuss a specific topic in depth, often involving presentations and interactive discussions.

symposium
type: Class
subclass of: academic event
comment: An event where researchers and experts present and discuss their work, often centered around a specific theme or area of study.

panel discussion
type: Class
subclass of: academic event
comment: An event featuring a group of experts who share their insights and engage in a moderated discussion on a particular subject, followed by audience questions.

data handling process
type: Class
subclass of: process
comment: A process that involves the collection, organization, cleaning, analysis, storage, and sharing of data to ensure its accuracy, accessibility, and usefulness for decision-making, research, or other applications. Data handling encompasses all stages from raw data generation to its final visualization or publication.

data producing process
type: Class
subclass of: data handling process
comment: A data handling process where raw data is generated through experiments, observations, or data collection tools, often as the initial step in the data lifecycle.

data processing process
type: Class
subclass of: data handling process
comment: A data handling process where raw data is cleaned, transformed, and analyzed to extract meaningful insights, patterns, or trends.

dataset creation process
type: Class
subclass of: data handling process
comment: A data handling process involving the organization and structuring of data into datasets for easier access, analysis, and sharing.

dataset documenting process
type: Class
subclass of: data handling process
comment: A data handling process where metadata, descriptions, and details about datasets are recorded to ensure clarity, context, and proper usage by others.

data cleaning process
type: Class
subclass of: data handling process
comment: A data handling process where incorrect, incomplete, or irrelevant data is identified and corrected or removed to improve the quality of the dataset.

data transformation process
type: Class
subclass of: data handling process
comment: A data handling process involving the conversion of data into a different format, structure, or scale to make it compatible with analysis tools or systems.

data integration process
type: Class
subclass of: data handling process
comment: A data handling process where data from multiple sources are combined or merged to create a cohesive and comprehensive dataset for analysis.

data storage process
type: Class
subclass of: data handling process
comment: A data handling process where data is securely stored in databases or other systems, ensuring it can be retrieved and accessed as needed.

data visualization process
type: Class
subclass of: data handling process
comment: A data handling process where data is represented visually through charts, graphs, or other formats to aid in understanding and decision-making.

software method
type: Class
subclass of: software
definition source: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/IAO_0000591
comment: A software method (also called subroutine, subprogram, procedure, method, function, or routine) is software designed to execute a specific task.

software module
type: Class
subclass of: software
definition source: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/IAO_0000592
comment: A software module is software composed of a collection of software methods.

software script
type: Class
subclass of: software
definition source: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/IAO_0000595
comment: A software script is software whose instructions can be executed using a software interpreter.

example to be eventually removed
type: NamedIndividual

failed exploratory term
type: NamedIndividual
textual definition: The term was used in an attempt to structure part of the ontology but in retrospect failed to do a good job

metadata complete
type: NamedIndividual
textual definition: Class has all its metadata, but is either not guaranteed to be in its final location in the asserted IS_A hierarchy or refers to another class that is not complete.

organizational term
type: NamedIndividual
textual definition: Term created to ease viewing/sort terms for development purpose, and will not be included in a release

ready for release
type: NamedIndividual
textual definition: Class has undergone final review, is ready for use, and will be included in the next release. Any class lacking "ready_for_release" should be considered likely to change place in hierarchy, have its definition refined, or be obsoleted in the next release. Those classes deemed "ready_for_release" will also derived from a chain of ancestor classes that are also "ready_for_release."

metadata incomplete
type: NamedIndividual
textual definition: Class is being worked on; however, the metadata (including definition) are not complete or sufficiently clear to the branch editors.

uncurated
type: NamedIndividual
textual definition: Nothing done yet beyond assigning a unique class ID and proposing a preferred term.

pending final vetting
type: NamedIndividual
textual definition: All definitions, placement in the asserted IS_A hierarchy and required minimal metadata are complete. The class is awaiting a final review by someone other than the term editor.

placeholder removed
type: NamedIndividual

terms merged
type: NamedIndividual
editor note: An editor note should explain what were the merged terms and the reason for the merge.

term imported
type: NamedIndividual
editor note: This is to be used when the original term has been replaced by a term imported from an other ontology. An editor note should indicate what is the URI of the new term to use.

term split
type: NamedIndividual
editor note: This is to be used when a term has been split in two or more new terms. An editor note should indicate the reason for the split and indicate the URIs of the new terms created.

universal
type: NamedIndividual
editor note: Hard to give a definition for. Intuitively a "natural kind" rather than a collection of any old things, which a class is able to be, formally. At the meta level, universals are defined as positives, are disjoint with their siblings, have single asserted parents.
definition source: A Formal Theory of Substances, Qualities, and Universals, http://ontology.buffalo.edu/bfo/SQU.pdf

defined class
type: NamedIndividual
textual definition: A defined class is a class that is defined by a set of logically necessary and sufficient conditions but is not a universal
editor note: "definitions", in some readings, always are given by necessary and sufficient conditions. So one must be careful (and this is difficult sometimes) to distinguish between defined classes and universal.

