A pattern-based ontology for describing publishing workflows

A pattern-based ontology
for describing publishing workflows
Aldo Gangemi – aldo.gangemi@cnr.it
Silvio Peroni – silvio.peroni@unibo.it
David Shotton – david.shotton@oerc.ac.ox.uk
Fabio Vitali – fabio.vitali@unibo.it
5th Workshop on Ontology and Semantic Web Patterns
(WOP 2014) – October 19, 2014
!
co-located with
Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Outline
• Publishing domain and workflows
• Ontology design patterns for describing workflows
• The Publishing Workflow Ontology (PWO)
• An example of use
• Conclusions

Publishing domain and workflows
• Tracking of publication processes is a crucial task:
✦ for producing statistics on their goods (e.g., books, authors, editors)
✦ for understanding whether and how their production changes over time
✦ for tracking the number of submissions, the number of accepted papers, the
review process, etc.
✦ for gathering important statistics that can be used to improve the review
process in future editions of the conference
• Even if some communities (e.g., Nature, Semantic
Web Dog Food and the Semantic Web Journal) have started
to publish scholarly data as LOD, the description of workflows,
for instance the peer-review process and the publishing process,
is something that is not currently handled – although sources of
related raw data exist (e.g., EasyChair metadata)

Publishing domain and workflows
• Tracking of publication processes is a crucial task:
publisher’s
perspective
✦ for producing statistics on their goods (e.g., books, authors, editors)
✦ for understanding whether and how their production changes over time
✦ for tracking the number of submissions, the number of accepted papers, the
review process, etc.
✦ for gathering important statistics that can be used to improve the review
process in future editions of the conference
• Even if some communities (e.g., Nature, Semantic
conference organiser’s
perspective
Web Dog Food and the Semantic Web Journal) have started
to publish scholarly data as LOD, the description of workflows,
for instance the peer-review process and the publishing process,
is something that is not currently handled – although sources of
related raw data exist (e.g., EasyChair metadata)

Desiderata
• Having data describing workflows behind publishing activities
publicly available
✦ it would increase the transparency of such workflows
✦ it would allow the use of such data for statistical analysis
• A model for describing these data is needed
✦ it should be easy to integrate it with other existing models describing
various aspects of the publishing domain
✦ it should be easy to adapt it according to the needs and constraints of
different domains (publishing, academic conferences, research funding, etc.)

Workflow: some definitions
• “The sequence of industrial, administrative, or other processes
through which a piece of work passes from initiation to
completion” – http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/workflow
✦ A workflow involves a sequence of processes…
✦ … that allow to initiate and then complete a piece of work during a
specifiable time interval

Workflow: some definitions
• “The sequence of industrial, administrative, or other processes
through which a piece of work passes from initiation to
completion” – http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/workflow
✦ A workflow involves a sequence of processes…
✦ … that allow to initiate and then complete a piece of work during a
specifiable time interval
• “Workflow is a term used to describe the tasks, procedural
steps, organizations or people involved, required input and
output information, and tools needed for each step in a business
process” – http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/workflow
✦ Each step of the workflow describes tasks performed by some entity…
✦ … and requires some input information and tools in order to produce an
output

Useful ontology design patterns
• Participation – to describe processes, events, or states and to specify
the various objects that participate in these events
• Sequence – to define sequences of objects (e.g., steps) through direct
and transitive relations
• Control flow and plan execution – to describe steps, tasks, activities,
plans, and plan executions
• Time-indexed situation – to describe a situation that is explicitly
indexed at some time interval
• Error Ontology – to define constraints on the input/output objects
needed by the steps of a workflow (i.e., it allows us to produce an
inconsistent model if a particular and incorrect situation happens)

The Publishing Workflow Ontology (PWO)
http://purl.org/spar/pwo
• The Publishing Workflow Ontology (PWO) is one of the Semantic Publishing and
Referencing (SPAR) Ontologies (http://www.sparontologies.net, which have been created for
the description of different aspects of the publishing domain) and allows one to describe
the logical steps in a workflow, as for example the process of publication of a document
✦ pwo:Workflow: it represents
a sequence of connected
tasks (i.e., steps) undertaken
by the agents
✦ pwo:Step: it is an atomic unit
of a workflow and is
characterised by a (required)
starting time and an ending
time. In addition, it is
associated with one or more
events (activities) that are
executed within the step and
involves some input information,
material or energy needed to
complete the step, and some
output information, material or
energy produced by that step
• It is entirely based on the ontology patterns introduced previously

Relations between PWO and ontology design patterns

Error Ontology in PWO
http://www.essepuntato.it/2009/10/error
• The Error Ontology is a unit test that produces an inconsistent
model if a particular (and incorrect) situation happens

• It works by means of a data property, error:hasError, that denies its
usage for any resource
DataProperty: error:hasError
Domain: error:hasError exactly 0

