The BSSO Foundry: A community of practice for ontologies in the behavioural and social sciences [version 1; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]

There has been a rapid expansion in the quantity and complexity of data, information and knowledge created in the behavioural and social sciences, yet the field is not advancing understanding, practice or policy to the extent that the insights warrant. One challenge is that research often progresses...

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Main Authors: Paulina Schenk, William R. Hogan, Robert West, Björn Gehrke, Janna Hastings, Marta M. Marques, Bruce Chorpita, Harriet M. Baird, Lisa Zhang, Thomas L. Webb, Geert Crombez, Susan Michie, Marie Johnston
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Language:English
Published: Wellcome 2024-11-01
Series:Wellcome Open Research
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Online Access:https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/9-656/v1
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author Paulina Schenk
William R. Hogan
Robert West
Björn Gehrke
Janna Hastings
Marta M. Marques
Bruce Chorpita
Harriet M. Baird
Lisa Zhang
Thomas L. Webb
Geert Crombez
Susan Michie
Marie Johnston
author_facet Paulina Schenk
William R. Hogan
Robert West
Björn Gehrke
Janna Hastings
Marta M. Marques
Bruce Chorpita
Harriet M. Baird
Lisa Zhang
Thomas L. Webb
Geert Crombez
Susan Michie
Marie Johnston
author_sort Paulina Schenk
collection DOAJ
description There has been a rapid expansion in the quantity and complexity of data, information and knowledge created in the behavioural and social sciences, yet the field is not advancing understanding, practice or policy to the extent that the insights warrant. One challenge is that research often progresses in disciplinary silos and is reported using inconsistent and ambiguous terminology. This makes it difficult to integrate and aggregate findings to produce cumulative bodies of knowledge that can be translated to applied settings. Ontologies can address these challenges; their development and use have the potential to accelerate the behavioural and social sciences. Ontologies can facilitate communication through precise specification and dissemination of terms, and enable efficient data integration, sharing, comparison and analysis. The widespread use of ontologies in the biomedical and biological sciences has led to multiple successes. It is time now for the behavioural and social sciences to follow that lead. In recent years, a number of ontologies have been developed within the behavioural and social sciences; however, efforts have tended to be isolated, with limited resources to support developers and those who work (or would like to work) with and use ontologies. There is a need for coordination and exchange to reduce duplication of work and leverage the value of a community to support the interoperability of these ontologies (linking of entities across domains and datasets). We have therefore initiated the Behavioural and Social Sciences Ontology (BSSO) Foundry, a community of practice and online repository for the development, adoption and use of ontologies in the behavioural and social sciences. The BSSO Foundry aligns with and builds upon the model provided by the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontology Foundry. We describe this new initiative and how to join and contribute to the community of interoperable ontologies for the behavioural and social sciences.
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spelling doaj-art-c8ff3b00f83f48749e4e23feb34bbd222024-12-11T01:00:02ZengWellcomeWellcome Open Research2398-502X2024-11-01925586The BSSO Foundry: A community of practice for ontologies in the behavioural and social sciences [version 1; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]Paulina Schenk0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5239-1977William R. Hogan1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9881-1017Robert West2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6398-0921Björn Gehrke3https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7488-0257Janna Hastings4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3469-4923Marta M. Marques5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4797-9557Bruce Chorpita6Harriet M. Baird7Lisa Zhang8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4255-9609Thomas L. Webb9https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9320-0068Geert Crombez10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4744-8561Susan Michie11https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0063-6378Marie Johnston12https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0124-4827Centre for Behaviour Change, University College London, London, England, UKData Science Institute, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USADepartment of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, England, UKInstitute for Implementation Science in Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandInstitute for Implementation Science in Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandNational School of Public Health, Comprehensive Health Research Centre, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisbon, PortugalDepartment of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USASchool of Psychology, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England, UKCentre for Behaviour Change, University College London, London, England, UKSchool of Psychology, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England, UKDepartment of Experimental-Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Flanders, BelgiumCentre for Behaviour Change, University College London, London, England, UKInstitute of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UKThere has been a rapid expansion in the quantity and complexity of data, information and knowledge created in the behavioural and social sciences, yet the field is not advancing understanding, practice or policy to the extent that the insights warrant. One challenge is that research often progresses in disciplinary silos and is reported using inconsistent and ambiguous terminology. This makes it difficult to integrate and aggregate findings to produce cumulative bodies of knowledge that can be translated to applied settings. Ontologies can address these challenges; their development and use have the potential to accelerate the behavioural and social sciences. Ontologies can facilitate communication through precise specification and dissemination of terms, and enable efficient data integration, sharing, comparison and analysis. The widespread use of ontologies in the biomedical and biological sciences has led to multiple successes. It is time now for the behavioural and social sciences to follow that lead. In recent years, a number of ontologies have been developed within the behavioural and social sciences; however, efforts have tended to be isolated, with limited resources to support developers and those who work (or would like to work) with and use ontologies. There is a need for coordination and exchange to reduce duplication of work and leverage the value of a community to support the interoperability of these ontologies (linking of entities across domains and datasets). We have therefore initiated the Behavioural and Social Sciences Ontology (BSSO) Foundry, a community of practice and online repository for the development, adoption and use of ontologies in the behavioural and social sciences. The BSSO Foundry aligns with and builds upon the model provided by the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontology Foundry. We describe this new initiative and how to join and contribute to the community of interoperable ontologies for the behavioural and social sciences.https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/9-656/v1ontology behavioural and social sciences community of practice interoperableeng
spellingShingle Paulina Schenk
William R. Hogan
Robert West
Björn Gehrke
Janna Hastings
Marta M. Marques
Bruce Chorpita
Harriet M. Baird
Lisa Zhang
Thomas L. Webb
Geert Crombez
Susan Michie
Marie Johnston
The BSSO Foundry: A community of practice for ontologies in the behavioural and social sciences [version 1; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]
Wellcome Open Research
ontology
behavioural and social sciences
community of practice
interoperable
eng
title The BSSO Foundry: A community of practice for ontologies in the behavioural and social sciences [version 1; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]
title_full The BSSO Foundry: A community of practice for ontologies in the behavioural and social sciences [version 1; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]
title_fullStr The BSSO Foundry: A community of practice for ontologies in the behavioural and social sciences [version 1; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]
title_full_unstemmed The BSSO Foundry: A community of practice for ontologies in the behavioural and social sciences [version 1; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]
title_short The BSSO Foundry: A community of practice for ontologies in the behavioural and social sciences [version 1; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]
title_sort bsso foundry a community of practice for ontologies in the behavioural and social sciences version 1 peer review 1 approved 2 approved with reservations
topic ontology
behavioural and social sciences
community of practice
interoperable
eng
url https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/9-656/v1
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