Ontology Vetting and Certification
NCOR operates an independent ontology vetting and certification program grounded in formal ontology and international standards.
Principles
NCOR certification is guided by the following principles:
- Independent, nonprofit evaluation
- Scientific rigor, grounded in formal ontology
- Transparency and auditability
- Expert human review, not automated heuristics alone
NCOR provides specialty certification tracks, including:
- Alignment with Basic Formal Ontology (BFO), including ISO/IEC 21838-2
- Alignment with the Common Core Ontologies (CCO)
- Ontology engineering best practices beyond any single framework
Certification Process
NCOR certification follows a structured, multi-stage process designed to support scientific rigor, transparency, and long-term reuse. The stages below provide a high-level overview of the certification workflow.
| Stage | Purpose | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ontology Submission | Establish scope and intent | Ontology developers submit the ontology artifact (e.g., OWL, RDF), along with documentation describing scope, intended use, classes, relations, and relevant implementation context. |
| 2. Automated Structural Validation | Support consistency review | Where applicable, automated checks are run (e.g., OWL2 conformance, structural consistency using established tooling). These checks support — but do not replace — expert review. |
| 3. Expert Review | Evaluate conceptual quality | A three-member NCOR expert panel evaluates conceptual soundness, alignment with stated standards (e.g., BFO, CCO), modeling decisions and justifications, and overall ontology engineering quality. |
| 4. Remediation and Resubmission | Address identified issues | Findings are documented and shared with developers, who may revise and resubmit the ontology for re-evaluation. |
| 5. Certification and Registry Entry | Record successful certification | Successful ontologies receive a formal NCOR certificate, a registry identifier, and a documented audit trail. Certification is valid for 12 months. |
| 6. Renewal and Continuous Audit | Maintain long-term trust | Certified ontologies may be renewed annually to reflect ontology evolution, updates to relevant standards, and continued alignment with best practices. |
Why this works
| Principle | What it ensures |
|---|---|
| Independence | Certification is conducted by NCOR, not ontology implementers or vendors. |
| Scientific rigor | Evaluation is grounded in formal ontology rather than informal heuristics. |
| Traceability | Decisions are documented, auditable, and tied to stated criteria. |
| Reusability | Certified ontologies can be confidently reused across teams and organizations. |
This process supports long-term trust, reuse, and sustainability across ontology-based systems.