• It works by means of a data property, error:hasError, that denies its
usage for any resource
DataProperty: error:hasError
Domain: error:hasError exactly 0
• How it is used in PWO (via SWRL):
Step(?step1) , Step(?step2) ,
needs(?step1, ?resource) , produces(?step2, ?resource) ,
sequence:precedes(?step1, ?step2)
-> error:hasError(
?step1,
"A step cannot need a resource that will be
produced by a following step"^^xsd:string)

An example:
publishing workflow of a journal article

An example:
Submission
Starting point of the
publishing workflow
with respect to publisher’s
point of view
main actor: author

An example:
Reviewing main actor:
Submission
publishing workflow
point of view
main actor: author
reviewer

An example:
Submission
publishing workflow
point of view
main actor: author
reviewer
Decision
main actor: editor

An example:
Submission
revision request
publishing workflow
point of view
main actor: author
reviewer
Decision
main actor: editor
Revision main actor:
author

An example:
Submission
revision request
rejection
publishing workflow
point of view
main actor: author
reviewer
Decision
main actor: editor
author
End

An example:
Submission
revision request
rejection
publishing workflow
point of view
main actor: author
reviewer
Decision
main actor: editor
Camera ready
main actor:
author
acceptance
author
End

An example:
Submission
revision request
rejection
publishing workflow
point of view
main actor: author
reviewer
Decision
main actor: editor
Camera ready
main actor:
author
Proofing
main actor:
publisher
acceptance
author
End

An example:
Submission
revision request
rejection
publishing workflow
point of view
main actor: author
reviewer
Decision
main actor: editor
Camera ready
main actor:
author
Proofing
main actor:
publisher
Publication
main actor: publisher
acceptance
author
End

An example:
In the next slides we show how to describe the first
four steps of such workflow by taking into account real
publication data available in the Semantic Web Journal
Linked Data repository concerning the paper “The
Submission
revision request
rejection
publishing workflow
point of view
main actor: author
reviewer
Decision
main actor: editor
Camera ready
main actor:
author
Proofing
main actor:
publisher
Publication
main actor: publisher
acceptance
author
End
Collections Ontology” by Ciccarese and Peroni

Publishing workflow of a journal article: submission
The first step of the workflow concerned the submission of a manuscript by one of its
authors, in this case Paolo Ciccarese. Thus, the manuscript received the status of “submitted”
and it was made available to the journal editor and the reviewers for the next step of the
workflow. — additional ontologies: PSO (http://purl.org/spar/pso)

Publishing workflow of a journal article: submission
The first step of the workflow concerned the submission of a manuscript by one of its
authors, in this case Paolo Ciccarese. Thus, the manuscript received the status of “submitted”
and it was made available to the journal editor and the reviewers for the next step of the
workflow. — additional ontologies: PSO (http://purl.org/spar/pso)
:workflow a pwo:Workflow ;
" pwo:hasFirstStep :step-one ;
" pwo:hasStep :step-two , :step-three , :step-four, ... ."
!
:step-one a pwo:Step ;
" pwo:involvesAction :submission-action ; tisit:atTime [ a ti:TimeInterval ;"
" " ti:hasIntervalStartDate "2013-01-21T10:08:28"^^xsd:dateTime ; "
" " ti:hasIntervalEndDate "2013-01-21T10:08:28"^^xsd:dateTime ] ;"
" pwo:needs swj-node:432 ; pwo:produces :submitted-status ;"
" pwo:hasNextStep :step-two .
:submission-action a taskex:Action ;"
" dcterms:description "Paolo Ciccarese submits the paper" ;"
" part:hasParticipant swj:paolo-ciccarese , swj-node:432 .
:submitted-status a pso:StatusInTime ; "
" pso:isStatusHeldBy swj-node:432 ; pso:withStatus pso:submitted ;"
" pso:isAcquiredAsConsequenceOf :submission-action ; "
" tvc:atTime [ a ti:TimeInterval ;"
" " ti:hasIntervalStartDate "2013-01-21T10:08:28"^^xsd:dateTime ] .

Publishing workflow of a journal article: reviewing
The step regarding the reviewing phase began with the activity of the editor, Giancarlo
Guizzardi, of looking for appropriate reviewers for the paper. Once found, the reviewers
were provided with the manuscript, reviewed it, and wrote down their comments that were
finally sent back to the editor. — additional ontologies: FaBiO (http://purl.org/spar/fabio),
CiTO (http://purl.org/spar/cito), and C4O (http://purl.org/spar/c4o)