named class expression
type: NamedIndividual
textual definition: A named class expression is a logical expression that is given a name. The name can be used in place of the expression.
editor note: named class expressions are used in order to have more concise logical definition but their extensions may not be interesting classes on their own. In languages such as OWL, with no provisions for macros, these show up as actuall classes. Tools may with to not show them as such, and to replace uses of the macros with their expansions

to be replaced with external ontology term
type: NamedIndividual
textual definition: Terms with this status should eventually replaced with a term from another ontology.
definition source: group:OBI

requires discussion
type: NamedIndividual
textual definition: A term that is metadata complete, has been reviewed, and problems have been identified that require discussion before release. Such a term requires editor note(s) to identify the outstanding issues.
definition source: group:OBI

out of scope
type: NamedIndividual
textual definition: The term was added to the ontology on the assumption it was in scope, but it turned out later that it was not.
editor note: This obsolesence reason should be used conservatively. Typical valid examples are: un-necessary grouping classes in disease ontologies, a phenotype term added on the assumption it was a disease.

electrical engineering
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
comment: An academic discipline that focuses on the study, design, and application of electrical systems and technologies. Electrical engineering involves the development of devices, circuits, and systems for power generation, communication, electronics, and automation.

process engineering
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
comment: An academic discipline that focuses on the design, optimization, and operation of industrial processes to transform raw materials into valuable products. Process engineering applies principles of chemistry, physics, and engineering to improve efficiency, sustainability, and safety in industries such as manufacturing, energy, and pharmaceuticals.

artificial intelligence
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
broader: computer science
definition source: Russell, S., & Norvig, P. (2020). Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. Pearson.
comment: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a sub-discipline of Computer Science that focuses on creating systems capable of performing tasks that require human-like intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, and problem-solving.
example: Deep learning for image recognition, reinforcement learning in robotics, and natural language processing fall under Artificial Intelligence.

theoretical computer science
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
broader: computer science
comment: Theoretical Computer Science is a sub-discipline of Computer Science that focuses on mathematical models of computation, computational complexity, and algorithmic problem-solving
example: Studies on Turing machines, complexity classes (P vs NP), and formal languages belong to Theoretical Computer Science.

software engineering
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
broader: computer science
comment: Software Engineering is a sub-discipline of Computer Science that applies engineering principles to the design, development, testing, and maintenance of software systems.
example: Agile software development, DevOps practices, and software architecture design fall under Software Engineering.

data science
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
broader: computer science
definition source: Provost, F., & Fawcett, T. (2013). Data Science for Business. O'Reilly Media.
comment: Data Science is a sub-discipline of Computer Science that integrates statistical methods, machine learning, and data processing techniques to extract insights and knowledge from structured and unstructured data.
example: Predictive analytics, big data visualization, and recommendation systems are part of Data Science.

cybersecurity
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
broader: computer science
definition source: Stallings, W. (2020). Network Security Essentials. Pearson.
comment: Cybersecurity is a sub-discipline of Computer Science that focuses on protecting computer systems, networks, and data from cyber threats, vulnerabilities, and unauthorized access.
example: Encryption techniques, intrusion detection systems, and ethical hacking studies belong to Cybersecurity.

active status
type: NamedIndividual
type: status specification
comment: Active Status is a status specification that indicates an entity, process, or project is currently operational, ongoing, or in execution.

cancelled status
type: NamedIndividual
type: status specification
comment: Cancelled Status is a status specification that indicates an entity, process, or project has been terminated before reaching completion due to internal or external factors.

Dr.
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic title
comment: Doctor (PhD or equivalent academic doctorate)

Dr.-Ing.
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic title
comment: Doctor of Engineering (German doctorate in engineering).

finished status
type: NamedIndividual
type: status specification
comment: Finished Status is a status specification that indicates an entity, process, or project has successfully reached its intended goal and is considered complete.

hybrid implementation
type: NamedIndividual
type: event implementation specification
comment: Hybrid Implementation is an event implementation specification that defines the organization of an event that integrates both physical (on-site) and virtual (online) participation modes

internal access
type: NamedIndividual
type: information access specification
comment: Internal Access is an information access specification that defines policies and mechanisms restricting access to information exclusively within an organization, institution, or research group.

M.Sc.
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic title
comment: Master of Science (graduate degree in science/engineering).

on site implementation
type: NamedIndividual
type: event implementation specification
comment: On-Site Implementation is an event implementation specification that defines the organization of an event that occurs exclusively at a physical location with in-person attendance.

online implementation
type: NamedIndividual
type: event implementation specification
comment: Online Implementation is an event implementation specification that defines the organization of an event conducted entirely through virtual platforms, enabling remote participation via digital communication technologies.

open access
type: NamedIndividual
type: information access specification
comment: Open Access is an information access specification that defines policies allowing unrestricted public access to information resources, ensuring free availability without subscription or payment barriers.

organizational funding
type: NamedIndividual
type: funding specification
comment: Organizational Funding is a funding specification that defines the financial structures, budgets, and resource allocation strategies for sustaining the operations of an organization or institution.

paused status
type: NamedIndividual
type: status specification
comment: Paused Status is a status specification that indicates an entity, process, or project is temporarily halted but may resume at a later stage.

paywall access
type: NamedIndividual
type: information access specification
comment: Paywall Access is an information access specification that defines policies requiring users to purchase, subscribe, or obtain institutional licenses to access digital or physical information resources.

