An Open Science Graph (OSG) is an information space describing through metadata one or more entities and actors involved in the research lifecycle and knowledge production (e.g., publications, data, software, projects, funding, researchers, organisations, and services).
The Interest Group (IG) focuses on open challenges in Open Science Graphs for FAIR Data. As motivated in the case statement of the IG, the topic is of high interest and priority globally, with this specific RDA IG featuring in several European Commission calls for projects in 2022 (https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/h...).
During the last IG sessions at RDA, it became clear that the most urgent challenge targets the definition of guidelines towards an Interoperability Framework (IF), enabling a seamless exchange of data across diverse OSGs willing to participate. To tackle such a need, during P19, we formed four Task Forces (TFs) whose efforts towards realising the Open Science Graph - Interoperability Framework (OSG-IF) started in June 2022. The task forces implement a roadmap toward the OSG-IF as follows:
- Task Force 1 on OSG Core Information Model (ongoing, to be concluded in Nov 2022)
- Task Force 2 - OSG Data Exchange Commons (November 2022 - February 2023)
- Task Force 3 - OSG Access Protocol Commons (February - March 2023)
- Task Force 4 - OSG Profiles (April - June 2023)
In the next session at P20, we intend to report on the outcomes produced by the first three TFs, which should wrap up by March 2023. In particular, we plan to showcase the identified main entities and the agreed properties and relations (TF1) and how we foresee that interoperability can be achieved by leveraging or extending existing state-of-the-art standards, data models (TF2) and exchange protocols (TF3).
The session will follow with a plenary discussion of the results with the audience, which will have the chance to comment and contribute. Most importantly, the resulting comments will be used as inputs to shape a second release of the OSG-IF.
At the time of submission, the IG is drafting an RDA WG case statement titled "Open Science Graph - Interoperability Framework" that frames the work of the TFs in 2023, to submit it by January 2023. Hopefully, the WG will be fully operational by the time of the conference and take over the work of the Task Forces.
Collaborative session notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w9UW2L6GkL8vv2Pf_AxVQpH37RAoAUdVUokG...
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Introduction of the IG (co-chairs) and Task Forces [5 mins]
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Outcomes of the Task Forces [20 mins] (chairs)
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TF1: Common data model
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TF2: Common metadata format and crosswalk
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TF3: Common access protocols
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Translating Task Forces results onto Open Science Graphs. Challenges and adoption plans [25 mins]
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OpenCitations
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DataCite
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ResearchGraph.org
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OpenAlex (to be confirmed)
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OpenAIRE Graph (to be confirmed)
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Open session (co-chairs as participants) [40 mins]
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Gather feedback from participants
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Roadmapping towards Task Force 4. The TF will outline the guidelines for the construction of OSG profiles, an exchangeable, machine-readable, high-level description of an OSG, which describes its main features and added value, as well as the provenance, trust and licensing of the contained information.
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- Publishers that want to understand better how to leverage and contribute to OSGs;
- Data repositories/centres that want to understand better how to leverage on and contribute to OSGs;
- OSG Consumers (e.g. SMEs, scholarly services) of (bulk) OSGs to build services (e.g., impact assessment, discovery, publishing);
- OSGs aggregators (e.g., CrossRef, DataCite, OpenAIRE, ORCiD, OKRG, ResearchGraph, OpenAlex, Dimensions) to exchange information and benefit from added value brought by third-party graphs.
The goal of the Open Science Graphs for FAIR data Interest Group is to build on the outcomes of other RDA WGs / IGs to investigate the open issues and identify solutions towards achieving interoperability between Open Science Graph initiatives. The aim is to improve the FAIRness of research data, and more generally, the FAIR*-ness of science, by enabling the smooth exchange of the interlinked metadata overlay required to access research data at the meta-level of the discovery-for-citation/monitoring and at the thematic level of the discovery-for-reuse. Such “FAIR-ness” and “interlinked-ness” provide strong support for research integrity and innovation, which underpin significant social, environmental, and economic benefits.
The Interest Group was settled in 2019, had a BoF at P13 Philadelphia, and was first presented during P14 in Helsinki. Then it slowly progressed throughout P15, P16, P17, P18 and P19 being in the middle of the pandemic, but it still raised a considerable interest within the RDA community, as accounted for by the extensive list of subscribers, as well as externally, as suggested by the explicit mentions in the EC official documents. In particular, during P19, a plan for four Task Forces was forged in order to sprint toward the definition of an Open Science Graph - Interoperability Framework (OSG-IF).
Since its establishment, the co-chairs have met a number of times, primarily online. As a result, the IG members (counting 130 members, as of October 2022):
- Co-authored a position paper on the topic (http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55814-7_16);
- Defined a concrete roadmap for the IG in terms of Task Forces. As a result, the work of TF1 is close to its finalisation;
- Drafted an RDA WG case statement to formalise the delivery in terms of actions and deadlines. The case statement will be submitted in November 2022.
- OSGs modelled entities, https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1m8vQkklLWmDYk55oI6YxZcqkvL7CHp38...
- [2022 RDA plenary] - Chairing slides, https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WvtbKu97UZ21THAJluWnVH2TVx_Z4SYT...
- Amir Aryani, Martin Fenner, Paolo Manghi, Andrea Mannocci, & Markus Stocker. (2020). Open Science Graphs Must Interoperate! Presented at the Scientific Knowledge Graphs (SKG) workshop at the International Conference on Theory and Practice of Digital Libraries (TPDL) 2020, http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55814-7_16.
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