Publishing workflow of a journal article: reviewing
The step regarding the reviewing phase began with the activity of the editor, Giancarlo
Guizzardi, of looking for appropriate reviewers for the paper. Once found, the reviewers
were provided with the manuscript, reviewed it, and wrote down their comments that were
finally sent back to the editor. — additional ontologies: FaBiO (http://purl.org/spar/fabio),
CiTO (http://purl.org/spar/cito), and C4O (http://purl.org/spar/c4o)
:step-two a pwo:Step ; pwo:hasNextStep :step-three ;"
" pwo:involvesAction :choosing-reviewers-action ,"
" " :reviewing-action , :reviews-notification-sending-action ; "
" " tisit:atTime [ a ti:TimeInterval ;"
" " " ti:hasIntervalStartDate "2013-02-18T17:04:32"^^xsd:dateTime ;"
" " " ti:hasIntervalEndDate "2013-04-01T05:53:24"^^xsd:dateTime ] ;
" pwo:needs swj-node:432 , :submitted-status ;"
" pwo:produces :review-1, :review-2, :under-review-status , :reviewed-status . "
!
:choosing-reviewers-action a taskex:Action ;"
" dcterms:description "The editor , Giancarlo Guizzardi , chooses Csaba Veres and
" " Fernando Naufel do Amaral as reviewers of the manuscript" ;"
" part:hasParticipant swj:csaba-veres , swj:fernando-naufel-do-amaral , "
" " swj:giancarlo-guizzardi , swj-node:432 . …"
!
:review-1 a fabio:Comment ;"
" frbr:realizationOf [ a fabio:Review ] ;
" cito:reviews swj-node:432 ; frbr:realizer swj:csaba-veres ; "
" c4o:hasContent "The paper addresses a very practical..." . …

Publishing workflow of a journal article: decision
During the third step, the editor was responsible for the fate of the paper and provided a
decision for it according to reviewers’ comments. Once formalised the decision, a decision
letter was sent by email to the corresponding author (i.e., Paolo Ciccarese) and the status of
the paper changed in then in “minor revision”.

Publishing workflow of a journal article: decision
During the third step, the editor was responsible for the fate of the paper and provided a
decision for it according to reviewers’ comments. Once formalised the decision, a decision
letter was sent by email to the corresponding author (i.e., Paolo Ciccarese) and the status of
the paper changed in then in “minor revision”.
:step-three a pwo:Step ; pwo:hasNextStep :step-four ;"
" pwo:involvesAction :decision-action , :notification-action ; "
" tisit:atTime [ a ti:TimeInterval ;"
" " ti:hasIntervalStartDate "2013-04-01T05:53:24"^^xsd:dateTime ;"
" " ti:hasIntervalEndDate "2013-06-10T17:47:53"^^xsd:dateTime ] ; "
" pwo:needs swj-node:432 , :review-1 , :review-2 ;
" pwo:produces :minor-revision-status , :decision-letter ."
!
:decision-action a taskex:Action ;
" dcterms:description "The editor decides for acceptance or not" ; "
" part:hasParticipant swj:giancarlo-guizzardi , :review-1 , :review-2 ,"
" " swj-node:432 . … "
!
:decision-letter a fabio:Letter , fabio:Email ;"
" frbr:realizationOf [ a fabio:Opinion ] ;"
" cito:citesAsRelated swj-node:432 ; "
" frbr:realizer swj:giancarlo-guizzardi ;
" c4o:hasContent "Dear authors, Thank you for your interest in..." . …

Publishing workflow of a journal article: revision
During the fourth step, the authors worked in order to revise the content of the previous
version of the paper according to reviewers’ comments and editor’s suggestions. At the end
of this step, the main result was the creation of a new version of the paper
(i.e., swj-node:506 in the example) that had to be submitted in the next step.

Publishing workflow of a journal article: revision
During the fourth step, the authors worked in order to revise the content of the previous
version of the paper according to reviewers’ comments and editor’s suggestions. At the end
of this step, the main result was the creation of a new version of the paper
(i.e., swj-node:506 in the example) that had to be submitted in the next step.
:step-four a pwo:Step ; pwo:hasNextStep :step-five ;"
" pwo:involvesAction :revision-action ; "
" tisit:atTime [ a ti:TimeInterval ;"
" " ti:hasIntervalStartDate "2013-06-10T17:47:53"^^xsd:dateTime ;"
" " ti:hasIntervalEndDate "2013-07-01T05:51:30"^^xsd:dateTime ] ; "
" pwo:needs swj-node:432 , :decision-letter , :review-1 , :review-2 ; "
" pwo:produces swj-node:506 ."
!
:revision-action a taskex:Action ;
" dcterms:description "The authors revise the paper" ; "
" part:hasParticipant swj-node:432 , :decision-letter , :review-1 , :review-2 ,"
" " swj:silvio-peroni , swj:paolo-ciccarese ."

Conclusions and future works
• We introduced the Publishing Workflow Ontology (PWO), i.e., an OWL
2 DL ontology part of the Semantic Publishing and Referencing (SPAR)
Ontologies, which allows the description of publishing workflows in RDF
• We showed a particular use of PWO for describing the first steps of a real
publishing workflow concerning the publication of an article of the
Semantic Web Journal
✦ we reused entities from other SPAR ontologies
✦ we reused existing resources defined in the Semantic Web Journal Linked Dataset
• Future works
✦ to align it to other workflow-related models (e.g., PROV-O and the Research Object
ontology)
✦ to study the applicability of PWO in the legal (e.g., describing process of codification of
the laws of the United States legislation) and scientific domains (e.g., describing series of
computational or data manipulation steps in scientific applications)

A pattern-based ontology for describing publishing workflows

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