PD. Dr.
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic title
comment: Privatdozent (Dr. with habilitation, qualified to teach at a university)

PD. Dr. habil.
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic title
comment: Privatdozent with Habilitation (higher academic qualification in Germany)

planning status
type: NamedIndividual
type: status specification
comment: Planning Status is a status specification that indicates an entity, process, or project is in a preparatory or strategic development phase before execution.

Prof.
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic title
comment: Professor (academic title for a senior faculty member).

Prof. Dr.
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic title
comment: Professor with a doctorate.

Prof. Dr.-Ing.
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic title
comment: Professor with a doctorate in engineering.

project funding
type: NamedIndividual
type: funding specification
comment: Project Funding is a funding specification that defines the financial mechanisms, grants, and investment strategies used to support specific research, development, or innovation projects.

restricted access
type: NamedIndividual
type: information access specification
comment: Restricted Access is an information access specification that defines policies limiting access to specific users, organizations, or groups based on predefined criteria such as confidentiality, security, or legal regulations.

self funding
type: NamedIndividual
type: funding specification
comment: Self-Funding is a funding specification that defines the use of personal, internal, or independently generated financial resources to support activities, projects, or organizations without relying on external funding sources.

test phase status
type: NamedIndividual
type: status specification
comment: Test Phase Status is a status specification that indicates an entity, process, or project is undergoing testing, evaluation, or validation before finalization.

Dr. Dr.
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic title
comment: Two Doctor degrees (PhD or equivalent academic doctorate)

humanity
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
comment: An academic discipline focused on human culture, thought, and creativity, encompassing disciplines like literature, philosophy, and the arts.

social science
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
comment: An academic discipline that studies society and human behavior through disciplines like sociology, psychology, and economics.

biology
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
comment: An academic discipline that studies living organisms, their structures, functions, growth, and interactions with their environment. Biology explores the diversity of life, from microscopic organisms to complex ecosystems, and seeks to understand the underlying processes of life, evolution, and heredity.

medicine
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
comment: An academic discipline that focuses on the science and practice of diagnosing, treating, and preventing illnesses and injuries. Medicine involves the study of human health, medical technologies, pharmaceuticals, and patient care to improve well-being and extend life.

agriculture
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
comment: An academic discipline that focuses on the science, practice, and business of cultivating plants, raising animals, and producing food, fiber, and other products. Agriculture involves the study of soil management, crop production, livestock care, and sustainable farming practices to ensure food security and environmental sustainability.

natural science
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
comment: An academic discipline that studies the natural world through observation, experimentation, and analysis. Natural science includes fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, and earth sciences, aiming to understand the laws and processes governing the universe and life on Earth.

chemistry
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
comment: An academic discipline that studies the composition, structure, properties, and reactions of matter. Chemistry focuses on understanding how substances interact, transform, and combine to form new materials, playing a crucial role in fields such as medicine, energy, and environmental science.

physics
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
comment: An academic discipline that explores the fundamental principles governing the behavior of matter, energy, and the forces of nature. Physics seeks to understand the laws of the universe, from subatomic particles to cosmic phenomena, through experimentation, observation, and mathematical modeling.

mathematics
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
comment: An academic discipline that involves the study of numbers, quantities, shapes, and patterns, using abstract concepts and logical reasoning. Mathematics is fundamental to various fields, including science, engineering, economics, and technology, providing tools for problem-solving, analysis, and modeling.

geoscience
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
comment: An academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Earth’s structure, processes, and materials, including the atmosphere, oceans, and landforms. Geoscience encompasses fields such as geology, meteorology, and environmental science to understand Earth’s history, natural resources, and natural hazards.

mechanical engineering
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
comment: An academic discipline that focuses on the design, analysis, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. Mechanical engineering applies principles of physics, materials science, and mathematics to develop machines, tools, and devices used in industries such as transportation, energy, and robotics.

materials science
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
comment: An academic discipline that explores the properties, performance, and applications of materials, focusing on the relationship between a material's structure and its characteristics. Materials science and engineering involves the design, development, and testing of materials for use in a wide range of industries, including aerospace, electronics, and manufacturing.

computer science
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
comment: An academic discipline that focuses on the study of algorithms, data structures, programming, and computational systems. Computer science explores how to design, develop, and analyze software and hardware solutions to solve complex problems and advance technology.

construction engineering
type: NamedIndividual
type: academic discipline
comment: An academic discipline that focuses on the planning, design, and management of construction projects, including buildings, infrastructure, and other structures. Construction engineering integrates principles of civil engineering, project management, and materials science to ensure safety, efficiency, and sustainability in construction processes.